Chapter 12

The labour dimension of
remunicipalisation: Public service
workers and trade unions intransition
by Daria Cibrario

Public service remunicipalisation involves and affects workers. Tradeunions are often key actors in the campaigns to bring municipal services
from private management or ownership back into the public domain. By
exposing to local authorities, service users and union members the evidenceof the human and social costs of privatisation, they frequently lead thediscourse in favour of reclaiming public services in the common interest.
Labour therefore plays a critical role in remunicipalisation processes,
both as a progressive force and key collective actor entrenched in the
fabric of the transferring services. However, the specific circumstancesand concerns faced by workers and trade unions undergoing private-topublic transitions are yet to be fully addressed.
Remunicipalisation is a complex process, and every case is unique tospecific local and national regulations, political and social movement
landscapes, and industrial relations systems. Each instance has its
specific challenges, which can include issues from the transfer of pay
and entitlements such as pension funds, leave and seniority to changes
in job descriptions or career development paths from a private to a publicorganisation. Moving the workforce across sectors can be complicatedwhen different legislations and collective agreements apply, or when thelaw is silent or unclear. Legal obstacles can stand in the way of transfers,
such as rules mandating workers to win a public competition to do thesame job in the public sector. There are also instances where unions

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in transition

are restricted to representing workers only in private or public sector
employment, but not in both. This could cause union membership loss
in a transition.
While awareness of the strategic importance and human rights imperativeof the labour dimension of any remunicipalisation process is increasing,1
the concrete challenges, workplace stories and lessons learned fromcompleted or ongoing private-to-public transition experiences remain
largely under-researched and at times misunderstood. As the number ofcases rises across continents and sectors, many public service workers’
and trade unions’ remunicipalisation stories are waiting to be told.
This chapter is part of Public Services International’s (PSI) ongoing
efforts to shed light on the growing union experience in this field, aiming
to lay the groundwork for successful remunicipalisation while avoiding
common pitfalls.2 For the purpose of this publication, it focuses on alimited sample of the many labour actions, challenges and issues thattypically remain under the remunicipalisation radar. It is largely basedon information obtained during interviews carried out by PSI with union
representatives directly involved in remunicipalisation cases.

Mobilising and building knowledge to challenge thepro-privatisation narrative
Trade unions have actively built and participated in remunicipalisation
campaigns by joining forces with civil society organisations to document
and expose the impact of privatisation on people and communities, whilebuilding a service user and citizen vision for the public services of the
future. Due to their workplace and community presence, unions are
traditionally strong at grassroots mobilisation. Thanks to their organisingcapabilities, they can mobilise their membership and use collective action
to trigger a discourse shift in some pro-privatisation environments.

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in transition

The use of reputable research centres, investigative journalism, academia
and participatory public hearings, along with the systematic documentation of workers’ stories, allows unions to expose the damage caused byprivatisation and inform the public and local authorities about the reality
behind the gloss – ultimately helping them make informed decisions on
the future of the service.

Case l: Exposing privatised waste workers’ abuse in Winnipeg (Canada)
When the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) wanted
to make the case for insourcing the city of Winnipeg’s municipal
waste collection services privatised 13 years earlier, the union
approached the province’s Manitoba Office of the Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives to expose the dramatic deterioration ofservice quality and the abuse endured by municipal waste workers
in the privatised services. The private contractor had hired truck
drivers to collect refuse, pushing them to accept a ‘bogus selfemployment’ scheme, shifting social security costs and relatedrisks onto them. Meanwhile, to staff the trucks these drivers often
hired day labourers who were sometimes paid in cash, could be
easily let go, and were subject to substandard working conditions.
Even if citizens and users perceived a deterioration of service
quality, they did not know what was going on.
The researcher reached out to the workers and many answered
the call. The Trashed3 report exposed the precariousness, poverty
wages, health and safety risks, and exploitation endured bymunicipal waste workers in Winnipeg’s privatised services. It also
shed light on the ethnic and social segregation underlying such
exploitation, as most subcontracted workers were Indigenous and/or had a criminal record and faced trouble finding better quality
employment. The publication had a serious impact, prompting

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reactions from Winnipeg City Council and making a strong casefor bringing Winnipeg waste services back in-house.4

