A General Secretary in a Total Place?

It's a good few weeks now since I first blogged about the threat to our members from the "Total Place" programme.

At that time I pointed out the response of the Total Place website to a search for the phrase "trade union" returns the response; "No posts found. Try a different search?" It still does.

Total Place is taking off as the form which reductions in public spending (and consequent job cuts) will take. The shared services which Total Place requires will provide rich pickings for the private sector - and offer the dole queue to many workers.

The ideas underpinning this attack upon public services were set out in the report "Whole Systems Go" written by a couple of academics from the Warwick Institute of Governance and Public Management (IGPM).

Our current General Secretary is an adviser to the IGPM - a fact about which his supporters boast on his campaign website. Is that wise comrades?

UNISON members whose jobs are threatened by Total Place (which is all about "better for less" and achieving savings) may not be that impressed by this association. Maybe it's something to ask the candidates about at hustings meetings?

Perhaps UNISON should consider trying to get better for less by electing a General Secretary on a workers wage?