Last year, DC city government began efforts to reform the current system used
to purchase goods and services for the District, known more formally as the
system of contracting and procurement.  Every year the city spends millions,
sometimes billions, of dollars (primarily tax payer dollars) to purchase, or
procure, the goods and services needed to keep the city up and running.   Early
this year, Councilmember Mary Cheh introduced the “Omnibus Procurement Reform
Amendment Act of 2010” and shortly after the administration introduced its own bill known as the
“Procurement Reform Act of 2010”.  Both bills focus on improving efficiency and oversight in the Districts
contracting system. 

However, NEITHER OF THE PROPOSED BILLS ADDRESSES THE ISSUE OF RESPONSIBLE
CONTRACTING with regards to labor standards.  Under the current as well as the
proposed systems, a contractor’s or vendor’s labor record is not considered when
deciding whether to purchase their goods or services.  This means that, as a DC
resident, YOUR TAXES ARE BEING USED TO SUPPORT VENDORS AND CONTRACTORS WITH
KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED PAST LABOR VIOLATIONS.  Neither violations that occur
outside the district nor those that occur within it are taken into
consideration.  In this time of economic uncertainty we must ensure that the
thousands of contracted employees that allow our city to function smoothly and
those that make the goods we use every day can work with dignity and security. 
We must level the playing field, so that those businesses that play by the rules
can compete with the larger companies that are competing in the race to the
bottom.

DC spends nearly $6 million each year on apparel and footwear alone, such as
police uniforms and other gear.  Because DC doesn’t have specific requirements
on upholding strong labor standards, there is little information available on
what is going on in the factories producing products for DC.  We have learned
that some of the largest contractors are buying from Blauer and other companies
known for having sweatshops.  Some of these factories fail to pay workers even a minimum wage and
lie to inspectors who come to audit the factory.

Another painful example of the District’s failure to choose more responsible
contractors is the case of the contract held by Hawk One Security for DC Public
Schools.  Hawk One abruptly ended its services to the District in October of
2009 when the company suddenly went bankrupt and closed its doors.  This left
close to 1000 Hawk One employees out of work and left the DC school system and
other government buildings with no security personnel.  In addition to loosing
their jobs, the former Hawk One employees were not paid for their last weeks of
work and did not receive money owed to them for sick leave and vacation.  HAWK
ONE EMPLOYEES HAVE STILL NOT BEEN COMPENSATED FOR THOSE LAST WEEKS OF WORK, many
employees are owed thousands of dollars in compensation.  Just as we do not want
our tax dollars supporting sweatshop labor, we do not want our money going to
irresponsible service contractors who do not have DC workers’ interests at
heart.

The Sweatfree DC campaign is working to encourage Mary Cheh, DC
Council member and Chair of the Government Operations and Environment Committee,
to accept an amendment that would move DC to adopt a sweatfree policy and join
the SweatFree Purchasing Consortium.  SEIU Local 32BJ is working to add an
amendment to the proposed procurement reform legislation that would protect
service contract employees by requiring that contracted labor be bonded.  This
essentially would serve as an insurance policy for workers so that if a company
cannot make payroll, workers will still get paid.  It would also require that a
system be put in place to take into consideration a company’s past labor records
before a contract is awarded. 

We applaud DC government for beginning the process of procurement reform,
but it is imperative that we make this reform complete, and that workers’ rights
are considered before millions of tax payer dollars are signed away to
irresponsible companies!

For more information on Sweatfree DC and to endorse the campaign visit ILRF’s
Sweatfree DC website: http://laborrights.org/sweatfree-dc