Blog: Continuing the fight against privatisation

The privatisation of public services has been nothing short of a catastrophic failure. Successive governments of various political stripes have sold off services to the highest bidder, and it’s the public and those who support them who’ve been the hardest hit.

UNISON has always been at the forefront of the fight against privatisation – and for public services delivered by the public sector, not for private profit. For decades we have fought the rising tide of profiteering at the expense of decent jobs, decent pay and decent services.

Hardly a month goes by without another report showing that privatisation has either failed one community or another, led to a serious deterioration in the quality of services, cost the taxpayer millions or given workers a bad deal. And you only have to look at what’s happening in Northamptonshire County Council to see the logical end of the ideological obsession with outsourcing.

That’s why, in the coming days, we’re taking the fight against privatisation to the TUC, alongside motions on the Windrush Generation and the need for better mental health services.

Now, more than ever, we have a chance to push back against private profit in public services – and in favour of public need. In Manchester next week, we will continue to fight for just that.