Case ll: Australia’s ‘People’s Inquiry into Privatisation’
In 2016, ahead of a looming threat of even more public service
privatisation by then-Conservative government, Australian public
sector unions joined forces with civil society organisations andlaunched a national ‘People’s Inquiry into Privatisation’ – aparticipatory, transparent, grassroots and democratic assessmentof the consequences of 20 years of privatisation for people andcommunities. Unions and civil society allies approached three
independent, highly regarded investigators and launched a public
consultation that ran for 18 months across Australia.
Unions and civil society organisations did the grassroots
mobilisation through calls, flyers and social media to encouragecommunity participation, applying the same principles usedin door-to-door political campaigning and union organising.
People wishing to contribute and speak at the public hearings
could sign up on the website and at the venue. The inquiry built aparticipatory vision around a new generation of public services forthe people of Australia. It unveiled hard evidence of the ways thatprivatisation had damaged the lives of service users and workers,
as well as entire communities. This was the case for services forchildren with disabilities, vocational education and training, healthservices, and power generation and distribution. The inquiry brokethe dominant neoliberal pro-privatisation dogma, creating a morefavourable context in which to reclaim public service ownershipand management in Australia.5

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Keeping cohesion, overcoming union fragmentation
Trade unions are not monolithic, and many factors can affectremunicipalisation outcomes. Depending on the industrial relations
system, union membership in public services may be fragmented acrossseveral, sometimes competing, unions in the same workplace. In addition,
when a service involves multiple facilities, different union branches cancoexist at the same workplace. If privatisation and outsourcing only
affect parts of a service, membership can cut across public and private
status. Workers may be covered by different collective agreements andconditions. Some workers may not be union members or excluded fromcollective bargaining coverage, as can be the case for temporary or agency
workers in some jurisdictions.
A variety of corporate cultures and private company-specific labour conditions and benefits can affect workers’ perceptions of remunicipalisation.
In some countries, the transition from private to public services canbe welcome and bring with it considerably better conditions, stronger
employment protection and status. In other countries, it can be perceived
negatively as potentially representing a loss of status and lower pay andconditions. Private companies that stand to lose profitable and prestigious
contracts will lobby, seeking to influence the political process and theworkers. These intricate configurations can create divisive dynamics
among workers and unions in the same workplace, but also among
different branches of the same unions.
Finally, unions can have different views and political positions overremunicipalisation. Some may support it openly by taking a strong politicalstance, while others may consider it a policy choice of each individual
worker. Interests, positions and strategies over remunicipalisation candiverge among workers on the shop floor and their unions.

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Box lBehind the scenes of the Paris water remunicipalisation: thechallenges of union fragmentation
Prior to remunicipalisation and the creation of Eau de Paris as anintegrated water utility, Paris water services consisted of four
different companies: SAGEP and CRECEP6 (the water analysis laboratory) were under public control; private companies Veolia and
Eau et Force (a Suez subsidiary) provided water distribution services under 25-year lease contracts from the City of Paris. Union
membership was spread across 15 different local union branches:
CGT, UNSA, CFDT Interco, FO and CFE-CGC7 were among theunions representing the majority of the workers. These unions
had organisational differences: the CGT was mostly present at theworkplaces through plant-level union branches (syndicats d’établissement) and could negotiate with a certain autonomy fromits national federation. The CFDT Interco, on the other hand,
was organised as a sectoral local union (Syndicat des eaux d’Îlede-France) and was typically more closely accompanied by its
national federation in negotiations. On the political dimension of
remunicipalisation, the national CFDT Interco position was thata public service under private lease contract would be acceptableprovided there was effective control by the public authorities. The
CGT federation was openly in favour of returning water supply
to public ownership and wanted revenues from public water thatwere no longer paid out to shareholders to be reinvested in the
public utility.
Both federations supported workers in the transition, but many
were anxious about the remunicipalisation. Some rejected any
transfer to the public sector. This can be partially explained by
the fact that pay and conditions in French water services werecomparatively higher in the private companies at the time. Public

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in transition

sector job security was not a compelling argument because in
France workers who transfer from a private to public sector
company find themselves under a hybrid private law regime(régie publique) and do not enjoy the same level of job security as
full-fledged public servants (fonctionnaires titularisés). Different
workplace cultures, as well as how attached certain workers felt
to their companies, also played an important role. The union
federations produced materials giving employees the facts about
the transfer process according to French legislation and described
how the service would operate under public ownership, with theaim of reassuring employees and reducing any uncertainty overthe employment transitions.8
Experience shows that in these situations, it is crucial for union
federations

and

local

representatives

tomaintainregular,clear

communication and dialogue with workers on the shop floor over the
implications of the remunicipalisation process. Unions also need tosupport non-union workers in the transition, by reaching out to themahead of remunicipalisation. It is vital to put in place proactive two-way
communications and outreach to build maximum cohesion within union
ranks. National union federations are well placed to grasp the complexity
underpinning such processes, but local unions have a better understandingof how the workplace is organised. National federations can increase
the chances of a positive transition by supporting their local brancheswith strategic advice, resources, legal and communication services, andby reaching out to shop stewards, members, public authorities and the
media.

