GSA Janitorial Contractors May Be Trashed The General Services Administration has agreed to offer all its janitorial contracts to nonprofit organizations that employ people with severe disabilities under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, even though the agency acknowledges that the nonprofits usually charge more than for-profit contractors. The agreement imperils contracts in 1,800 government-owned buildings and 6,500 buildings leased by GSA. “The General Services Administration (GSA) will offer NISH, Inc. affiliated nonprofit agencies the right of first refusal on all new contracts for custodial and related services,” GSA said in a written statement. NISH, formerly National Industries for the Severely Handicapped, is the umbrella agency for more than 500 nonprofit community rehabilitation organizations. GSA said the independent federal agency that manages the Javits-Wagner-O’Day program will “ensure the new agreement will not have an adverse impact on small and minority business contractors.” That agency, the Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled, has the final authority to decide whether a contract will go to one of its nonprofit affiliates. H.T. Brown says the agreement already threatens “an adverse impact” on his firm, Safeguard Maintenance in Cockeysville, MD. Brown stands to lose his largest contract, for cleaning the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and International Trade Center in Washington. “It’s a huge chunk of my business,” he said in an interview. “It’s gonna kill me.” Brown’s contract at the Reagan Building expired at the end of December, but he is continuing to work on a month-to-month basis while GSA negotiates with the nonprofit organization that has been selected to take over the job. He says 65 of his employees will lose their jobs when the nonprofit signs its contract. Brown said his appeal to the Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled was rejected without explanation. A spokesman for the committee did not return calls seeking comment. He said he has appealed to congressional staff people for help, but added, “Because it’s the handicapped, nobody wants to fight it.” The Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act gives a mandatory source preference to rehabilitation agencies providing jobs for blind people and those with other severe disabilities. The law requires that at least 75% of the employees working on a federal contract be severely disabled, a NISH spokeswoman said. She said about 300 affiliated agencies do janitorial work. By law, JWOD agencies are the government’s mandatory source for any services they provide, just as Federal Prison Industries is the mandatory source for commodities. NISH agencies already hold contracts worth $104 million a year for janitorial, grounds maintenance and administrative support in federal buildings. A GSA spokeswoman said the new agreement grants NISH the right of first refusal on custodial and related cleaning services, but not grounds maintenance or administrative support. “From 1997 through 2001, NISH affiliated contractors charged more per square-foot, compared to non-NISH contractors,” GSA said, but added that the nonprofits “achieved higher overall satisfaction scores.” Brown said his research indicates that NISH contractors, on average, charge 40% more than the for-profit sector, even though the rehabilitation agencies are allowed to pay less than minimum wage.