You Don't Always Get What You Pay For: The Economics of Privatization (review)

Abstract

Professor Sclar's book is one of the best weapons unions have for addressing America's federal, state, and urban employers in their quest for the holy grail of contracting out public services to overly-willing, greedy, privately owned, and often globally-based, corporations. With the dramatic decline in private sector union density, the continued relatively stable situation in the public sector has produced a labor movement more dominated by, and dependent upon, public union existence and viability than ever before in American history. Because privatization will likely continue to threaten public sector unions in the 21st Century, this excellent text deserves to become a well-quoted tool in the arsenal of labor educators and union leaders.