Swansea IT strike latest - response to union claims

Swansea Council has rejected claims from a major union that it has failed to discuss plans for a 10-year outsourcing deal properly with its staff.

At the end of last week, trade union Unison told silicon.com that 100 workers were at the "end of their tether" over council plans and that they had experienced "difficulties consulting properly from the beginning".

An official response from the City and County of Swansea says: "A great deal of time has been spent in discussions with IT staff since Christmas.

"More widely council staff have also been kept updated on developments through our internal internet site, staff meetings and a newsletter. More of this is planned as the project rolls out."

The council stresses this wasn't just an exercise in internal communications but "to understand and address concerns about job security, pensions and other terms and conditions".

Talks with two potential partners - Capgemini and ITNet - are ongoing, though part of the complaint is that, from the beginning, and before any talks, a decision had been made to take the operations out of house.

Swansea Council has also restated why it is looking at the overhaul, dubbed Service@Swansea. It says: "Other councils which have gone down this route have seen huge benefits for residents and staff.

"It will improve customer access and service delivery through the creation of a new call centre handling incoming calls, easy-to-reach contact centres where customers can deal face-to-face with staff, extended opening hours and increased internet services."

All in all, it estimates £3.5m in annualised savings can be put back into front-line services.

One of Unison's main concerns has been that consultants have been put in charge of how the council's IT will be handled, including which aspects will be outsourced.

The ballot over strike action begins today and runs until 3 August.