Contracted-out staff see improvements

Working conditions are to improve for thousands of staff in contracted-out public services.

Earlier this month, public services unions UNISON and the GMB struck a deal with contractor Jarvis in Kirlees over pay for 42 school maintenance workers and caretakers, who had threatened to strike because they were being paid less than their counterparts who remained council staff.

The deal is worth between £1,000 and £2,000 per employee, putting them on similar terms to those of council staff.

Also this month, UNISON and Liberata - which runs a number of outsourced local government contracts - reached an agreement for the company's 4,000 staff that "enshrines the key principles of the Best Value Code of conduct on the two-tier workforce", according to UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.