Joe Higgins Debates Jim Power

NI Executive privatises schools
8 May 2009

The Northern Ireland Executive, via the Department of Education and Department of Finance & Personnel, has authorised the privatisation of schools across Belfast as part of the Belfast Education and Library Board Strategic Partnership, which is the biggest Public Private Partnership (PPP) project in Northern Ireland.

This contract gives exclusive rights to Amey FMP, a consortium of several private companies, to design, construct and manage all new capital works carried out by the BELB for the next 7-10 years.

A long list of schools have already been targeted to be taken over by Amey FMP such as Belfast Model for Girls, Belfast Boys’ Model, Grosvenor GS, Ashfield Girls' School, Orangefield PS, Ravenscroft NS, Glendhu NS, Strandtown Primary School, Glenwood Primary School, Victoria Park Primary School, Taughmonagh Primary School, Springhill Primary School and Edenderry Nursery School.

Similar PPP takeovers of schools has led to community anger in many parts of Britain where the private companies have put profits over the educational needs of children and the community. A campaign of opposition should be mounted by local communities, parents and education trade unions to keep profiteers out of education and demand the Assembly Executive reverses this decision.

Re-nationalise NIE
By Warren McCullough

How many of you as NIE customers realise that you are paying for a £24million computer and administrative system that is lying idle?
The quango that is the Utility Regulator set this system up two years ago to create a domestic electricity market in Northern Ireland, supposedly to introduce ‘competition’. The cost of this farce is being shouldered by households who are paying around £100 more than they were at this time last year. On top of this the Utility Regulator has squandered over £6million on ‘consultant’ fees. The result of all this is Northern Ireland has the highest electricity prices throughout Ireland and Britain, with price increases of 42% since last year! The Utility Regulator is a joke. You can be sure he hasn’t had to choose whether to eat or heat. Single people, single parents, unemployed families, struggling working families, have all had to make these choices. The worst hit were our pensioners, more than 500 perished because of the incompetence of those who are supposed to help us. Maybe it is time the Socialist Party had a more permanent presence outside the Regulator’s office.

Sacked for demanding decent conditions
By Padraig Mulholland, NIPSA General Council (personal capacity)

Floors splashed with urine from over flowing toilets, leaking boots, men and women sharing changing rooms and short pay! These are some of the grievances that drove more than 20 Belfast based NCP (now NSL Limited) workers to reach the end of their tether and stop work for half a day during April.
In response, their employers didn’t do what you would expect. They didn’t look into the issues, try to understand the feeling of the workers and attempt to resolve these grievances; instead they promptly suspended them, disciplined them, sacked them and threatened legal action against their union, NIPSA.

The workers are currently going through the NCP appeal process against their sacking but given the attitude of the company so far they don’t expect a positive outcome.  Faced with such a fundamental attack on the right of workers and their union, the whole trade union movement and all workers must rally and fight back against the company.

NSL Limited has been contracted to carry out work for the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Department for Regional Development. The Department and the Assembly must be forced to intervene and resolve this issue by making it clear that they do not support such draconian behaviour and will bring the service back under the direct control of the public service to be run democratically in the interest of public safety not profit. Until that happens this company must be forced to

• Reinstate the sacked workers

• Enforce Health and Safety law
• Immediately improve the terms and conditions of these workers

This is the first time Thatcher’s laws have been used in Northern Ireland to sack public sector workers whose jobs have been privatised. The whole trade union movement should rally to ensure it is the last.

NIPSA Annual Conference 2009 – The key issues
By Brian Booth, NIPSA General Council (personal capacity)

NIPSA’s annual general conference kicks off on Tuesday 26 May 2009 in the Slieve Donard Hotel in what will be a very important four days in dictating what this union does in the year ahead for its members. With unrelenting attacks on public services happening on a daily basis, now more than ever NIPSA needs to be best placed to defend its members, and this can begin to happen by the endorsement of some key motions coming up at conference.

Motions 1 and 2, RPA/Public Service Defence Campaign:
NIPSA must effectively fight against cuts. The endorsement of these motions, particularly Motion 2 will equip members to be in a better position to resist these attacks. NIPSA must be able to respond quickly and effectively, rather than the resorting to the tactic of a rearguard approach.

Composite Motion No 12, Adoption of a Political Fund:
All the political parties in the Assembly Executive are implementing policies of cuts and privatisation. NIPSA needs to assist the process of building a non-sectarian political alternative which opposes the right-wing agenda of the parties in Stormont. Members should support this motion to enable funds of the unions to be used to politically challenge the parties carrying out cuts and privatisation.

Composite Motion No 51, Election of Officials:
NIPSA requires now more than ever greater democracy. The union bureaucracy has consistently opposed giving the membership more say in the running of the union. This union belongs to the members, and members in empowering themselves should support the motion to elect all negotiating officials. We also believe that all officials should be on a workers wage, not on senior management salaries. 

Composite motion No52, Branch Funds:
The Socialist Party supports the shifting of some of the unions resources from its Headquarters to the branches by allowing branches to hold funds for campaigning purposes.

Unison leaders challenged for political discrimination
Pat Lawlor, former Unison nursing convenor in the RVH, is continuing his fight against the decision by the right wing Unison leadership to expel him from the union. Pat’s “crime” was to send an email supporting the 2007 strike by NIPSA Classroom Assistants and criticising the local Unison leadership for failing to involve Unison members in this action.
The real reason for his expulsion is that, as a member of the Socialist Party, Pat stands for a democratic fighting union leadership that really defends the interests of members, and, as such, represents a threat to the unelected right wing officials who are the real power at the head of the union. Pat is taking his case that he was expelled because of his socialist political views to an Industrial Tribunal. Unison leaders here make much of their commitment to equality. This will all be exposed as a sham if they are found to have discriminated against one of their own activists because of his political views. Whatever the outcome, Pat’s case has highlighted the need for Unison members to build a campaign to democratise this union and put the members back in charge.