COLUMBUS, Ohio – Seeking to recapture jobs its members once held in prison kitchens, the largest state employee union says it can feed inmates cheaper than the oft-criticized contractor the state plans to rehire.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association submitted a one-year proposal to feed inmates for $1.216 per meal, a price it said would save $2.9 million a year over the price offered by Aramark Correctional Services.
“Our proposal proves when there’s a level playing field, public-sector employees are every bit as competitive as those in the private sector,” union President Christopher Mabe said in a statement. “Now, DR&C just needs to do the right thing and bring food service back under state control.”
Union members operated prison kitchens until September 2013, when Aramark began serving meals to nearly 51,000 inmates in a state privatization move that will cut costs by about $30 million by June 30.
Despite problems with maggots in kitchens; staffing and food shortages and inappropriate employee conduct with inmates, prison officials quietly moved on Oct. 30 to renew Aramark’s contract.
Aramark, which declined to comment yesterday, would charge the state $1.275 for each inmate meal in the year beginning July 1.
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said officials “will thoroughly review the proposal over the next several days.”