Custodial jobs at risk in N.B. due to privatization

Bymoen said the SGEU represents five permanent full-time and two permanent part-time workers in North Battleford. He added the average hourly wage for custodial workers in these buildings is $19.50. If the positions are privatized they may be forced to reduce their wage closer to $14.50 just to keep their jobs, and even then, someone else could bid less.

The union president said he can’t wrap his mind around the logic behind privatization because there isn’t any in his mind. He believed the workers already make barely enough to keep up with inflation and replacing them with minimum wage workers who make even less won’t help the local economy.

Bymoen added it won’t put much of a dent in the provincial debt either.

“After all this strife, after causing all this concern, they’re still going to have $1 billion deficit,” Bymoen said. “It is ideologically driven and this type of mind set is part of the reason we have the problem we have today.”

Nancy Cherney, assistant deputy minister of the property management division with the ministry of central services said no decision has yet been made on whether to contract janitorial services out or not.

A decision will only be made, she said, if savings can be found in the tendering process. But that depends on competitive bids coming in between Jan. 12 through Feb. 10, and if those bids are cost effective.

Cherney said there is no specific total the ministry is hoping to safe by contracting out cleaning services.

“We’re not targeting a specific amount, we’re looking to see what the response is,” she said. “We’re really looking to get the best value for the citizens and the taxpayers for the services that need to be provided.”

While the government is looking at privatization to reduce costs, Cherney explained, they’re also seeing an opportunity for local businesses and cleaning companies to fill the gap with greater efficiency.

There is precedent for contracting out services at provincial offices, including cleaning services at two offices in Prince Albert.

“We have a history of having contracted out cleaning services in approximately 30 government buildings in 13 communities across Saskatchewan,” Cherney explained.

Bymoen believed the province should look to save money at other positions.

“I think the government should do a full review of all the private consultants, mainly in I.T.,” Bymoen said. “They are paying these consultants four or five times, maybe even more, to do the same work as a government employee and these consultants are there day after day just like an employee. The government can save tens of millions of dollars by doing that review, but they refuse to do it.”

The union president believes all indications point to the province pulling the trigger on privatization. He recalled cooks working in correction facilities going through the same process where for 18 months, they were unsure of their job security.

Bemoan said it was up to the people to prevent privatization from happening.

“The public needs to stand up to the government and say ‘No Brad. This isn’t working. What you are doing is just causing more unemployment, more economic harm and leave that stuff alone. Go deal with the things that have changed. That you have changed and that isn’t working.”

– with files from paNOW.com

Greg Higgins is a battlefordsNOW’s reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.

by Greg Higgins

Custodial jobs at risk in N.B. due to privatization

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