Interior Health privatizing laundry services

[gordon_as]

http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/13 ... undry-plan

**EDIT** ( March 2016 ) Any newcomers to this thread , current discussion after the decision was made starts midway down page 94.

FIRST of all , I want to address what a lot of readers will automatically assume. You may think that hospital employees have a cushy and overpaid job , therefore you assume that we are a bunch of greedy whiners. Fact is that most of us in support services could be earning more money doing a similar job in the private sector. Many of us are casual , on call employees with absolutely no benefits. Most of the people hired in my department , housekeeping , in the last 2 years , have moved on to some other employment because they simply could not survive on the hours / wages at their great hospital job.
Now , lets have a look at the above article.
"The Hospital Employees Union is speaking up".... thanks guys , what took you so long ?
"90 day consultation period".... "alternatives to contracting out were considered"
I call total BS , no alternatives were considered , this was a done deal the moment we ratified the contract back in May. The 90 day period was mandated under the collective agreement , which means they had to wait 90 days to tell us that they had already made up their mind to privatize.
"Our members deliver an efficient and quality service" ......... Absolutely. If you privatize , you end up with a whole new spider web of overpaid business owners , managers , supervisors , and a bunch of minimum wage employees who just don't give a hoot about quality. The advantage to Interior Health is that they no longer have to worry about things like pensions , benefits , workplace safety , employee well being or morale , workplace conditions. If they could send these jobs to Bangladesh , I suspect they would.
"Interior Health is under pressure to privatize"........ You bet they are , from the wealthy people who own companies that can profit from privatization , and their wealthy friends in government , NOT from the people who elected the government and ultimately pay the bill for the services.
"The HEU will work with its members" ....blah blah ... "protection of jobs"... blah blah.
Excellent , but about a year too late
"It would mean the loss of about 72 full time jobs"........ Well , not exactly. It is 72 full time equivalent jobs , 175 people in fact. Some part time , some full time. Those full time people with seniority can bump into other jobs with IHA. The trickle down would be that some folks who are working full time in other departments would find themselves suddenly as a casual , on call employee. People who are already working less than full time will have a hard time getting by on 1 or 2 shifts per week. Don't get me wrong , those with many years of service definitely deserve the right to continue working full time. My point is that this will negatively affect far more than 72 people.
"Interior Health currently spends more than $10 million"........ Wow , thats a lot you think ? Must be those overpaid Union members. That's exactly what the employer want you to think , and knows many of you will. What is actually relevant here is that number , $10 million , how much will it cost if privatized. Less is what they want you to think. More is what it will probably cost. No private company in in the business of breaking even , and all have owners , managers , supervisors who only care about 1 thing , money in their bank account. Oh don't forget that fat severance package when they decide to move on.
Anyone want to google translink right now to see how tax $$ are spent.
The government doesn't care , they can wash their hands of a bunch of pesky union folks , and if it costs more who cares , it's only taxpayers money and there is an endless supply of that.
Interior health doesn't care. None of the grossly overpaid suits are going to lose their jobs. None of the $100,000 per year managers are going to get their salary reduced. Some might even get an increase to become corporate - contractor liaisons.
And SADLY , the suits at the union probably don't really care either , they are not going to lose their jobs. The union probably won't even lose much revenue. The workers who go from 4 days per week down to 2 days per week still pay full union dues.
Who aside from Laundry workers should have a problem with all of this ? EVERYONE should. Who is next ? Probably housekeeping , then food services , then lab services , then health records , staffing services ( aka pakistan call center )......... Keep going right on up the ladder to Doctors and Nurses , you get the idea.
Before you know it , United States style private hospitals.

So. Anyone who thinks why SHOULD I CARE about privatized laundry services , should actually be thinking why I SHOULD CARE .
I did not use some anonymous name to post this , because I am proud to stand up for my fellow workers. I expect to be called into an office soon. I'll keep you posted.

[Symbonite]

Yep the Union brothers and sisters always stick up for unions...as long it not their union that is being affected....

most jobs are lost because of the union...they rather the job get shut down than them losing $ per hour to keep the job.

Funny thing is that the money they pay for the union fees go to the union and union boss, not the workers. at the end...the union workers get the shaft and the union/union boss keeps on going....

[gordon_as]

Symbonite : re: first statement confuses me
second statement reminds me of the time HEU took a sizeable wage cut about 10 years ago.
third statement true , but not just for unions. The people on the bottom always get stepped on.

