Unions say "no" to privatisation

Government policies on part privatisation are creating industrial unrest in three of the sectors affected.

Delegates at the IPMS civil service union conference who work for the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) have voted for a strike ballot over the government's planned public-private partnership for NATS.

And at London Underground the 5 February strike by members of rail union ASLEF was followed by talks which led to the calling off of further action proposed for 12 and 19 February. The workers were concerned about safety under the public private partnership scheme proposed for the Tube by the government.

The dispute over the private finance initiative (PFI) in the health service at Dudley Group of Hospitals has now led to a further strike taking the total days on strike to over 100 since last August.

The 600 members of UNISON are fighting plans to privatise their jobs under the PFI scheme. Their latest three-week strike began on 11 February and includes a march on Saturday 3 March.

Meanwhile the dispute at the London Borough of Hackney over cuts in jobs and services led to a three-day strike at the end of January with further action planned by the 4,000 members of the UNISON, GMB and T&G unions.

And on Merseyside UNISON members in Knowsley took strike action on 1 February and again on 7 and 8 February over plans to cut the working week by two hours. They had voted by 77% in favour of industrial action.