How the decontamination threat was averted - lessons from UNISON's successful campaign

In the wake of their successful campaign to stop the privatisation of Sterile Services departments across the south west, UNISON South West has published a review of the campaign they ran. It is an excellent guide to how a union should go about campaigning to defend public services.

We publish here several of the key lessons of the campaign -

- Get involved in any formal groups set up by the public body. UNISON accepted a place on the Human Resources group established by the NHS Trusts and attended the meetings of it. While the group had no power, it enabled the UNISON rep Graham Parrish to gather information "about the project, the bid parameters and...the companies who were bidding". They also attended meetings with the companies involved, which enabled them to analyse the likely consequences for staff and understand the weaknesses of the scheme.

- Establish links with other relevant unions, branch officials and stewards and the staff concerned themselves. An email list was established for quick and easy communication and use was made of video conferencing facilities to share information and coordinate action.

- Meetings were arranged with workers (members and non-members) to "advise them on their rights and to establish their views on the possible transfer and to involve them in campaigning".

- A detailed case was built up against the proposal, including the impact on staff, clinical standards, practicalities, the environment and finances.

- A public campaign was built and the media was used to promote the cause. Information was fed to the BBC who covered the issue on the national news.

- The case was made to professional bodies, such as the Royal College of Nursing, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Surgeons. These bodies all came out either in outright opposition to the plans or expressing serious reservations.

- A petition was established, in hard copy and on the internet.

- MPs were lobbied, including Health Minister and Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw.

- The argument was made FOR the present arrangement, in terms of its effectiveness and financially.

- A Freedom of Information request was put in which established the £1 million pound bribe the Department of Health was offering Trusts in order to buy them over to the scheme.

- An Equality Impact assessment was sought from the Trusts identifying the impact on the predominantly female and part-time workforce.

- Attempts were made to influence Trusts, and Trust board members. This helped the campaign to find out which Trusts were unconvinced by the scheme, providing a morale boost and information to build the case against the plans.

- The postcard scheme got all staff and the public involved, providing for Trust Chief Executives the arguments of the campaign, as well as illustrating the strength of feeling.

As the attempt to 'outsource' Sterile Supplies is a national policy, UNISON South West has sent it's reflections on the campaign to other areas still facing the threat.

The menace of privatisation stalks all the public sector though, and hopefully the lessons of a successful campaign can help in other areas also.

Critical to supplementing the industrial struggles will be a political voice for the working class, in the form of a new workers' party, which could link all these excellent campaigns together and campaign for an end to privatisation and cuts in the public sector, and for public services to be democratically run in the public sector for people's needs, not private greed.