Organizations respond to UT chancellor’s decision on outsourcing

The United Campus Workers (UCW) held a press conference on Tuesday in response to Chancellor Beverly Davenport’s recent decision to opt-out of Tennessee governor Bill Haslam’s proposed outsourcing plan.

UCW, a state-wide advocacy organization against outsourcing and privatization in Tennessee, gathered at the Torchbearer statue to recognize Davenport's decision as well as bring further awareness to outsourcing.

At the Torchbearer, UCW was joined by several other organizations such as the League of Women Voters, UT College Democrats and Jobs With Justice of East Tennessee. In addition, students, professors and facilities workers also showed support for the Davenport’s decision.

“This has been a joint effort from the beginning because so many people, not just workers but the community in general, saw that (outsourcing) was just a poor decision,” Diana Moyer, president of UCW, said.

Davenport announced her decision against outsourcing university facilities jobs in an email sent out to students, faculty and staff earlier Tuesday morning. Davenport cited the existing efficiency of UT operations as one of the reasons that she decided to opt-out of the plan.

“We’re very happy to stand in support of Chancellor Davenport and we appreciate that she has sided with the facts and the truth (on the matter),” Jamie Dobbs, representative for the League of Women Voters said.

According to a press release by UCW, Haslam’s plan, if approved, could have imperiled thousands of UT employees’ jobs by giving them to private companies such as JLL.

“Everybody in this community is against outsourcing,” Jon Shefner, professor of sociology, said. “Students, faculty, workers, faith leaders and legislators repeatedly made it clear that outsourcing is bad for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the state.”

For the past 27 months, UT employees have worried about keeping their jobs because of outsourcing, Josh Smyser, a senior postal clerk for the UT mailroom, said.

“Those who would have been affected are just so relieved now … I’m just thrilled," Smyser said. 

The relief felt by workers after Davenport’s decision would have been replaced with disappointment if she would have chosen to opt-in to the outsourcing plan, according to Moyer.

Moyer added, “There would have been a lot of disappointed people, not only students, faculty, and staff, but also members of the community … I think it would have been a very different feeling and we’re just so pleased that (Davenport) made the right decision.”

Since the chancellor announced UT’s decision against the outsourcing plan, the other schools in the UT system have also decided against the plan, along with East Tennessee State University and Middle Tennessee State University.

However, the University of Memphis and Tennessee State University have not announced a decision yet.

“It’s important to recognize that other universities have not made a decision yet and that they are still very vulnerable to this very bad idea of outsourcing,” Shefner said.