Unison wants Norwich council to bring services back 'in-house'

A union has urged Norwich City Council to bring street cleaning and maintenance work back 'in house'

A union has urged a council to bring street cleaning and maintenance work back "in-house".

Unison says Norwich City Council contracts out housing maintenance, street sweeping and council office cleaning services to Norwich City Services - a council-owned company.

The union said the outsourcing policy meant some workers were paid "thousands less" than others.

A council spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Unison said staff had been "transferred from employer to employer" over the last two decades as the contract had changed hands - leaving "multiple sets of terms and conditions".

The union wants councillors to back a Green Party motion, at a meeting on Tuesday, calling on leaders to look at the financial implications of bringing services back in-house.

'Worse pay'

"We've been transferred from employer to employer over the last few years, seeing new colleagues recruited on much worse pay, conditions and pensions than they would have had if employed by the council," said Unison representative Nigel Newman.

"That takes money out of the local economy and makes the individual worker feel second-class.

"After all this time these workers need to be employed directly by the city council and have a bit more security, fair pay and pensions."

Unison's eastern regional organiser Cameron Matthews added: "There's growing evidence that council services are best when they're run by local councils rather than private companies.

"Outsourcing isn't just unfair on underpaid staff, it leads to worse services for Norwich residents.

"Councillors have the opportunity to put this right and start looking at better ways to run housing repairs and street cleaning in Norwich. We urge them to take it."