The Board of Supervisors yesterday unanimously agreed to outsource printing and records services in four county departments, a move that's expected to save $3.1 million annually.
The head of the county's largest union – the Service Employees International Union Local 2028 – blasted the decision, saying county workers won't even get a chance to bid on the work.
The board waived any competition against the private sector after a market analysis by the board's consultant found that private vendors could do the same work at a much lower cost even if the county bought $2.5 million worth of new equipment.
Outsourcing the work would eliminate 30 positions, though the number of affected employees is expected to be lower because of six vacancies, potential retirements and workers getting placed in other county jobs.
"I think (the supervisors) are doing it so the public doesn't think they're soft on public employees," Mary Grillo, executive director of the union's local, said after the meeting. The union represents 10,000 county workers.
"They're sacrificing over 200 years of county work force to some guy in a $1,000 suit," she said, referring to a consultant who recommended the change.
But Alex Martinez, deputy chief administrative officer for the county's Community Services Group, said outside firms can do the same work for less.
"The county is not in a position to be price-competitive . . . with businesses that do this full time," he said.
Representatives from three companies interested in the work – Xerox Corp., Sourcecorp Inc. and Pitney Bowes – spoke in favor of the proposal.
The work would be printing of documents, such as brochures and forms, and records services, such as scanning, indexing and microfilming.
The four departments affected by the decision are purchasing and contracting, human resources, Registrar of Voters and the Health and Human Services Agency.
The county has to commission an "economic and efficiency study" before awarding a contract to ensure that outsourcing would be cheaper.
"We don't make decisions like this for fun, and we don't do it without a lot of thought," said Walt Ekard, the county's top administrator.
"There are, as we've heard, a number of very, very large corporations that do this for governments, for business, at far less cost. We believe there is virtually no chance that we can compete with that kind of specialization in the workplace. Frankly, if we were to be criticized, it's probably for not doing it sooner. This is something that is somewhat obvious."