Swansea IT staff threaten strike action

Swansea Council IT staff are set to vote on strike action after a breakdown in talks over a new 10-year IT outsourcing contract.

The Unison union claims there has been no consultation with staff, no independent evaluation for providing the project in-house, and no business case for the entire project.

Swansea council is currently evaluating bids from ITNet and Capgemini for the 'Service@Swansea' project for desktop, infrastructure and application support; the integration of systems including CRM into its legacy systems; and a 'one-stop shop' website and contact centre for citizens using council services.

Jeff Baker, Unison regional officer, told silicon.com that the 100 council IT workers are at the "end of their tether".

"The whole thing has been designed from the beginning to favour privatisation. We have also got concerns about the strategic and cost implications," he said. "We have had difficulties consulting properly with the council from the beginning."

silicon.com first revealed the IT staff were unhappy with Swansea council's plans back in March, and Baker said management have repeatedly failed to consult during the process.

"The first our members were aware of the project was when they saw the advert in the European Business Journal inviting contractors to bid for their jobs," he said.

After protests, the council agreed to look at the possibility of doing it in-house but has now revised it so that the private sector bidders have to come up with a business case for both outsourcing it and doing it as a joint venture.

Swansea has also rejected secondment as an option for staff, even after representatives from Bradford council, which brokered a secondment compromise, visited and made a presentation. Baker described it as an "extremely unfair process".

"The council is leaving it entirely to consultants to tell them everything. It leaves the authority in a very vulnerable position."

The ballot will start on 12 July and close on 3 August with the results expected later that day. "We're hoping the result of that ballot will bring the council back round the table," he said.

Unison has also written to the new Liberal Democrat council leader after Labour was kicked out in the recent elections. Swansea Council did not respond to a request for comment.