Hacking threatens health
25 June 2024
A cyberattack on outsourced testing services in London has significantly affected patients. Resources for IT security do not match the risks of future attacks.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing
Barts NHS victory reverses outsourcing
7 March 2022
London health workers have won a significant victory against outsourcing. Facilities management workers at Barts Health NHS Trust, but employed by Serco, will re-join the NHS.
Long-term commitment to Barnoldswick site confirmed
24 January 2021
Rolls-Royce has confirmed its commitment to the long-term future of the Barnoldswick site by guaranteeing that it will remain as a manufacturing facility for the next ten years.
Barnoldswick strike yields 'landmark deal'
10 January 2021
Nine weeks of strike action at the Rolls-Royce factory in Barnoldswick have been suspended as the workforce considered what their union calls a “landmark deal” to secure the future of the site.
Rolls-Royce comes back for more redundancies
4 December 2020
Aerospace workers at Barnoldswick, Lancashire, who have been striking in defence of jobs, have been further hit by further proposed job losses by employer Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce workers take up the fight for engineering
Rolls-Royce workers at in Lancashire are to strike for three weeks in November against the company’s plan to move production offshore.
Sellafield strikers unite against harassment
2 May 2019
The Unite union says it will defend harassed members employed by troubled outsourcing giant Mitie on the Sellafield contract.
Contracting: Uncompetitive practices
Research by the GMB union shows that the value of taxpayer-funded contracts - including central and local government - given to outsourcing companies increased by 53 per cent last year to £95 billion.
Contracting Out - Interserve quizzed
The Institute for Government think tank has published a report warning that handing so much government business to only a few large strategic suppliers is a risky strategy.
Carillion's £5m school bill
A school which cost £18.6 million to rebuild six years ago by Carillion needs to spend £5 million on repairs – including fixing some 300 holes in its roof.
Carillion crash leaves school with £5 million bill
8 August 2018
A school which cost £18.6 million to rebuild six years ago needs to spend £5 million on repairs – including fixing some 300 holes in its roof.
Outsourcing: the vultures feeding off billions
The tsunami of outsourcing over the past decade has led to a culture of rotten business practices. When the merry-go-round finally comes to an end, it’s the workers and the public who are left to pay the bill…
Public service, private chaos
Over 20,000 workers are finding themselves in the role of sacrificial lambs on the altar of the private provision of public services following the collapse of Carillion.
Click to enlist? Oops...
28 January 2018
The government’s attempt to recruit solely by online application has failed despite spending over £1.3 billion on a computer system run by Britain’s largest outsourcing IT company.
Carillion: over the precipice
15 January 2018
Carillion the construction and facilities management services company has collapsed into liquidation, as we predicted in October 2017. This is a failure of the “free” market and capitalist dogma: its workers and those who use its services will suffer.
Privateers survive by state subsidies
27 October 2017
The Carillion construction and outsourcing giant is not alone in crisis. Other major privatisation and outsourcing companies – Mitie, Interserve Capita – now also face a perilous situation of their own making,
Carillion on the brink
16 October 2017
Carillion, a British company running construction and facilities management services across the globe, posted a £1.5 billion loss in the first half of 2017. This has been followed by a retreat from outsourced and private contracting across the Middle East, North America and Britain.
Camden wardens break through 'living wage' barrier
20 October 2015
Traffic wardens working for outsourcing company NSL in Camden, north London, have agreed a settlement which breaks through the ceiling of the “London living wage” and avoids the need for further strike action.
Victory for Sheffield electricians
22 December 2014
Unite electricians based at Amey Council Work depot Olive Grove Sheffield have settled their dispute, winning a 3.7 per cent pay rise, reports Sheffield Trades Council.
Outsourced electricians to strike over terms and conditions
30 November 2014
Electricians employed by Amey who were outsourced from Sheffield City Council 18 months ago will be on strike tomorrow in a dispute over terms and conditions.
Zero hours: Interesting definitions…
In response to a query from Unison, service company ISS has provided an interesting definition of zero hours contracts.
Newspapers: Hitting back at the hub
Industrial action is sweeping through Newsquest papers as journalists strike back against pay restraint, job loss and plans to move editorial production to a central hub in South Wales.
Wardens at the crossroads
Nothing contributes more to demoralisation than a badly planned, deliberately misleading and directionless dispute. The NSL Unison members are going to have to do some hard thinking about those who have treated them like cannon fodder.