Union hails victory on private finance deals
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Leaders of Britain's biggest union are celebrating what they see as a huge victory in the long battle over the use of private firms to run services and carry out work normally done by local councils.
The victory for Unison, the main public sector union, comes in a week when relations between the Labour Party and its traditional union backers seem to have hit rock bottom, with the normally loyal general union, GMB, refusing to put any more money into party headquarters.
Tomorrow, the local government minister, Nick Raynsford, will announce changes to the rules for private finance initiative (PFI) contracts, which are designed to protect employees from having their wages cut or working conditions worsened.
The announcement follows weeks of negotiations behind the scenes by Unison's leader, Dave Prentis.
The new rules will mean that when a council is deciding whether a bid for work from a private firm is value for money, it will not be allowed to count any undercutting of wages or work conditions as a point in the firm's favour. Unison is hoping this will mean that employees working on such contracts will get the same pay and conditions as full-time council staff.
Mr Raynsford will also announce the end of a system under which a council received more financial support from the Government if it put work out to a PFI contract than if the same job was done by council staff.
Mr Prentis called the decision a "breakthrough", which would "go a long way" towards allowing council workers to compete on equal terms with outside contractors.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments