THE CONTRACTORS

According to its website, Allied is the largest American-owned security services company in the country, employing about 37,000 people and serving more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. Each one of their workers goes through an intensive screening process, according to the site, which includes drug screenings, 10year employment background checks, fingerprinting, and a “written honesty evaluation.”

The site also says that employees are given paid vacation, 401(k), life insurance, medical and dental insurance, career advancement training, and “You Make a Difference” Recognition.

“The debate as to which is better—contract or proprietary (inhouse) service—has been going on for years,” says the jargon-heavy Guide to Contracting on their website. “With a shift toward quality orientation, the argument is transformed into a problem solving opportunity.”

SODEXHO USA

Sodexho USA, which is a subsidiary of the Parisbased multinational Sodexho Alliance, employs more than 100,000 people, offering “a full range of outsourcing solutions...including food services, housekeeping, grounds keeping, plant operations and maintenance, and integrated facilities management.” According to its Campus Services homepage, the company is the biggest provider of college dining services in North America.

Their short FAQ on the “Living Wage” says that the “vast majority of Sodexho workers earn an hourly wage that is significantly higher than minimum wage,” and that “most are eligible for such benefits as health care, dental, 401K and paid sick leave, holidays and vacation days.”

“There are no easy answers,” their report says. “Ours is a highly competitive industry with extremely thin profit margins. Initial estimates tell us that if all Sodexho employees’ wages were adjusted to living wage levels, we would effectively erase our annual net profits three times over.”

The site was last updated in February of 2002, promising “an internal study to better understand the impact that significantly higher labor costs would have on our clients and our ability to remain price competitive in our industry.”

UNICCO

The now ascendant service company was founded in our very own Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1949 as a cleaning company targeting the local universities and colleges. According to their website, the name UNICCO was originally intended as an acronym for UNIversity Cleaning Company. The website encourages their potential customers to move to outsourcing as a way to focus on “core business” and achieve maximum cost-effectiveness.

“Modern economics demand smart delegation. By outsourcing services for your facilities, management can concentrate on its missioncritical objectives,” the website says. “Facilities outsourcing saves both time and money.”

In the site’s employment section, UNICCO outlines the typical salaried employee benefits program, which they say includes, among other things, medical, dental, and life insurance; tuition reimbursement, vacation/Paid Leave; a 401(k) plan and paid holidays and personal days.