Plan To Cut Cleaning Jobs Debated

The Saskatchewan government's plan to replace 250 government cleaners with private contractors was criticized in a recent article on the Regina Leader-Post website.

"There’s just something about firing low-paid government cleaners and replacing them with even lower-paid minimum wage private cleaners —  that seems very wrong," the article said.

When announcing that 95 government facilities will move to privatized cleaners, Central Services Minister Christine Tell claimed there will be a $3.5 million annual saving.

The $3.5-million annual savings number was based on the $11-million annual cost in cleaning services (wages, benefits and supplies) and the determination that the private sector could do the same tasks for $7.5 million, on a cost-per-square-foot basis. There are no provisions on how many cleaners must be used or how much they should be paid, other than the province’s $10.72-an-hour minimum wage.

According to reports, the savings is equivalent to roughly 85 existing cleaners who average about $41,000 a year.

To read the full report, click here.