Barcelona reorganises public services in the people's interest

Barcelona and Madrid are reorganizing public services by building upon a strong remunicipalization movement. David Hall of PSIRU offers a summary of the December conference. “A number of common features emerged during the day’s discussion. The first was that the new groups are approaching the question of remunicipalization systematically, based on explicit criteria. Secondly, public service workers are at the centre of the new policies—even though the parties and groups have no formal connection to the established trade unions. Thirdly, the process is being conducted with a high level of professionalism—legal, financial, and technical. (…) The direct employment of public service workers is inevitably central, for a number of reasons. The central reason for remunicipalization is to re-establish the capacity of a city council to carry out those services, which requires direct employment of the workers with the necessary professional and practical skills. This enables the city council to work with a group of people dedicated to public services, and so manage, develop, and change these services in the public interest. Ending the privatized contracts means that those employed by private companies need to be transferred to employment by the municipality.” See also the detailed presentation on “Strategic Approaches to Remunicipalization in Barcelona.”