State Capitol Briefs (Evening Edition) - Friday, March 12, 2010

The News Service of Florida

UNION ATTACKS DMS OVER PEOPLE FIRST SALE

The union representing many state and municipal employees is attacking the state for allowing the private company that operates the state's human resources system, People First, to sell it off to a British company. “If state officials and state workers had known that Convergys planned to sell its HR unit to a foreign business, the contract extension recently granted by the state should never have been approved,” said Jeanette D. Wynn, president of AFSCME Florida Council 79. “In fact, we urge state officials now to review and rescind this contract. Let’s make sure that if we are outsourcing public sector work to private sector businesses that the work is performed by American owned and operated companies. The Department of Management Services renewed the contract in December, despite previous problems with the company. People First has come under criticism in recent years and has been plagued by a high error rate. Convergys, the company that operated People First, sold People First to the UK-based NorthgateArinso last week. A spokeswoman for DMS said the department is doing its “due diligence” to make sure the contract is honored and do no anticipate any problems.

This information originally published on March 13, 2010.

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