An Unequal Partnership: The Privatisation of Information Technology in Ontario.

This paper presents a case study of the outsourcing of IT services between 1996 and 2003 by the Government of Ontario using a Public Private Partnership (P3) as an example of the commodification of public services including the impact on labour. It argues that three key features of the arrangement l...

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Publicado en:Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 92 - 106
Autor principal: Rapaport, David
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Pluto Journals Spring2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Spring2015
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        atl: An Unequal Partnership: The Privatisation of Information Technology in Ontario.
      aug:
        au: Rapaport, David
        affil: former computer programmer and trade union officer, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
      su:
        Ontario
        Privatization
        Economics
        Economic history
        Mathematical equivalence
        Information technology & economics
        Business partnerships
      sug:
        subj:
          Privatization
          Economics
          Economic history
          Ontario
          Mathematical equivalence
          Information technology & economics
          Business partnerships
      ab: This paper presents a case study of the outsourcing of IT services between 1996 and 2003 by the Government of Ontario using a Public Private Partnership (P3) as an example of the commodification of public services including the impact on labour. It argues that three key features of the arrangement led to it becoming an 'unequal partnership.' First, ideological notions of a 'knowledge economy' and the techno-wizard status of independent IT workers were used by IT corporations to charge very high corporate rates for the time of outsourced IT staff, despite the fact that they were in fact undergoing a process of proletarianisation. Second, the P3 cost-benefit structure of shared costs and shared payments provided the framework for corporate partners to realise higher profits from investment in privatised state activities. Third, the explicit support of influential state and near-state actors undermined opposition to P3 projects.
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    language: English
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