Over One Thousand San Francisco City Workers Rally and Release New Report to Shed Light on Wasteful Contracting Out

The report, titled 'Selling Out San Francisco,' examines six contractors and reveals several issues with how the City contracts out essential services

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, February 27, over one thousand San Francisco city workers represented by IFPTE Local 21, SEIU Local 1021, and other City unions rallied outside of 49 South Van Ness Avenue to draw attention to wasteful contracting out. On-going negotiations, which risk developing into a strike, have centered around addressing the City's overreliance on private contractors and improving staffing levels for vital public services.

The rally coincided with a special report released today by City Unions, which demonstrates how private contractors inappropriately manage city services. The report, titled 'Selling Out San Francisco,' examines six contractors and reveals several issues with how the City contracts out essential services, including administrative mismanagement, inability to meet contractual obligations, inappropriate monitoring practices, and inflated contractor prices compared to in-house services. Despite a record of costly mismanagement and subpar outcomes, all six contractors still maintain active contracts and continue to be awarded new agreements.

"This report shows how private contractors are profiting at the expense of our public services," said Bianca Polovina (they/them), IFPTE Local 21 President. "As taxpayers, we are paying more and getting less. We want the City to do something about it."

According to the report, 1 in 10 contracts are requested due to understaffing. These requests amounted to $211 million in requested spending authority since the end of calendar year 2022. Requests occurred across departments but showed a correlation with high amounts of vacant positions. The Department of Public Health, which has the highest number of vacancies at 600 full-time positions, requested over $100 million in contracting authority due to lack of staff.

"We need to keep public services public. Let's be clear: Nonprofit workers are not the problem. The problem is how much money is going toward things other than the services–like CEOs' pockets," said Kristin Hardy (she/her), SEIU 1021 San Francisco Vice President, at the rally. "We are out here telling the City, the mayor, to stop the wasteful spending on private contractors that don't know how to do the job we do every day."

Click here for photos and videos available for use. Click here for Livestream.
BACKGROUND: http://www.FixSFNow.org/background

SOURCE IFPTE Local 21