UNISON believes that public services belong in public ownership. It’s time to bring services home.
UNISON members have seen first-hand the negative impact of outsourcing on service quality, staff terms and conditions and investment.
We deserve better.
Better terms & conditions – Bringing public services in-house means that staff will have access to appropriate terms and conditions. These would include better leave entitlements, decent pay and access to adequate pension schemes.
Better public services – Everyone is working for one employer to provide the best possible experience for your service users. Uniting all employees under one publicly owned body will mean services are provided in a cohesive way.
Better accountability – Having one employer means that there is clear responsibility. This could be through elected councillors, an NHS trust board or education governing body. This means clear oversight and accountability and the ability to be responsive to the changing needs of service users.
Better investment – Private companies delivering local services want to make a profit. We don’t think that taxes should be going to shareholders – it should be reinvested in making our services better.
Better equality at work – outsourced workers are more likely to be women, Black workers, and migrants. UNISON believes that everyone should have access to decent pay, terms and conditions whatever their identity. By insourcing contracts we can help to make our workplaces fairer and more equal.
Better union recognition – UNISON wants to make sure that employers listen to their staff and the union representatives. Bringing services home into public ownership should strengthen our collective voice.
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea feels it is vital that public service are under public ownership:
Our campaign
Everyone deserves high quality public services and we believe this can best be delivered through public ownership.
Case study 1: Meet Chris Akaluka, one of the UNISON Branch Secretaries at Barts Health NHS Trust. Chris and his colleagues explain how they ran their insourcing campaign.
Case study 2: Hear from Lesley Miller and her colleagues at Chorley and South Ribble Local Government Branch. A short version is also available to share via social media.
Explore our range of resources and guides available to help you get involved:
- This short summary sets out an organising approach to insourcing:
- Visit our Bringing Services Home e-note where you can find out more about insourcing and why it’s important for our members and public services:
- Visit our online shop to find campaigning materials such as leaflets, placards and stickers for use in your branch:
- Spread the word on social media using our digital assets below – make sure to use the hashtag #BringingServicesHome:
- Listen to our podcast where we find out how the UNISON Neath Port Talbot branch worked to bring leisure services in-house
