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• No compromises on health and safety under the guise of cutting bureaucracy, says Unite
• Last minute plea to chancellor over cuts to charity income
• Government’s skewed priorities on NHS pay, says Unite
• Unite to stage mass demonstration against Southampton city council's imposed cuts
• Church of England urged ‘to smell the coffee’ over employment rights, following landmark ruling in Cornwall
• Eric Pickles sends local authority workers on race to the bottom
• ‘Manufacturing is the lifeblood of our economy’, says Unite
• Budget should kick-start a coherent strategy for manufacturing
• Unite urges the Bank of England to continue its balancing act
• The politics of vagueness haunts NHS ‘privatisation’ bill, says Unite

Eric Pickles sends local authority workers on race to the bottom

22 March 2011

Unite, Britain's biggest union, has accused communities secretary Eric Pickles of sending local authority workers on outsourced contracts on a "race to the bottom" following his announcement that he intends to scrap the local authority two-tier code.

The two-tier code protects the rights and terms and conditions of new recruits working in outsourced local authority contracts from being eroded.

Unite national officer Peter Allenson said: "Eric Pickles is sending local authority workers on outsourced contracts on a race to the bottom. The two-tier code provided protection to workers from private providers looking to cut costs by attacking terms and conditions. Thanks to Eric Pickles local authorities now risk having third party providers competing on staff costs rather than the quality of service they provide.

"Thatcher's compulsory competitive tendering in the 1980s was a complete disaster and was scrapped, Eric Pickles is repeating exactly the same mistakes all over again. The Tory-led government has not learned the lessons of the past."

ENDS

Contact Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315