A senior Civil Service union official yesterday claimed there were many hidden reasons behind a push for privatisation and contracting out of public services in Bermuda.

And Bermuda Public Service Association general secretary Eugene Blakeney said they included "pay offs'' to political supporters and leverage against unions during negotiations.

Speaking to Hamilton Lions, Mr. Blakeney claimed backers of privatisation failed to disclose all their reasons behind a proposal to contract out work.

He said aside from political favours and intimidation tactics, pressure from the private sector and attempts to operate in non-union environments may also be causes of a push for privatisation.

Mr. Blakeney also argued that contracting out -- the use of private companies to provide public services -- could be more costly than Government operated services.

"Contracting out a service can be more costly and lower quality of service in pursuit of profit,'' he claimed. "Loss of jobs or the inabilities to find alternative jobs would give rise to financial assistance from Government... hence further burdening the taxpayers.

"Wherever there is contracting out or privatisation, labour is exploited,'' Mr. Blakeney added. "As a union, we believe that a government should deliver certain services. Government-run operations are vital to a country's economy and the needs of society.'' He said the BPSA recommended that "alternatives'' to privatisation and contracting out should be investigated.

"People can be consulted and the community can be involved in designing their future...,''said Mr. Blakeney. "Motivate the individual as well as the collective wisdom and commitment of trade unions to bring about sustainable development and improvement of public services.'' Mr. Blakeney also outlined the merits of training by disclosing the findings of a recent study by the Work in America Institute.

He said the Institute found that retraining current workers for new jobs was more cost-effective than firing and hiring new workers.

And Mr. Blakeney pointed out that succession planning was another key component of an effective work force. But he noted that it had to reflect genuine business needs and projections.

"Succession planning requires two types of information about an organisation,'' he explained. "One, a description of the work to be done, the skills needed, the retraining and experience required for various jobs. Second a description of the future direction of a business.'' Mr. Blakeney said once that information was collected it was wise to forecast the number and skills of workers required in the future.

He added that the Government had embarked on using assessment centres as a means of future restaffing of key positions.

UNIONS UNS