Union opposition to Big
Society reforms

The Australian union movement is gearing up to oppose reforms to the delivery of public services based on the ‘Big Society’ philosophy being following in the United Kingdom, with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) leading the charge.
   ‘Big Society’ involves removing responsibility for delivery of public services from Public Service agencies and contracting with charities and volunteers to take them on instead.
Fears UK scheme might spread

   National Secretary of the CPSU, Nadine Flood said the Big Society reforms were about slashing the Public Service and would be strongly opposed.
   “Once you cut through the warm and fuzzy local empowerment rhetoric, ‘Big Society’ in the UK has been a massive smash and grab exercise,” Ms Flood said, “cutting vital jobs and services from the public while delivering billions to huge multinationals.”
   She said ‘Big Society’ was “simply a Trojan horse” where large-scale job cuts paved the way for multinational companies to “come in and clean up by providing low-cost and low-grade services to the public”.
   “It has failed in the UK,” she said.
   “Up to 60,000 jobs in the public sector have gone.”
   Ms Flood called for a guarantee that vital public services would not be run into the ground and said the CPSU was “appalled” that the recent Commission of Audit report in Queensland had recommended massive outsourcing.
Edition 353, 19 March 2013
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