McGraw Hill official says outsourcing plans not final

Despite all rumors to the contrary, McGraw Hill officials will not be making a decision about the potential outsourcing of the Client Services Department of Standard & Poor’s when its Board of Directors meets next week.

That was the assertion delivered to New York Guild officials by Pat Milano of McGraw Hill’s Project Management Office in a meeting held at union headquarters Thursday. Milano, formerly executive vice president of finance and administration at S&P before moving to McGraw Hill to head the Growth and Value Plan, said the company is looking at the support area involving “several thousand people globally.”

“We’re several months away from making a decision and, when it happens, it could go into next year,” Milano said.

Mike McGlynn, director of workforce initiatives, noted that the end of the year appears to be a target date for any major outsourcing that might take place.

Milano and McGlynn, who were meeting with N.Y. Guild President Bill O’Meara, Local Representative Bob Townsend and Unit Chairperson Ed Fannon, agreed that they would keep the union informed as plans develop. They also agreed to adopt a suggestion made by O’Meara to discuss those plans with the Guild while they were being formulated to give the union an opportunity to offer alternatives to outsourcing or to enter into some sort of agreement to place those affected by outsourcing into other positions.

O’Meara told the McGraw Hill and S&P officials that our members will expect us to react radically if 40-plus jobs are sent overseas and we are committed to doing that. While making no promises to be swayed by anything the Guild says in the interim, Milano and McGlynn said that company officials would listen.

“There’s a process,” Milano said on one hand. “We’re being thoughtful, responsible and fair.” On the other hand, when Townsend talked about the importance of saving American jobs and treating S&P employees fairly, Milano added, “What you people are talking about is important, but this is bigger than that."

The vehicle that was suggested for the exchange of information and the potential avoidance or mitigation of any outsourcing was the Partnership Committee, which was introduced into the contract during the last round of negotiations.

We will keep you posted.