Unison members in Barnet are staging a 48-hour strike today and tomorrow over plans to outsource around 80 per cent of local authority services provided.

The dispute is one of major significance for the labour movement as the Tory council tries to impose its so-called EasyCouncil model.

Barnet is seen as a flagship council for this model and, if successful, it could be rolled out to other cash-strapped local authorities as part of an ideological attack on public services.

Barnet Unison members’ 87 per cent vote in favour of strike action sees the one of the first waves of industrial action following the announcement of plans for draconian anti-trade union measures, restricting the right to strike by imposing thresholds for strike ballots.

Six years ago Barnet Council introduced a policy known as Future Shape, which morphed into the EasyCouncil model.

This imposed a series of tariffs on residents wishing to access a range of services.

A basic service would be offered to residents at a fixed price, but “fast-track” services might be available if you paid extra.

This approach was quickly abandoned by the consultant-driven One Barnet Programme, which led to numerous council services being outsourced or privatised in the space of three years.

What’s been outsourced/privatised?

• Social care for adults with disabilities have been transferred to Your Choice Barnet, which has already seen industrial action over cuts to pay and terms and conditions. This is an example of what happens once services have been outsourced. Workers see their pay cut and there is a poorer service due to cuts.
• The Housing Options service, which provided housing advice and applications, has been transferred to Barnet Homes.
• Parking services have been transferred to NSL.
• Revenues & benefits, IT, HR & payroll, pensions, health & safety, finance, estates, property services and procurement are all now part of Capita CSG.
• Environmental health, planning, building control, Hendon Cemetery & Crematorium, highways, trading standards & licensing are all now run by Capita RE.
• Also facing outsourcing or privatisation are: Legal services, registrars & nationality services, CCTV, public health services and mortuary services.

Workers on the brink and yet more services under threat

Over the past three years our members have seen hundreds of colleagues transferred to other employers. 

This has often meant redundancy as the new employer has moved jobs out of London to places as far afield as Belfast, Carlisle, Coventry, Southampton and Darlington.

Now we are in the final phase for what remains of council services. Barnet has branded this final phase as the “commissioning council.”

Very few people know what this really means, but we do know it means that people working for the council now will no longer be working for the council in the future.

On March 3 Barnet Council agreed its next five Commissioning Plans, all of which are looking at “alternative delivery models” — jargon for working for a different employer. In other words, privatisation.

The council services now at risk of outsourcing are:

• Early years — 13 children’s centres
• Library services
• Adult & communities services
• Street scene services, eg waste & recycling, street cleansing, parks and transport
• Education & skills and school meals services

Action of last resort: The council bosses who refuse to listen

BARNET Unison has made numerous, well-documented attempts to speak to the council.

However our voice has been drowned out by expensive consultants who appear to have been running the council for all this time.

We exhausted the internal procedures to try and avoid having to register a dispute. We finally declared a formal dispute with the council on December 4 last year.

Despite this, on January 12 Barnet Council made a decision to put education & skills and school meals services out for sale.

Three big multinational contractors are now bidding to win a contract valued at almost £1 billion.

We are still waiting for the council to return to the negotiating table but time is marching on and there are no signs that this is going to be happening any time soon.

• Our members want to work for the council, they want to be directly accountable to the residents of Barnet
• Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will have to place the shareholders’ legal demands before local residents’ needs
• Our members don’t want to work for an employer which uses zero-hours contracts
• Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will not pay the London living wage as a basic minimum
• Our members don’t want to work for an employer which won’t allow their colleagues to belong to their pension scheme
• Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will take jobs out of the borough

That’s why 87 per cent of our members working for the council voted Yes to taking strike action.

• John Burgess is branch secretary of Barnet Unison.

A library worker’s view

Library workers are taking strike action to defend their jobs and the library service. Barnet Council plans to privatise our libraries or to hand them over to a “mutual” or, in some cases, have them run by “community groups.” 

Some libraries may be closed, and most will be reduced to 540 square feet in size. Libraries will be unstaffed for two-thirds of their opening hours, with under-16s being denied access without an adult during these times. 

Even when libraries are staffed, numbers will be reduced by as much as a third of their present levels.

Libraries will become little more than book collection points. The choice of items to borrow or view will be reduced as libraries are shrunk. Study areas, meeting places, events and activities such as story times for toddlers will be cut due to lack of space and staff. Advice and help from experienced and qualified library staff will be limited as they are replaced by volunteers and self-service machines. 

Unstaffed libraries may deter many people from visiting as there will be no-one to deal with emergencies or anti-social behaviour.

Library workers and other council staff are only taking strike action after the employers have failed to seriously negotiate with us on the future of council services. We ask for your support as we defend our and your libraries.

• Hugh Jordan is Unison convener for library services.