Since August, 2015, Governor Bill Haslam’s administration has pushed a radical experiment in outsourcing that would turn thousands of state facilities workers jobs, millions of square feet of Tennesseans’ real estate, and hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars to the multinational giant JLL.

There has been widespread opposition to the outsourcing plan. Facilities services workers, faculty, and staff have significant concerns that outsourcing will compromise the quality of services on which effective teaching, research and service rely. Students have spoken up about fears for safety if a revolving workforce replaces the workers they know and trust.  Faith leaders have pointed out the immorality of replacing good jobs with insecure ones.  The business leaders who rely on state contracts are anxious about the displacement of their contracts in favor of JLL.  Legislators spoke out by sending a letter to the Governor’s administration asking for a hold on the contract to ensure oversight and accountability. Rather than respecting the wishes of a bi-partisan coalition of 75 state senators and representatives, the Governor’s administration proceeded with the contract.

Tennesseans are rightfully skeptical of promises that outsourcing will bring higher quality and lower costs; we’ve seen too many privatization failures already. Costs to taxpayers more than doubled when the state motor pool was outsourced. We couldn’t get students’ test scores when we outsourced our TNReady standardized testing services. At UT-Knoxville, outsourcing of custodial services was such a disaster that the university brought the services back in-house.

I have worked as a human resources professional promoting excellent management practices for over 30 years. Good management includes hiring great employees, developing them, and making them feel appreciated as part of the organization. Most state employees are paid well below the market rates for their jobs. Despite the lower pay, they are dedicated and reliable employees because of good benefits, stable employment, and the satisfaction of being state employees who serve the public good. Without these incentives, you increase your costs through loss of expertise, low morale, and higher turnover. 

The people of Tennessee don’t want to give up public accountability and control to an out-of-state company. We don’t want to gamble hundreds of millions of tax dollars on a risky and unproven scheme. People across the state have been vocal in couldn’t get students’ test scores when we outsourced our TNReady standardized testing services. At UT-Knoxville, outsourcing of custodial services was such a disaster that the university brought the services back in-house.

I have worked as a human resources professional promoting excellent management practices for over 30 years. Good management includes hiring great employees, developing them, and making them feel appreciated as part of the organization. Most state employees are paid well below the market rates for their jobs. Despite the lower pay, they are dedicated and reliable employees because of good benefits, stable employment, and the satisfaction of being state employees who serve the public good. Without these incentives, you increase your costs through loss of expertise, low morale, and higher turnover. 

The people of Tennessee don’t want want to give up public accountability and control to an out-of-state company. We don’t want to gamble hundreds of millions of tax dollars on a risky and unproven scheme. People across the state have been vocal in their opposition to outsourcing. We encourage our campus leaders to support their employees and communities by choosing not to participate in the JLL outsourcing contract.