Organising through remunicipalisation
Public sector workplaces traditionally feature high rates of unionisation,
whereas privatisation often means weaker, atomised or no unions due
to job loss, outsourcing and the erosion of collective bargaining rights.9

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The labour dimension of remunicipalisation: Public service workers and trade unions
in transition

Privatisation can also force workers into different unions, depending on
labour legislation and union demarcations.
By moving from service profitability to service quality and embracing
societal goals, remunicipalisation can be an opportunity for unions toincrease membership, strengthen bargaining power and (re)build strong
union workplaces in public services.
Retaining membership and seizing the opportunity for growth in atransition means that unions have an interest to build a specific organisingangle into their remunicipalisation strategy. This is intertwined with thedialogue process and union cohesion approach referred to above, andwith the negotiation of a fair transition for all involved workers with thelocal authorities described in the following section.
In industrial relations systems where remunicipalisation implies a shift
in union jurisdiction and collective agreement coverage as workers movefrom the private to public sector, specific unions may lose members. In
such cases, cooperation, solidarity agreements and membership portability mechanisms can be explored as means to minimise or offset
adverse impacts and ensure the best possible union representation for
the transferred workers.

Case lll: Norwegian municipal workers’ union early outreach and organising of transferring workers
In 2017, when Oslo’s decision to remunicipalise waste services waslooming, the Fagforbundet local union set up a dedicated team anddeveloped a strategy to recruit the workers, many of whom were on
temporary contracts. The union team put together a comprehensive
list of the workers whose jobs were to be remunicipalised andestablished a visible local presence. They set up stands in frontof the workplace and made representatives available during

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in transition

the work shift. This meant private provider Vereino’s workers
could approach them, ask questions and join the union. Many
Vereino employees were immigrants and there were major
language barriers. Fagforbundet hired interpreters and organised
personalised meetings with them. The union prepared leafletsand materials in languages the workers spoke, to make sure they
were aware of the situation and their rights. This outreach effort
was also an opportunity to organise them: out of the 170 Vereino
workers, 80 joined the union before the remunicipalisation. Whenthe company went bankrupt and the City of Oslo internalised theservice, Fagforbundet had already achieved the power necessary tonegotiate a new collective agreement with the municipality.10

Fagforbundet local shop stewards approach Vereino workers to organize them into the union ahead of theimminent Oslo waste remunicipalisation. Photo credit: Fagforbundet

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The labour dimension of remunicipalisation: Public service workers and trade unions
in transition

Negotiating a fair private-to-public transition forworkers
Regardless of whether there is a clear legal framework underpinning achange from private to public sector, unions must seek to negotiate theterms of any employment transition with the public authorities taking
back control of the service. This is not a given, especially in countries
where union rights in the public sector are limited or constrained by law
or in practice, or where collective agreements exist at a national level but
local government-level bargaining is not enabled or practiced. In somecountries, local authorities and mayors have little power over public
service resources or do not see themselves as employers. They may favour
remunicipalisation as a political decision but will not necessarily see or
act on the implications of the labour dimension of the transition process.
Negotiating a fair transition for the workers and their unions is in everyone’s interest. It is a fundamental step to ensure that remunicipalisation
succeeds. In the immediate aftermath of a private-to-public transition,
the priority is to ensure service continuity or (re)establish capacity todeliver. This is a window of vulnerability. Any perception that the
remunicipalised service is less efficient than under private management
needs to be addressed, and social support needs to stay high until theprocess is completed. In addition, if workers are to deliver effective public
services, they must enjoy decent working conditions. They also need tohave a say over how the service will be run, as they have a unique view on
its operations and on user and citizen needs and expectations. Frontline
workers are usually best placed to know what competences, infrastructureand systems are needed or missing to ensure efficient delivery.11
The employment transition requires care, transparency and fairness,
which greatly contribute to creating a climate of trust from the moment
the insourced service begins to operate under public control. For thisreason, if a full re-hiring process is deemed necessary, all job posts for

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in transition

the remunicipalised service should be published as vacant and thosealready doing the work in the privatised service should be considered aspriority candidates.
From the union side, giving a strong and united mandate to representatives
at the bargaining table is recommended. This will help offset union
fragmentation, reconcile different workplace interests and ensure thatnegotiations with public authorities are practicable and effective.12 No
transitioning workers should remain excluded from collective agreement
coverage or find themselves in a legal limbo, and all workers should receive equitable treatment.13
Box llParis water: the challenges of negotiating a fair transition acrossmultiple companies
Prior to their consolidation into the Eau de Paris public utility, thefour companies had very different pay levels, working conditions
and benefits. Harmonising these provisions meant long and hardnegotiation of two agreements. The negotiations started in 2009
between the City of Paris and the two pre-existing companies underpublic control, SAGEP and CRECEP. The City of Paris expected theemployees of the various companies to be incorporated into thenew public utility as a result of the ownership transfer. However,the city had not fully anticipated the extent of the harmonisationand negotiation process required to ensure a fair transition for
all employees. Achieving fairness required the participationof all representative trade unions in the negotiations over theworkers’ employment transfer with the Paris public authorities.
The CGT launched a petition for this approach, collecting morethan 500 signatures of employees from all concerned companies.
Negotiations were then extended to union representatives of Veolia

