HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0526.002 1996-1998 November 3, 1997
J
Honorable John Ray, Chair
Committee on Human Services and Economic Development
County Council ' ~ ~
County of Hawaii TM`y`-"-"'~~r-~Y
25 Au uni Street
P County Councll~~'- _
Hilo, HI 96720 j"~
Good morning Chairman Ray and committee members. My name is Richazd Onishi. I
am a Computer Systems Analyst employed by the County of Hawaii Finance Department. I am
a member of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME local 152, AFL-CIO's
Unit 13, Professional and Scientific Employees. I azn a union stewazd and presently serving as
the Chairperson for the Hawaii Island Division of Unit 13. Thank you for allowing me to speak
today.
I have reviewed Mr. McLay's paper on "Changing an Economy by Changing its Public
Sector" and wish to comment on the issue of privatization.
My union does not agree that privatization is the answer to an effective, efficient and
responsive government. Reinventing government or privatization aze issues that strikes to the
very heart of our system of government - to the Faith we as a people have in our government and
its ability to meet our needs. How we resolve these issues could affect the quality of civic life for
each and everyone of us -now and for generations to come.
Do it right and we go a long way towazd restoring confidence in our institutions of
governance. Do it wrong and we risk further erosion of public services, more public cynicism
and retreat. The stakes are high. Our responsibility to make the right decisions aze clear.
At AFSCME, we have long believed in the need to change the way government works. It
is time to seize this opportunity and do it.
Have your heard or even passed onto others when referring to public sector union
employees -That's someone who sees the status quo as a gravy train and doesn't want any kind
of change. If anyone thinks public employees are just a bunch of lazy drones, they haven't seen
too many of us in action. And if others think we oppose change, they should know this: We not
only want to reinvent government - we want to turn it inside out. Qomm Dia -5'2 6 ' ~
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The public employees in my union aze a vaned lot who aze hard workers, we serve the
public, carry out the laws, and do it for little glory and personal gain. We take pride in our work
and want to do a good job. We're no different than any other working Americans.
Our members are front line workers and our jobs aze to translate the goals of public
policy into actual services that you, I and the rest of the people of the Big Island depend on. We
don't make the laws. We do not choose the senior administrators and executives referred to in
Mr. McLay's paper. Our role is to carry out the public will. And to do it as best as we can given
the resources that aze available.
Members of our union monitor 911 calls and direct emergency response teams. We read
books to your kids. We clean your bed pans when you're sick. We repair the roads. We give
comfort to people with AIDS. We Gaze for the mentally ill. And we risk our lives everyday to
keep rapists and murderers in jail.
Members of my union, work very hazd at the state and local government levels. We do it
at a time of shrinking budgets -and with multiplying demands of poverty, health raze, crime and
unemployment. Without public employees quietly doing their jobs, persevering day aRer day,
our society would not function.
If you see only the stereotype -the faceless bureaucrat whose only interest is protecting
his job -its understandable why you'd downsize government and contract out. It's easy to carry
on a waz against government if you demonize and dehumanize government workers. But if you
see us as we are -front line workers -public servants dealing with countless social problems and
shrinking resources, you'd understand that government cannot be reinvented without our active
participation.
When government doesn't work, we're as fed up with government as any other taxpayer.
You might not think so when you're waiting for a plan approval, or in line for a license renewal,
or trying to get a job through the employment service. But remember, we didn't design the
process. Public employees aze frustrated because we know from personal experience why
government doesn't work and how it could be made better.
We have tried and will continue to say: Listen to us, we deal with the public, we know
what's wrong, we want to work with you to fix it. We want to provide greater worker
involvement in designing and developing public services. We believe that our collective
bargaining law calls for worker's sharing and participating in the decision making process
thereby making government better.
As Mr. McLay's paper so vividly accounts, we need accountability in the workplace. Not
the pass-it-down attitude where the lowest worker on the totem pole gets the shaft. We don't
need privatization to hold people accountable, be they the civil service employees, supervisors,
managers, division and department heads, or elected officials.
Government reform has gotten sidetracked. Too many perceive privatization as acure-all
It appears to make sense to open government services to competitive bidding, to let mazket forces
weed out inefficiencies. The problem is the equation ignores people. People aze what we should
be focused on. The key question is how to motivate the people from the top all the way to the
bottom to ensure the public gets what it wants with quality and accountability.
Before we go outside and privatize, we need to look at compazable data, on the successes
and failures of privatization. Why aze some private companies successful and others not? Why
has privatization failed in so many locales in our nation?
You will find long term success and profitability in companies because they have a vision
-they adapt to"change -they treat their workers as valuable assets not expendable parts. That's
the lesson we have learned from the private sector. The wrong lesson is to contract out to private
companies that treat workers as liabilities who have nothing to offer but their labor. What is
dignity of work? What is the price of labor? Government services can't improve if front-line
workers have no stake in the service delivery.
We can reinvent government by empowering workers, all we need to do is look to the
lessons learned from our neighbors in Japan and to private companies thoughtout the world.
How does my union view privatizing public services - we see less accountability and
loyalty.
Sincerely,
f`--~
Richard Onishi
HGEA, Unit 13 Chair