Iron Angle: What about the workers?
Nov 12 2010 By Paul Dale
They haven’t yet hoisted the red flag over Birmingham Council House, but the latest attempt to avoid job cuts – or, at least, to buy a bit of time before the inevitable hits home – smacks more of socialism than something you might expect from a Conservative-led local authority.
More than 4,000 staff, mainly low-paid women, are to be invited to set up their own workers’ co-operative in an attempt to challenge the private sector in the apparently cut-throat business of providing school meals, cleaning classrooms, caretaking, music lessons and outdoor learning activities.
Of course, it’s not really an invitation, more of an offer they can’t refuse.
As things stand, many of the 4,000 jobs are at risk of disappearing largely because the services provided by the council are hugely expensive, do not meet the requirements of today’s children and cannot compete with private sector rivals.
So, even though cabinet members were assured that Birmingham’s school meals services is second to none, etc, etc, and that you wouldn’t find better cooks anywhere in the world, quite a few head teachers don’t see it that way. They are saving money by getting rid of council school dinner ladies and relying on ready-meals shipped in by local providers at half the cost.
The city’s children’s director Tony Howell put it succinctly: “Unless radical action is taken to make these services more efficient and competitive then it is inevitable they will wither on the vine.”
Quite so. But what Mr Howell didn’t quite get around to explaining was just how the workers’ co-op might increase efficiency and become more competitive. There’s only one way, really, and that is to reduce overheads, which generally means cutting wages, or staff, or both.
Perish the thought that this might be an example of the council offloading a sizeable number of employees (almost 20 per cent of the schools-based workforce), abandoning them Captain Bligh-style in a small boat with precious few rations to find their own way to safety.
Les Lawrence, the Tory cabinet member for schools, who some people suspect of being slightly to the left of the Labour Party, almost came over all dewy-eyed when explaining the virtues of such an “exciting prospect”.
All employees would have an equal share of the business, although they would not be able to sell their shares or make a profit, of course. But they would have every opportunity to influence the future shape and delivery of services, something which for some strange reason Coun Lawrence believes they could not do if they remained in the council’s employment.
What is being proposed here is an arm’s-length trading organisation, which the council is choosing to dress up romantically as a workers’ co-operative. It will be free of direct council control, succeeding or failing on the strength of its own business plan.