[wanderingman]

Heres the deal Gordon?
Are the cleaning facilitys adaquite and efficient towards todays standards as it stands?
will the cost,s to the Health care system remain about the same?
or is this just a real honest $$$$$ saving venture and will add to that a much cleaner more reboust effective service?

or is this just as you put it another union busting go nowhere situation?

I do agree that we have way too many overpaid,under worked and simply not required beauorcrats in the health system of BC
Some union and some not

[gordon_as]

I seriously doubt that IH will save any of the taxpayers money. There have been equipment upgrades made recently , but Interior health claims that needed future investment in infrastructure would be too much. Apparently they need every penny to buy medical equipment , so can't purchase any laundry equipment. If they did need to upgrade some equipment , and I am not saying they will , or won't , it is a one time capital expenditure for a piece of equipment with a known price and a known lifespan. Far less dubious than dealing with a third party , especially after you divest yourself of all the facilities and equipment that would be needed to resume the operation should the contractor not keep up their end of the deal.

I have been through a similar situation in the past , and I firmly believe that the first thing Interior health will do after they start shiping laundry to .....wherever ... is rip out every piece of equipment that could possibly be used to fall back on.

Hypothesis - IH : yes , we know that the contractor has not performed up to the required standards , and we know that the price has risen substantially , but we don't have the facilities or personnel to do the job ourselves anymore

[gordon_as]

Certainly not a real honest $$ saving venture. Perhaps Interior health could publish how much they are paying out to the contractor who took over maintainance operations . Not so much a union busting opperation as a first step. ( oops , make that a second step )

Whats cheaper , puting a new clutch in your 5 year old car , or getting a new car on a 5 year lease and sending your old one to the scrap heap ?

[gordon_as]

$10,000,000 per year , really ? Hmmm. 72 full time equivalent jobs. That seems like about 2.9 million in actual wages to me. Round that up to 3.5 (maybe) with benefits etc. That leaves about 6.5 Mil for the other associated costs of doing the laundry. A private contractor would have all those same costs , plus the cost of facilities to actually do the work , plus transportation to the facility , etc. etc. plus 1.65 million in wages to minimum wage earners , plus 2 or 3 levels of management , plus a CEO , plus profit for the owners.

No one could convince me that this will not end up costing more.

If Interior Health could substantiate , to the penny , their estimate of 10 million per year , and then produce an iron clad 5 year contract for $8 million per year , with no contingencies , no increases under any circumstances , then I would be forced to admit that I am wrong and they are saving the taxpayer $2 million per year in direct costs. I doubt I will be eating crow any time in the future.

I wonder if there are any indirect costs to the taxpayer when 72 (or more) people suddenly have their earning potential wiped out , or at least considerably degraded ?

[gordon_as]

Check this out.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/pu ... y=Interior Health Authority&Version=7&appSession=862493136302275&RecordID=&PageID=2&PrevPageID=&cpipage=1&CPISortType=&CPIorderBy=

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/pu ... 3143239675

When you get to the data base , select Health Authorities , then Select Interior Health.

Now , I'm not saying that a ship does not need a captain and a bridge crew , but add up just salary of the first 9 folks on this list , guess what , you are getting pretty close to the total cumulative cost of the 72 laundry workers.

Dang , there must be some nice cars in the parking lot of Kirschner Plaza. I am betting that they don't have to pay for their parking like we do. If they do , I am betting that they are not seeing the same 50% increase in the rate as we are getting stuck with in March.

[bob vernon]

The anti-union types will all be in favour of privatization. Somebody inside the Liberal party will get the contract and hire a bunch of minimum wage workers to do the work. Maybe even temporary foreign workers. Very little money will be saved as the owner of the contract will skim a big chunk off the top and the local economy will have another bunch of low payed workers. And does anybody think the quality of laundry will improve? Or go down? Expect to see stained sheets along with the filthy bathrooms we have now. Just another part of the race to the bottom.

[gordon_as]

I can agree , sort of with your filthy bathrooms comment. The bathrooms in the older buildings are just that OLD , outdated , and worn out , but I defy you to find even 1 in our hospital that could be even remotely described as filthy. They are cleaned every single day , many are cleaned several times a day. The bathrooms in my section of the building are nice , and new , and far cleaner than my bathroom at home. I would bet $20 they are all cleaner than your bathroom at home too , unless of course Mrs.Vernon has an obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder.

