I used to be an Ops manager at a UK airport when much of the ground handling was done "in-house". We were not competing on price, but it has to be said, we had a monopoly.
Now everyone of the handling agents is competing for the work and don't the airlines know it. The handling agents cannot afford to pay the kind of wage / salary that will attract anyone slightly interested in "Ramp Safety" - if they did, they would not get the airline's signature on the contract.
The situation gets exacerbated due to the seasonal nature of the industry. Who is going to apply for a poorly paid job with prospects of redundancy every October when the summer traffic vanishes.
Herein lies the next problem and one that was very evident once The E.C. ruling came into effect: you rarely see any old faces on the ramp - that old seasoned and experienced baggage handler and tug driver has gone and its a new face every spring and with it some dire attitude that has no respect for
aeronautical safety.
Have any of you sitting up in the left hand seat ever asked the chap on the headset how much training he has had? My father sat 39 feet up and always knew there was a trained engineer overseeing the engine start up and pushback. I have seen aircraft in reverse with chaps who have only just obtained airside passes within hours. Again it is surely a matter of what you - The Airline - is prepared to pay for and its patently obvious who is prepared to shave some of the overheads!