{"id":3560,"date":"2015-04-07T15:40:28","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T14:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3560"},"modified":"2015-04-07T15:40:28","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T14:40:28","slug":"strong-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3560","title":{"rendered":"Strong message"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite kicked off its fight back against mass privatisation of Bromley council services today (April 7), in day one of a widely supported two-day strike.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite members working in libraries, adult services and parks, among other areas, are participating in the walk-out as the Conservative-led Bromley council embarks on a privatisation programme which will see the bulk of its services privatised, with pay and terms and conditions for council staff slashed.<\/p>\n

 
\nDespite having \u00c2\u0141130m in reserves, Bromley council is moving to privatise all of its non-statutory services, which would drastically reduce the directly employed council workforce by the thousands and drive down pay and conditions.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite members are also protesting the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to withdraw time-off facilities from the Unite branch secretary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a move which, in fact, will cost the council more money as such reps have the ability of saving money by heading off potential disputes and grievances by their negotiating skill and in-depth knowledge.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Onay Kasab hailed today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strike action as an unequivocal success.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are very pleased with today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s action, which was buoyed by fantastic support from members and the public,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe depot was closed, as was a care centre and several libraries. We sent a strong message today that privatisation of services vital to local communities will not be tolerated. If the council doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come to the table, we are fully prepared to escalate industrial action.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAnother 24-hour strike is planned for tomorrow (April 8), as is an additional one-hour strike on Wednesday (April 9) from 9am to 10am.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe action was overwhelmingly supported by Unite members, 87 per cent of whom voted in favour.<\/p>\n

 
\nKasab also highlighted support from Bromley Labour Group, which has fully backed today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s action.<\/p>\n

 
\nSpeaking on behalf of the group, Labour councillor Angela Wilkins said the Tory-led Bromley council has little concern for a quality provision of services.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTories in Bromley are openly committed to being a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098commissioning council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and to reducing the number of council employees from 4,000 to 300,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Wilkins said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor them, this is not about delivering the best levels of service for Bromley residents; it is a purely political and ideological commitment to privatisation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not a cash cow<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Onay Kasab argued that public services always suffer when sold off to the private sector.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCouncil services should be for the public good \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and not as a cash cow for the private companies benefiting from lucrative outsourcing contracts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\nKasab noted that the company looking over to take over Bromley parks is a hedge fund, which, he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwill do what hedge funds are set up to do; they will cut to the bone then scuttle away from the contract with a substantial profit.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nWilkins agreed, explaining what happens time and again when public services are privatised.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe reality of privatisation is that contractors have to keep their prices low to win the contract in the first place,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey then struggle to deliver the contract specification and to make a profit for their shareholders.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bExperienced staff are replaced by others on lower wages. Key performance indicators are not met because these lower-paid staff are not suitably qualified or are not properly trained. Service levels deteriorate. The public suffers whilst the shareholders get richer.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nToday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strike action comes as Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s London and Eastern region, consisting of 300,000 members, has launched a campaign aiming to combat this very phenomenon Wilkins describes.<\/p>\n

 
\nCalled A Fair Deal For Local Government<\/em>, the campaign is a set of proposals the union is putting to councils in the region. The campaign\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s procurement strategy calls for councils to keep services in house whenever possible. It also suggests that if services must be contracted out, quality of service must be the primary consideration when bidding on contracts and not price.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur overall campaign calls for a Fair Deal For Local Government and this strike will highlight what will happen to local government if the Tories are returned to power at the general election \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a race to the bottom for services and the pay of council workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kasab explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is drawing a line in the sand against privatisation and austerity in local government.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nTo find out more about Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s local government campaign, visit its website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite kicked off its fight back against mass privatisation of Bromley council services today (April 7), in day one of a widely supported two-day strike.   Unite members working in libraries, adult services and parks, among other areas, are participating in the walk-out as the Conservative-led Bromley council embarks on a privatisation programme which will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[128,252,132],"wps_subtitle":"Bromley members say no to privatisation ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3562,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560\/revisions\/3562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}