FYI , not only does one of my 3 supervisors go around the hospital with a flashlight looking for dust , Interior health also pays external auditors to come in on a regular basis and look for things to complain about. Most the times that I get deficiency reports , I go out to remedy the problem and find NOTHING. Some of the auditors have things that they complain about in almost every room they visit. Infection control issues like removable residue on the baseboards , or scuff marks on the floor. , and things they just write down so that they have something on paper to justify their time spent. An example would be .... fingerprint on doorknob.

Either way Bob , we are getting ahead of our self here , they are contracting out Laundry Services , not housekeeping. Housekeeping will probably be next , and then the public using the facilities should really start to worry. Just ask anyone who has worked at some of the hospitals on Vancouver Island where housekeeping has been privatized. Your bathroom probably is cleaner than those.

I am glad you mentioned temporary foreign workers. I didn't want to be the first to play the proverbial race card. Truth is , this is a small town and there is not a large contingent of people willing to do hard work , in poor conditions ,for minimum wage. The average level of education precludes you from finding a large work force who are unfamiliar with their rights , and frankly too afraid to speak up and make problems. A contractor would probably actually have to pay a fair wage here to keep the employees from organizing and joining a union . HEU should be out there right now , tempting the workers doing laundry down on the coast with offers of living wages , better working conditions , some benefits.

Don't kid yourself , the companies that have prequalified to bid on this contract are counting on being able to hire cheap labour to maximize their profit margin. A unionized workforce 2 years down the road would put them squarely in the red. Even the possibility of that happening would definitely change the amount they are planning to bid on the contract. Not that that matters , IHA will go ahead with contracting out NO MATTER HOW MUCH it costs.

Interesting poll question on castanet this evening. http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story--11-.htm Apparently less than 40% of respondents would approve of the contracting out even if it did save money. ( which it won't )

Frankly , I am actually surprised at that level of support. Thank you castaneters.

Lets have a new question tomorrow , something like Do you believe what the Interior Health Authority claims they spend on laundry services , and do you trust them to get the taxpayer a better deal with 100% transparency and full disclosure.

[Glacier]

I'm not a union guy, but I really don't understand this move from an economic perspective. Now the government will have to pay a company to do the work that will pay lower wages (likely), but on top of that they will have to pay the company an additional amount so they make a profit. Is IH really going to be better off at the end of the day? I really doubt it.

[Queen K]

This is the way I analyze this move by IH.

Suddenly you have 72 formerly full time people making a living wage or better being thrown into chaos.

Who knows to where that chaos leads them.

Lost house?
Can't make the rent?
Inability to pay for health care needs for themselves, their kids and their spouses?
Unable to pay for a reliable vehicle? Or ooooh, they've suddenly got a huge unexpected expense (there goes the savings).

And what happens? Poverty begets higher healthcare needs. IHA knows this. IH knows how many people are in their system barely scrapping by, needing various health issues looked after, everything from poor nutrition, food banks stats, alcoholism, homeless or barely homeless, mental health issues, and on and on.

So what does IH do?

Throws 72 people in to chaos.

Savings? Just goes into another budget.

OOOOHHH, and Canadians are constantly being told to "save for their retirement." How?

[gordon_as]

Glacier : Exactly ! millions of dollars would have to be invested just to get up and running to the point that we are already at. The taxpayers already own the property , buildings , and equipment being used right now.

Those millions would have to be recouped somehow , on top of big management salaries , transportation costs , and of course profits. Where is that money going to come from ? You and me , that's where. Who is going to profit from this ? Not you or me , or local businesses , that is a FACT.

6 years ago a giant US corperation shut down their manufacturing facility in Lavington because they could make more profit outsoucing the work to another part of the world. 500 good jobs were lost instantly. The ripple effect shut down several buisinesses locally and undoubtedly hit many other small local businesses hard.

[XT225]

Its very sad when we see things like this happening; union or non-union. The transportation costs alone will be huge. More good paying local jobs lost to "wherever" and the company that takes the work will likely pay their employees peanuts. Families first; ya right Christy. Maybe T.F.W. families. They must have a centralization laundry service lined up (but aren't saying yet?); otherwise how could they compare costs and figure that it would be cheaper. What if the highways to "wherever" are blocked..shall we just tell the patients to wear their soiled clothes a day or two longer? Disgusting move by Interior Health.

[gordon_as]

They must have a centralization laundry service lined up (but aren't saying yet?); otherwise how could they compare costs and figure that it would be cheaper. .

Are you saying that they think we are stupid ?