Received from: Unite
Merged into composite 07
Congress deplores Carillion’s corporate greed and various ‘enablers’.
The recent TUC report ‘What Lessons can we Learn From Carillion?’ exposed the extent to which private companies running public services put short-term
shareholder interests above the proper stewardship of public services, the wellbeing of workers who provide them, and the needs of communities that depend on them.
A Smith Institute report found that outsourcing has weakened employees’ bargaining rights, further fragmented services, cut productivity, clouded accountability and damaged public service. PFI is now recognised as the costliest form of contracting.
Congress demands a new approach that puts public interest and public service at the heart of decision-making.
Congress calls on the General Council to campaign for:
i. an inquiry that lifts the veil obscuring the collapse of Carillion
ii. all commissioning decisions to be based on a public interest test with clear criteria and in-house provision as the default
iii. the government to compile a comprehensive record of significant contracts across the public sector and enable central oversight of companies across multiple contracts
iv. providers of public services to provide details of supply chains, company ownership and governance structures, employment, remuneration and tax
policies and practices
v. reform of directors’ duties to require promotion of the long-term success of the company as their primary aim
vi. the government to extend joint and several liability laws so that workers can bring claims for employment abuses against any contractor in the supply chain
vii. an end to the use of PFI/PFI2 models for the delivery of public infrastructure projects.
Unite