Any discussion about privatizing city facilities, most notably the new pool, should consider the motives of all the stakeholders. At the same time, fear-mongering by various, usually largely unaffected busybodies should be taken with a large grain of salt. In the case of the pool, the stakeholders that matter are the taxpayers that fund pool operations, the city as managers and the employees who may be impacted by any changes. Users of the pool, who enjoy taxpayer subsidized use of the facilities are interested parties, but really have no say in the overall or day-to-day operations of the facilities. The busybodies, whose input should be discounted are the public sector union leaders, who are after all the only stakeholders who stand to benefit personally by maintaining the status quo.
The myth perpetrated by CUPE, and their socialist friends, that employees will somehow be abused under a privatized system, assumes the employees are not already being abused by the public sector union. Further, there is little evidence to support the assertion that facilities whose employees are CUPE members better serves the public than a facility whose employees belong to a different union, or none at all, only by virtue of the fact the employees are CUPE members. In fact there is considerable evidence to suggest the opposite is more likely. There is, under the rules bound CUPE/city domain, no consequence for providing poor service, and no incentive for providing excellent service. As a result, the culture becomes one of mediocrity, with outliers at either extreme of excellence or sloth, dependent entirely on the values of individual employees.
The notion that CUPE somehow “protects” the employees (presumably from the city) is disingenuous to say the least. The adversarial relationship that exists between private industry and unionized labour, does not exist in the public sector. There is in the public sector, a tacit collusion that takes place, whereby there is an incentive for both the public sector union leaders, and the city negotiators to settle negotiations in a manner that maintains labour peace at the same time disregarding the interests of the taxpayers who ultimately fund the agreed upon outcome. The politicians feel “rewarded” as they can make speeches about maintaining services, and the union leaders continue to collect their salaries, claiming they fought hard for workers rights. Neither claim is in fact true, as the outcome was never in any doubt. The taxpayers pay more for the same services and the unionized employees get to pay higher dues for the same union “protections.”
Taxpayer rights and employee welfare are largely ignored by both sides — although figure highly in subsequent press releases.
In the event the pool is privatized, which given the reluctance of this council to make sensible decisions is unlikely, the net effect on employees would be minimal. By law, the successor company (which could well be employee owned) awarded the contract would be required to mitigate impact on employees, meaning most employees would be rehired, at the former wage rates and terms of employment.
There would most likely be a union in place, and the union may well be CUPE. The benefit to taxpayers would come from the separation between the city and the union in future negotiations, which would take place between the contractor and the employees. Unlike the city, private operators do not have a bottomless pool of taxpayer money in which the unions and government can tread water. There are a number of advantages for stakeholders in the privatization of public facilities. Imposition of revenue and cost discipline by the operator, which cannot exist under current conditions, is one benefit. Other benefits include improved service to users as the best employees and managers move to the fore, while the disinterested employees find other vocations, as well, the ability of the city to plan and fund future capital and operating budgets, with taxpayer interests in mind.
To suggest that only CUPE member employees can operate the pool is an insult to the efforts and dedication of pool employees. Whether the employees are unionized or not is not the issue. The employees and their supervisors know which employees are excellent and should stay. CUPE only knows which employees have seniority (and likely pay the highest union dues), which does not necessarily equate to better service. In the light of day the only stakeholders who need fear privatization is the CUPE leadership. Employees, taxpayers and users would all benefit — CUPE may lose dues payers and certainly will lose their cozy relationship with the city — and that’s why the CUPE leaders are fighting change — their member funded salaries are at risk.
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