State contract employee turns state worker
1:48 PM - September 10, 2012
Unit 1 member combats outsourcing with professionalism and
pride
Once a contract employee with the state, Mike Bonner now partners
with Local 1000 to help put a stop to the outsourcing of
bargaining unit work. Not only does Mike lend his unique
expertise to help identify contracts that cost the state
unnecessarily, he trains other Local 1000 members to help do the
same. During his time as a contract employee, he saw a great
amount of waste and instances of bargaining unit work being done
by contractors and he knew it had to change.
Bonner, a Unit 1 Systems Software Specialist II for the
California Department of Community Services and Development,
first became a union activist when he worked for the City of
Fresno when the city tried to outsource their IT department. “It
didn’t make sense to move forward on an enterprise that was going
to cost the city even more money – that is one of the reasons I
feel so strongly about Local 1000’s outsourcing campaign.”
While performing contract work for the state in 2005, one of the
contractors he worked beside was employed for over 10 years; the
state simply kept renewing the contract instead of looking for an
efficient, long-term solution. Mike became a state employee and
knew he had to take action and became a union activist. Bonner
reflects, “Vendor contracts make it impossible for state workers
to advance in their own careers. The state doesn’t have to train
a state worker to do the job if they are already paying a
contractor to perform the work that a Local 1000 member should be
doing.”
The June side letter put a task force in place to review wasteful
contracts and take action. The task force is comprised of members
who review the vendor contracts, Local 1000’s contract, research
and legal departments, and negotiators who sit down with the
state to see what contracts should be investigated for reduction
or elimination. Valuable member leaders, like Mike Bonner,
volunteer their time to train other members who will make an
invaluable contribution in the fight against contracting
out.
Bonner sees Local 1000 becoming an even stronger union–as we
continue to defend state workers, give back to our communities
and move California forward. “It is so important to become active
in whatever capacity you feel comfortable with–political phone
banking or precinct walking, helping clean a park with your
coworkers, or even reviewing vendor contracts to help stop
wasteful spending,” he said. “Everything helps!”