“It isn’t over yet,” say Barnet UNISON, after the council announced a deal to outsource jobs and services to Capita.
Around 520 Barnet council staff have been told today that private company Capita is to be their new employer.
From figures released in presentations, approximately 57% of staff will face redundancy as local jobs are exported to Belfast, Blackburn, Bromley, Carlisle, Darwen, Sheffield, Banstead, Swindon and Southampton.
For the last four years, UNISON has warned of the danger of jobs being exported out of Barnet, but leading councillors and senior officers have either played down this risk or discounted it as irrelevant.
Branch secretary John Burgess said: “It is a dark, dark day in the history of Barnet council. Staff and residents will remember this date as the day the council carried on marching over the cliff ignoring the stark warnings of residents and other key stakeholders
“The implications for our members are awful. I thought the morale of the workforce had already hit rock bottom – this news I believe will drag it down deeper and it will have an impact on other council staff.
“I also fear for the impact on future quality of services to Barnet residents. I really hope councillors will think again about the implications of what they are proposing and the risks of ignoring a growing and dissenting community voice emerging from a resilient committed community campaign.”
But Mr Burgess added: “It isn’t over yet, there is an alternative way to delivering public services and our campaign is still very alive and focused. Watch this space.”
Find out more on the Barnet UNISON website and follow them on Twitter.
