Due to blog fatigue, I'm just going to post this without comment.
Press release from Barnet Unison :-
Press release from Barnet Unison :-
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY 12 FEBRUARY, 2011
AS EXISTING CONTRACTS FAIL, INDUSTRIAL ACTION ESCALATES AT EASYCOUNCIL
UNISON members working at Barnet Council, have escalated their programme of industrial action this week. Staff are taking action short of strike, in a bid* to remain employed by Barnet council. The action is designed to inflict maximum disruption on Barnet councillors, but cause minimum disturbance to local people.
The gear change comes amid reports of major failings in existing outsourced contracts at Barnet. Errors on three big contracts has seen local residents getting the wrong council tax bills, an outbreak of legionella at an elderly care home, and a security firm that wasn’t properly licensed coming into contact with children.
Barnet council, dubbed EasyCouncil, for its privatisation plans, is a flagship for the Tory’s vision of outsourced public services. Council bosses want to shrink down to a core of just a few hundred commissioning staff, from the current 3,500-strong workforce.
Laura Butterfield, UNISON regional organiser, said:
“Staff are rightly very worried about the council’s outsourcing agenda, so are local residents. It’s madness to even consider privatising all Barnet council’s services - existing outsourced contracts are running so badly. The plans do not have the support of local people, and more has been spent trying to generate efficiency savings than has been saved.
“Barnet’s council workers are loyal public servants – they want to keep local services running. They do not take action lightly, but they want to remain employed by Barnet Council. The programme of action will have as little impact on the public as possible, but will cause maximum impact to local councillors. But all this could be avoided if the council grounded its plans and got back into talks.”
UNISON has a wider stance on privatisation, but the trade dispute at Barnet is over staff that want to remain employed by Barnet Council. The programme of action began on Wednesday 16 March, and staff are not answering calls, attending meetings and other support work.
UNISON’s key concerns over privatisation more widely, include:
- Public accountability suffers, what use are elected councillors if all they do is commission services?
- Huge companies quickly come to dominate the market, and can hold the taxpayer to ransom.
- The profit motive creeps into public services – coming first over people and good quality services.
- Study after study has also proved that savings are often over-promised and under-delivered, but workers wages, terms and conditions are driven down, especially now the Tories have sweetend the deal by removing two tier protection.
- Smart councils are now making savings and giving the public improved services by bringing contracts back in-house for example, Islington is bringing cleaning contracts back in house.
- Instead of lining shareholders’ pockets, money saved can then go towards giving the public better services.
More information from UNISON Press Office on 0207 5511555.
AS EXISTING CONTRACTS FAIL, INDUSTRIAL ACTION ESCALATES AT EASYCOUNCIL
UNISON members working at Barnet Council, have escalated their programme of industrial action this week. Staff are taking action short of strike, in a bid* to remain employed by Barnet council. The action is designed to inflict maximum disruption on Barnet councillors, but cause minimum disturbance to local people.
The gear change comes amid reports of major failings in existing outsourced contracts at Barnet. Errors on three big contracts has seen local residents getting the wrong council tax bills, an outbreak of legionella at an elderly care home, and a security firm that wasn’t properly licensed coming into contact with children.
Barnet council, dubbed EasyCouncil, for its privatisation plans, is a flagship for the Tory’s vision of outsourced public services. Council bosses want to shrink down to a core of just a few hundred commissioning staff, from the current 3,500-strong workforce.
Laura Butterfield, UNISON regional organiser, said:
“Staff are rightly very worried about the council’s outsourcing agenda, so are local residents. It’s madness to even consider privatising all Barnet council’s services - existing outsourced contracts are running so badly. The plans do not have the support of local people, and more has been spent trying to generate efficiency savings than has been saved.
“Barnet’s council workers are loyal public servants – they want to keep local services running. They do not take action lightly, but they want to remain employed by Barnet Council. The programme of action will have as little impact on the public as possible, but will cause maximum impact to local councillors. But all this could be avoided if the council grounded its plans and got back into talks.”
UNISON has a wider stance on privatisation, but the trade dispute at Barnet is over staff that want to remain employed by Barnet Council. The programme of action began on Wednesday 16 March, and staff are not answering calls, attending meetings and other support work.
UNISON’s key concerns over privatisation more widely, include:
- Public accountability suffers, what use are elected councillors if all they do is commission services?
- Huge companies quickly come to dominate the market, and can hold the taxpayer to ransom.
- The profit motive creeps into public services – coming first over people and good quality services.
- Study after study has also proved that savings are often over-promised and under-delivered, but workers wages, terms and conditions are driven down, especially now the Tories have sweetend the deal by removing two tier protection.
- Smart councils are now making savings and giving the public improved services by bringing contracts back in-house for example, Islington is bringing cleaning contracts back in house.
- Instead of lining shareholders’ pockets, money saved can then go towards giving the public better services.
More information from UNISON Press Office on 0207 5511555.
1 comment:
Bunch of blimmin' trots the lot of them!
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