Dear Editor:
Minister Dustin Duncan’s letter to the editor on Sept. 17 is an attempt to whitewash the privatization of hospital laundry. There are many concerns, however, that the public is being taken to the cleaners with the ten-year deal with K-Bro Linen from Alberta.
Minister Duncan claims that the “government of Saskatchewan will be empowered to conduct quality audits” and levy penalties if standards aren’t met. Yet when CUPE filed an access to information request for the K-Bro contract from the Ministry of Health and five health regions, no one had a copy.
How was the provincial government or health regions supposed to ensure standards were met without seeing the terms of the contract? CUPE had to appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner to get a copy of the K-Bro contract. As a result of our actions, 3sHealth has provided the health regions with a copy of the contract.
Secondly, the main rationale for privatization was to save $100 million but an independent review found that the government’s claims were exaggerated. Economists from the University of Winnipeg examined the business case and found that savings are closer to $13 or $17 million over ten years – and primarily because of poverty-level wages that will be paid in the new K-Bro central plant. If K-Bro can’t hire workers at minimum wage or wages increase, the savings are lost.
The economists also calculated that the economic impact of laundry privatization would reduce overall provincial income by up to $42 million over ten years. That’s $42 million less spent in our communities. Instead, profits will be sent to Alberta where K-Bro’s CEO earned $1.55 million last year and shareholders received over $8 million in dividends.
Gordon Campbell, CUPE Health Care Council President
