PFI - the truth is out there.

Well, the Government are going to bail out the PFI companies. The crisis has made the inevitable happen sooner. After all, the point of running critical services is that they must be run, and can't be allowed to fail, transferring control to another firm or organisation costs money and causes disruption - the risk of PFI has always been mitigated.

The only reason, aside from bunkum about risk and private sector innovation and management, is that it creates legally different employers within the public sector, i.e. it is about breaking the unions, and using laws against solidarity striking to undermine union solidarity and national pay bargaining.

All the tosh talked by Unison and the labour left about public sector borrowing, etc. was exploded by the RMT, who managed to co-ordinate strikes against the fragmented companies, thus undermining the manoeuvre by effective solidarity. If we want to combat PFI and workforce fragmentation, we need co-ordinated targetted strike action,not pleadings to Government or campaigns to "keep it public" - it is purely a union matter.

Say it loud, say it proud...

Victory to the RMT!

So, the maintenance crews for the former Metronet (the failed PPP company) are striking to get guarantees over pension and job security rights (see press release here). Strategically, this is directly in their members' interests.

Politically, it is in all our inetrests - the whole point of PFI is to fragment workers and evade national bargaining frameworks. If the message gets out that there isn't a simple, cheap transition method of taking over contracts without workers causing mayhem and all sorts of trouble, this will make investors think twice before joining in.

Also, we need to fight the idea that there can be any diminution of workers' standards as a result of the largely fictitious front PPP companies going arse voer tit.

So, when friends, colleagues and strangers on the street start complaining about the strike, explain, it benefits us all.