Demonstration against mass privatisation by London Borough of Bromley

SERTUC was proud to join 400 union members, residents of the London Borough of Bromley and community campaigners, marching against the proposed mass privatisation of council services at the ‘People and Services First’ march on Saturday 13 June – organised by Unite the Union. Union flags and banners on the march included Unite, Unison, GMB, CWU, RMT, TSSA and SERTUC, in addition to a fire engine provided by the FBU.

Steve Leggett, TSSA, SERTUC Executive Committee member and officer of Bromley Trades Council helped carry the SERTUC banner. He said that “It was a day of hope and resistance, with a fantastic level of support from a range of unions, from community campaign groups and from local residents, who were saying that this proposed privatisation is not in their name and not in their community’s interests.” Steve thought that the demonstration was easily the largest in Bromley since the mid 1980s.

The size of the attendance closed the road system in Bromley Town Centre yet there were innumerable expressions of support from motorists and pedestrians, as well as a well-timed fly past by the appropriately named Red Arrows.

The Conservative-run Council’s intention is to contract out most of its services to private companies, reducing the number of council employees from 4,000 to 300. (The same model of privatisation and outsourcing that Barnet Council advocates.)

Unite members in Bromley voted to take strike action in protest over the mass privatisation programme, against cuts to pay and conditions and against the withdrawal of facility time from the Unite trade union representative. Unite members have taken strike action to challenge the privatisation, including strikes 7 and 8 April, Unite members at adult services and transport workers were on strike from 10-15 June, library staff on strike from 13-20 June and a broader strike day 16 June.

Unite FTO Onay Kasab said: “Bromley Council is currently not a happy place to work, as the Tory ideologues are running amok in all directions with their privatisation folly, dismantling and privatising services that generations of Bromley residents have taken for granted. Bromley council’s mission to shrink local services to vanishing point will be challenged every step of the way.”  

Labour Councillors in Bromley have actively supported the strikers and the anti-privatisation campaigners.

Messages of support can be sent to Onay Kasab at Onay.Kasab@unitetheunion.org

Updates 

The dispute comes against the backdrop of a Fair Deal For Local Government campaign by Unite’s London and Eastern region. The campaign is aimed against privatisation and austerity in local government. The campaign is a set of proposals that Unite is putting to Councils in the region. It is a procurement strategy to ensure that quality services are maintained and that there is no ‘race to the bottom’ for pay and conditions post any transfer.