The Knoxville News Sentinel uncovered an email sent by University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro, where he angrily swears about a news report on a "major victory" for campus workers.
The email was obtained from an open records request, and shows President DiPietro corresponding with Raja Jubran, the vice chair of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees and Governor Bill Haslam's (R-TN) top political appointee.
DiPietro and Jubran were discussing a plan to use outsource contractor Jones Lang LaSalle for campus facilities work. Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport rejected the job outsourcing plan.
Chancellor Davenport's promise to not outsource jobs was praised as a "major victory for public sector unions" by Payday Report.
"Despite lacking collective bargaining rights, the United Campus Workers (UCW), an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), have dealt a death blow to Republican Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam’s $300 million plan to outsource thousands of custodial, maintenance, and repair jobs throughout the University of Tennessee system," Payday Report explained.
“It feels like we did the impossible, we won against the richest governor in America,” Edward McDaniel, a Knoxville locksmith whose job was saved, told Payday Report. “It was a major victory for the working class."
Two days after the Payday Report story was published, Jubran emailed the article to DiPietro.
"What horse sh*t," President DiPietro responded.
"In deed (sic)," Vice Chair Jubran replied.
CWA District 3 Organizing Director Tom Smith blasted the emails.
“It goes to show the importance of independent media like Payday. Knowing that DiPietro and Jurban will likely read this story too, I’ll take the liberty as a UTK alum and former UTK employee to wish the hacks happy holidays," Smith said. "I hope your $600k in public salary helps warm your heart, Joe."
“The real ‘horse sh*t,’ to draw on the parlance of the UT system president, is the level of obsession for this outsourcing scheme on the part of Governor Haslam and his UT ‘yes men’ to sell off the public good for personal profit,” Smith concluded.
