Texas Contractor Cited for Waste, Mismanagement

CWA Local 6186, the Texas State Employees Union, cited a just-released report by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform as further evidence of serious problems with Accenture, a company the state of Texas had contracted with to design new call centers and replace state workers.

The report found that Accenture's "reliance on out-of-date and ineffective technologies" resulted in serious problems and cited the contract as part of its review of 32 Department of Homeland Security contracts that have experienced "significant overcharges, wasteful spending or mismanagement."

Local 6186 members have been mobilizing throughout the state to block the state's ongoing effort to privatize the jobs of state eligibility workers who help residents sign up for food stamps, children's health insurance, Medicaid, Aid to Needy Families and other human services.

In June, Accenture came under fire for causing some Texas residents' applications — including their Social Security numbers and medical information — to be mistakenly sent to a warehouse in Seattle. The Houston Chronicle reported that Accenture listed the wrong fax number in letters to people applying for services, and that their applications were "faxed into a black hole."

"Accenture's actions not only caused people to not get services they desperately need, it caused confidential information to be compromised," said Local 6186 Vice President Mike Gross.

A TSEU report released in June documented backlogs at local offices of more than 12,000 cases that should have been handled by Accenture.