Union accuses university of keeping Brighton staff in the dark over outsourcing

The University and College Union (UCU) has accused bosses at Sussex University of keeping staff in the dark about “privatisation plans”.

The university said that it had shared information about its plans with the staff who would be affected.

It said: “The university is refusing to disclose the names of the companies it is speaking to about running its catering, estates and facilities and management departments, despite the fact that 235 staff (more than 10 per cent of the workforce) will be transferred on to private contracts.”

The UCU said that the current bidding process was “poorly considered and secretive” and called on the university to “come clean about its discussions and start consulting properly with staff”.

Members of the UCU, Unison and Unite unions and some of the students at the Falmer campus held a series of protests in May.

They were protesting about the proposed outsourcing which many of them fear will lead to a two-tier workforce with staff are employed on different terms and conditions.

Rob French, chairman of the Sussex UCU branch, said: “Sussex must come clean over who it is talking to about running these services.

“There is no justification for keeping staff and students in the dark, especially when these plans mean that one in ten of the workforce would have a new employer.

“This entire process has poorly considered and secretive from the outset.

“The university seems intent on steamrollering these plans through without any proper consultation or thought about the risks outsourcing poses.

“As the recent Olympics security debacle proved, private firms have a very chequered history when it comes to delivering services efficiently.

“The university should think carefully before allowing hundreds of staff to be employed on different terms and conditions.

“This is the not the way to reward loyal staff who have years of expertise in helping to support the needs of students.”

The university said that staff had been told about its plans, the process and the timescale.

It said: “We are seeking an external partner for our catering and facilities management services to ensure we continue to provide high-quality services to our staff and students as we grow as a university.

“We are following a proper and carefully managed procurement process in accordance with EU procurement regulations.

“This is designed to identify the partner that best meets the needs of the university in the interests of all our staff and students.

“We are following precisely the process and timescale as laid out in May when we first informed staff and unions of our plans.

“The unions are fully informed of the process that we are going through and we continue to discuss our plans with them.

“We are also continuing to provide support to the staff who work in the services involved.

“We are currently in dialogue with potential bidders  – as we said we would be doing at this stage –  and this remains commercially confidential until a preferred supplier is identified.

“We will be undertaking consultation and information as required under the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) when we have a preferred supplier in spring 2013.”

“The full process is laid out on the following web pages on the university website http://www.sussex.ac.uk/procurement/documentsandpolicies/tfmandcatering.

Earlier this year, in May, it said: “As the university continues to grow, we want to ensure we provide sustainable and high-quality services to our students and staff as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“As one part of doing this, we are now planning to work with specialist external organisations to manage our estates and facilities and to provide our catering and conferencing services.

“We are currently (from May 2012) going through a formal process to identify experienced, high-quality organisations that can best meet our needs.

“By March 2013 we should have preferred suppliers, with a view to their taking on the role of providing these services in August 2013.

“We expect that all staff who work within these areas of the university’s support services, around 235 staff out of the 2,200 working at Sussex, will at that point transfer across to the new providers.

“Since this is about growth and sustaining and improving the quality of what we do, we are not proposing redundancies.”