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in transition

and Eau et Force. Many different representatives and interests
were around the table, and discussions were tense and complex.
A critical step was to go through different job descriptions acrossall four companies, agree on a merged classification system toidentify equivalent positions (fiche de transposition) and build asingle pay structure for Eau de Paris. The final harmonisationagreement was signed in 2011 and represented a major collective
achievement for all parties. The union elections that followed thesame year reduced the number of unions from 15 to eight.14

Conclusion: public services that work for the people,
including workers
There is a strong case for public authorities, public service users, citizens
and civil society organisations in favour of remunicipalisation to include
labour issues from the outset of a campaign; to properly engage at theearly stages with service workers and trade unions; and to maintain that
relationship throughout the negotiations. Ensuring a fair employmenttransition for public service workers and negotiating with their electedunion representatives should be viewed as an integral part of any
remunicipalisation checklist. Getting this right can be a deciding factor
in the overall success or failure of a remunicipalisation initiative.
Remunicipalisation is also an opportunity to build an innovative societal
vision of quality public services that are participatory, democratic, andwork for people and their communities. That vision must include workers
and their trade unions. Whenever remunicipalisation of essential public
services can lead to a regular stream of income, such as in the case of water
services, it presents an unparalleled chance to leverage public ownershipto pioneer new, progressive staff management and worker participation
practices while creating quality employment in local communities, allwhile delivering universal access to quality public services.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daria Cibrario is Policy Officer at Public Services International (PSI), in charge of Local and Regional Governments
and Multinational Enterprises. Prior to this role, Daria
served as Political Secretary for the Food and Drink sector
at the European Federation of Food, Tourism and Agriculture Trade Unions in Brussels and as International Officer
for the Food and Drink sector at the International Union ofFood Workers in Geneva. She holds a Master’s in Politics ofthe World Economy from the London School of Economics.

Endnotes
1

See Kishimoto, S. and Petitjean, O. (2017) Reclaiming Public Services. How cities and citizens
are turning back Privatisation. Amsterdam: TNI. https://www.tni.org/files/publication-down-loads/reclaiming_public_services.pdf.

2

PSI held a Global Labour Remunicipalisation Conference on 4-5 December 2018.
http://www.world-psi.org/en/psi-global-labour-remunicipalisation-workshop-geneva

3

Smirl, E. (2018) Trashed: How Outsourcing Municipal Solid Waste Collection Kicks Workers to
the Curb. EBC in Labour Issues, 6 February. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives-Manitoba. https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/
Manitoba%20Office/2018/02/Trashed.pdf

4Author’s interview with M. McLean, Research Representative, Canadian Union of Public
Employees, Manitoba Regional Office, Canada, 27 September 2018.

5

Author’s interview with M. Whaites, Sub-Regional Secretary for Oceania, PSI, 9 August 2018;
People’s Inquiry into Privatisation (2016) Taking back control. A community response to
privatisation. https://www.peoplesinquiry.org.au/report

6

Société anonyme de gestion de l’eau de Paris and Centre de recherche, d’expertise et decontrôle des eaux de Paris, today Laboratoire de l’eau de Paris.

7

Confédération générale du travail, Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, Confédérationfrançaise démocratique du travail intérieur et collectivités, Force ouvrière, Confédérationfrançaise de l’encadrement.

8

Author’s interview with B. Fasola, CFDT Interco Federation, 6 September 2018; and with R.
Montbobier, CGT Eau de Paris, 12 July 2018.

9

Hall, D. (2015) Why public-private partnerships don’t work. The many advantages of the
public alternative. Greenwich, UK: PSIRU.

10Interview with U. Bjerregaard Moe, Fagforbundet by Kjetil Vevle, Fagforbundet and PSI, 5September 2018. Also see the Chapter 1 in this book: ‘Norway: Bankruptcy sparks more than
100 cases of remunicipalisation’.

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11

Le Strat, A. (2015) ‘Une victoire face aux multinationales. Ma bataille pour l’eau de Paris’,
Les Petits Matins, p. 157.

12

Author’s interview with R. Montbobier, CGT Eau de Paris, 12 July 2018.

13

Author’s interview with B. Fasola, CFDT Interco Federation, 6 September 2018.

14

Author’s interview with R. Montbobier, CGT Eau de Paris, 12 July 2018; and with B. Fasola,
CFDT Interco Federation, 6 September 2018.

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