Following revelations that the ACT Government’s major outsourcing project (Total Facilities Management) is unaffordable, unions are calling on the government to consider insourcing services, including direct employment.
The “asset management” services within “Total Facilities Management” include maintenance and cleaning services, which are industries characterised by insecure, casualised jobs, and low wages.
The experience of 30 years of outsourcing through Total Facilities Management demonstrates the failure of this model: the result is lower wages, worse services, and a democratic deficit as contracts are centralised with a single large multinational corporation.
The following quotes are attributable to Alex White, secretary of UnionsACT:
“The ACT Government should take an ‘insource-first’ approach, with a preference for direct employment of workers such as cleaners.
“It is no longer acceptable for substantial functions of government to be handed over to unaccountable, tax-avoiding multinational corporations with terrible safety and industrial relations records.
“Direct employment is a more effective, efficient and affordable means to provide services like cleaning for government-owned assets, compared to outsourcing to multinational corporations.
“UnionsACT believes the Government should now consider bringing these jobs back into the public service.”
