Should the city lay off 100 bus cleaners?
The City of Edmonton is asking the wrong question. Is it in the best interest of Edmontonians to lay off 100 bus cleaners? The answer is no and it is not strategic.
In the 1990’s “privatization” was a big buzzword. Many organizations believed that outsourcing or subcontracting was the best way to save money. This is a falsehood and it looks like the City of Edmonton in many aspects is stuck in that same belief system.
My commitment to labor relations will be grounded on three business variables:
1.Is this a core service?
Bus service is a core service and the city should retain full control. The alternative would be outsourcing bus services altogether, which has been done in other countries. This is something I do not advocate for our city.
2. What is the frequency of the service?
Bus cleaning is a daily occurrence. If the service was ad hoc or performed only a few times a month then outsourcing should be considered.
3.How many people should be employed?
We should staff services to the slowest operating part of the year (the valley) and outsource from the valley to the peak.
If for example, we are able to keep 50 people busy every day, every week, every month cleaning buses, we are properly staffed.
Companies should hire staff based on the lowest output of work in a given year and everything else can be subcontracted. We retain the people we have and when there is a seasonal period with higher demand, that’s when we would outsource. If the demand increases on a consistent basis, then we should hire more people.
Based on the information that I have from the city (unless there are other variables I am not aware of), outsourcing our workers makes absolutely no sense.