The Privatization of Public Services, State by State
Donald Cohen, founder and executive director of In the Public Interest, a national resource center on privatization and responsible contracting, sends us this.
It seems there’s no public service or piece of property that private companies are not eyeing as potential revenue streams. While funding anti-government think tanks like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), companies like Corrections Corporation of America, Waste Management, Maximus, Intuit, Laidlaw, Northrup Grumman, Koch Companies, Macquarie Capital Advisers, Pinnacle West, and UnitedHealthcare are hoping to use government as their candy store.
They want to take over our roads, bridges, parking lots, water systems, college dorms, and prisons. And they want to deliver public services like transit systems, school cafeterias, trash and recycling pick up, mental health services and many others. The following is a quick scan of just some of the proposals.
Water
The Emergency manager of Flint, Mich., is considering selling off its water and sewer systems to the highest bidder. The systems are currently generating revenues for the city.
Long Island’s Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano’s proposal is proposing to privatize the county’s sewage treatment system. Mangano also announced the privatization of Long Island Bus company to Veolia Transportation.
The Texas Lower Colorado River Authority is selling 18 retail water and wastewater systems in the Hill Country and in its southeast service area to [Canada-based] Corix Infrastructure.
Schools
School districts across the country are planning to contract out custodial, clerical, cafeteria and bus Read the rest of this entry »
Texas Protesters Greet Wisconsin’s Walker
This is a cross-post by Karen Hickey, communications director at the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.
Earlier today, more than 125 Texans greeted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on his fundraising trip to Austin. Walker was the keynote speaker at the right-wing Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual policy orientation for Texas legislators.
Occupy Austin, the Texas AFL-CIO and the Austin community held a rally to support Wisconsin workers and to protest Walker’s anti-worker agenda. Since taking office more than a year ago, Walker has staged an all out war on the middle class by stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights, raising taxes on the poor, slashing education and health care funding, all while giving millions of dollars in tax breaks to corporate allies and the mega-rich.
Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller:
We believe in welcoming all comers to Texas, and we won’t break with that tradition today. But we must protest the anti-union zealotry, if not the presence, of Wisconsin Gov. Walker. Walker has played the partisan labor-bashing game since his election, doing the bidding of the Koch Brothers and other money player who want to tamp down worker rights, who can’t stand the idea that health care has become available to more of America and who would love to shave percentage points off democratic election participation.
Justice Dept.: Looks Like Rick Perry’s Redistricting Intended Discrimination
TPM reports that a preliminary Justice Department investigation finds that the redistricting plan approved by presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry (R) appears to have been “adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of [minorities] to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress.”
Chavez-Thompson: A Hug for the Prez
Linda Chavez-Thompson, candidate for lieutenant governor in Texas, had the honor of introducing President Barack Obama to the state Democratic National Committee yesterday. But she refused to shake his hand. Instead, she
walked up straight to him, stared him in the eye and greeted him with a warm abrazo [hug]. Because that’s the way you greet a fellow laborer.
And yes, I consider Barack Obama a laborer.
Chavez-Thompson Wins Texas Lt. Governor Primary
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Congratulations to AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Emerita Linda Chavez-Thompson, who yesterday won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of Texas. Chavez-Thompson won with 53 percent of the vote.
Chavez-Thompson prevailed despite a three-way race in which Austin, Texas, deli owner Marc Katz’s 10 percent of the vote made it all the more difficult to win the more than 50 percent of the voted needed to avoid a run-off election. As Ed Sills, Texas AFL-CIO communications director, has noted, former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle was a formidable opponent, and Chavez-Thompson’s win is a ”very impressive primary victory for any candidate, much less a first-time one.”
Chavez-Thompson will face incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in November.
“I’m humbled to have won the Democratic primary without a runoff,” Chavez-Thompson said in a statement.
On the other hand, our job is just beginning as we take our message to independent voters, frustrated voters, and working families.
Union Leaders Give Chavez-Thompson ‘Full Support’ in Texas Lt. Gov. Race
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Linda Chavez-Thompson, AFL-CIO executive vice president emerita, and candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Texas, “is a tireless advocate for civil, human, women’s and worker rights,” says the AFL-CIO Executive Committee in a statement expressing its full support for her run.
Meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., union leaders praised Chavez-Thompson as
one of America’s most revered and respected labor leaders….A little over two years after retiring from the AFL-CIO, she has decided to take her four decades of experience to another level to help working families in the state of Texas.
In the March 2 primary, she is running against Democratic candidates Ronnie Earle, a former county district attorney, and Austin delicatessen owner Marc Katz.
Chavez-Thompson Running for Lt. Gov. of Texas
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Big shout out to AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Emerita Linda Chavez-Thompson who yesterday announced her candidacy for lieutenant governor of Texas, her home state.
The “Draft Linda” movement swept through Texas, pulling our much-admired former executive vice president out of semi-retirement and onto the Democratic Party slate for state leadership. The first hurdle is the March 2 primary, where she will run against Democratic candidates Ronnie Earle, a former county district attorney, and Austin delicatessen owner Marc Katz.
Ed Sills, communications director of the Texas AFL-CIO, says at her campaign launch, Chavez-Thompson’s campaign made it clear she is running to make changes in Texas, not against the Democratic opponents:
Chavez-Thompson discussed her journey from the cotton fields of West Texas to national office in the labor movement and how the hard work and leadership skills that drove her will translate to a state leadership role. She spoke of the need to emphasize education, health care and other basic priorities.
Texans Rally for Reform—and Other Health Care News
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More than 3,000 union members and allies crowded the streets of Austin, Texas, on Saturday to show their support for health care reform.
The demonstrators gathered at the State Capitol to hear from workers, community leaders and lawmakers. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Emerita Linda Chavez-Thompson got the crowd fired up, and leaders and activists from across the union movement encouraged the crowd to stay mobilized.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who voted for the House’s historic health care reform bill a week ago, thanked those present for their activism and said we need to keep fighting to pass real reform legislation. Said Doggett:
We need an engaged citizenry to say we won’t stand for anything less than genuine reform.
Jobless Workers Can’t Feed Their Families While States Sit on $3 Billion in UI Funds
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With unemployment at its highest levels in decades, it’s unbelievable that some $3.1 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits included in the federal economic recovery package is not being spent because 23 states have not yet revised state rules covering jobless benefits.
Today’s USA TODAY reports that nearly 350,000 out-of-work Americans could get benefits if all those states revamp their unemployment systems to qualify for money that is included in the federal stimulus package.
In 11 of the states, Republican governors or legislatures have refused to modify the rules governing unemployment insurance to qualify for about $1.7 billion in stimulus funds. The other 12 states have made only some of the changes, not applied for the funds or not taken legislative votes on the changes. Although the states have until 2011 to change the laws, the reality is that many states need the money now and the workers really need it now.
500 Workers Cancel Raises to Help Massachusetts’ Budget, and More Bargaining News
Some 500 workers in Massachusetts cancel raises to help state budget deficit, and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
MULTIPLE, MBTA: Four unions representing 500 workers at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU), the Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Boilermakers (IBB), agreed to cancel raises set to take effect this summer to help close an estimated $160 million budget deficit. The largest MBTA union, the Boston Carmen’s Union/ATU, represents 3,200 workers and has not yet reached agreement.
