Letters

Contracting out of custodial services at police facilities could put City at risk Local 79 tells the Core Service Review

26 July 2011

Paul Ainslie, Chair
And, Members of the Government Management Committee

 RE: GM6.1 – Core Service Review, Facilities and Real Estate –   Custodial Care

Although Facilities Management is deemed to be “an essential service required to successfully operate the City”, according to the KPMG Core Service Review of the Government Management Committee, one of the options on the table is to contract out custodial services in facilities throughout the City.

For a very small amount of savings the City would lose control over standards and, in some circumstances, put the City at risk.

An example of this risk is the contracting out of custodial services in police stations. The City has jumped the gun on this valuable service by already serving notice of its intention to contract out these front-line jobs. It is also not giving any Standing Committee, like this one, a chance to debate this contracting out decision on its merits. These custodial services are slated to go only to the Bid Committee where Councillors will not be part of the decision-making.

The City has been trying to contract out cleaning services at police stations for years and police officers have eagerly come to the defence of the custodial staff. Over the years, Division after Division of police officers petitioned the City not to do this, because the skills of the cleaning staff are respected and trusted. These cleaners, many of them long time loyal employees, are trusted by the police to ensure efficient, safe and secure conditions. Every cleaner must go through a comprehensive security screening before they are hired and in-depth training on the job for health and safety, biohazards and infectious disease.

They are cleaning up under very difficult conditions, including cleaning cells contaminated by blood, bodily fluids, air borne communicable diseases and every other imaginable mess. The cleaners in police stations provide infection control for the whole workplace. Their work is not only hard, but it is critical to the functioning of police stations across the City, where there is sensitive information and security issues.

The people who clean all of the City’s facilities play a very special role in infection control, health and safety and security. Contracting out this work to outside operators poses a risk, and the City loses control and accountability. Many of these facilities house some of our most vulnerable citizens – shelters, long term care homes and homes for the aged, recreation, public health clinics to name just a few.

Proper cleaning protects the City’s valuable assets, when done thoroughly and appropriately.

It makes no sense to hire more managers to oversee the work of outside contractors to clean our City buildings. I would ask the Committee to not engage this option of eliminating custodial services.

 

Yours truly,

 

 

Ann Dembinski
President