The Woman Standing in Way of Privatization of Thousands of Jobs in Tenn Was Just Fired
University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport was abruptly fired from her post last week, in a move representatives for unionized campus workers are calling another step toward the privatization of thousands of facilities management jobs.
The battle in Tennessee pits the state’s GOP governor, Bill Haslam, against its public workers, and UT-Knoxville is where the workers, backed by a student movement, have made their stand. The workers see Davenport’s firing as an effort to remove a key obstacle to privatization.
“This is an attempt to install new leadership more consolidated to the corporate and extremist political agenda of Haslam and the legislature in Nashville,” said Thomas Walker of United Campus Workers, the lead union for facilities employees at Tennessee colleges. “Davenport was an advocate for students, staff, and faculty.”
UT President Joe DiPietro made the announcement in a letter, citing “numerous areas of unsatisfactory performance.” The firing came just weeks after the state legislature approved a bill replacing the entire board of trustees for the university system with appointments made by Haslam. DiPietro himself is rumored to be leaving soon, which would enable the new board to choose his replacement.
With the legislation and the firing under his belt, Haslam has swapped out the board of trustees, who select the president of the system. The president recommends chancellors, which the board also hires. All of these people are likely to be different, and either directly or indirectly chosen by the governor.
Haslam has strongly advocated for privatizing the facilities management staff at all public buildings in Tennessee, under a sole-source contract with a company with which he has prior financial ties. And the flagship UT-Knoxville, under Davenport, was the critical roadblock to a system-wide take-up of the privatization plan.
Much more, including links:
https://theintercept.com/2018/05/07/tennessee-governor-bill-haslam-privatization-university-jobs/
Dang! With the exception of the huge error of confusing Bill Haslam with his brother, Flying J Jimmy, this is an excellent, well researched article! (I wrote its author regarding that error, btw.)
In 2014, TN made 3rd on the list of most corrupt states. Now trying for #2?
😕
http://fortune.com/2014/06/10/most-corrupt-states-in-america/
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