Union-negotiated protections against outsourcing in the civil service and elsewhere will remain in place if the proposed new public service agreement is accepted in ballots of union members.

Fórsa’s Civil Service Division is currently using the mechanisms to fight outsourcing proposals in the Attorney General’s office, (see below) and in social protection where management wants to use external services for telephony.

In the talks that led to the proposed deal late last week, the management side sought to do away with the protections. But Fórsa said they would not agree proposals unless the safeguards remained in place.

The protections include requirements on employers to present a ‘business case’ if they want to outsource a service or part of a service, and to consult with staff representatives.

Crucially, employers are forbidden to include labour costs in any business case, which means they can’t embark on a ‘race to the bottom’ of pay and working conditions.

Fórsa’s head of civil service, Derek Mullen, said the protections were a brake on management efforts to outsource work that should be done by civil servants.

“Without the labour cost provision, most business cases would support outsourcing on the basis of minimum wage and rock-bottom workers’ rights.

The continuation of these safeguards in a new agreement are therefore vital in the union’s fight to oppose privatisation in the civil service,” he said.

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