Managing globalisation in public utilities : public service transnational corporations and the case of the global water industry

Liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of water and other public utilities have not produced the alleged efficiency gains of open international competition in public utilities, as the result has been restricted access to utilities rather than unleashed competition. Where water utilities have been privatised, TNCs have reproduced the typically monopolistic behaviour, enhancing concentration through vertical and horizontal integration, collusive conduct and other restrictive practices of competition, abuse of corporate power and corruption. So, contrary to common belief, publicly owned enterprises appear no less efficient than privatised companies on costs, personnel ratios, technical performance and financial comparisons. Moreover, public water enterprises show a stronger attitude towards socially oriented performance. In order to restrain a transnational organisation of anti-competitive practices by transnational conglomerates of power, the need is perceived for a multilateral agency responsible for monitoring the correct functioning of the world market and enforcing repressive measures of the most significant abuses. La libéralisation, la dérégulation et la privatisation de l’eau et d’autres entreprises publiques n’ont pas produit les gains d’efficience attendus et qui résulteraient de la compétition internationale entre entreprises publiques. Là où des entreprises publiques de l’eau ont été privatisées, les compagnies transnationales ont même tendance à reproduire un comportement typiquement monopolistique, caractérisé notamment par la concentration au moyen de l’intégration horizontale et verticale, la restriction de l’accès à la compétition, voire l’abus de pouvoir et la corruption. Ainsi, contrairement à l’opinion générale, les entreprises s’apparentant aux collectivités publiques ne sont pas moins efficientes en matière de coûts, de ratios du personnel, de performance technique et de comparaisons financières, par contre, les entreprises publiques de gestion l’eau font également preuve d’une attitude plus sociale. Dès lors, en vue de restreindre l’organisation transnationale de pratiques anti-compétitives de la part des compagnies transnationales de l’eau, besoin est de créer une agence multilatérale qui surveille le fonctionnement correcte du marché et qui a les moyens d’imposer des mesures contre les abus les plus flagrants

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Alternative models of public/private partnership

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m01/21035 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Local environmental policy and local government restructuring in Britain: The tensions between compulsory competitive tendering and local agenda 21

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University

Multinational Companies in the Cleaning Industry: Local Government Privatisation, Trade Union Responses and the European Dimension

This thesis is concerned with the industrial relations consequences, of the compulsory introduction of competition, into the provision of local authority cleansing services. It seeks to show how financial savings and improvements in performance ale achieved, primarily, at the expense of public service workers. Jobs, wages and conditions of employment have all been slashed, as contractors and local authority direct service teams attempt to keep costs down. Trade union organisation and resistance has been undermined by new forms of ownership and control. The ideological and economic justifications for competitive tendering are investigated, and placed in the context of expanding public sector employment and increasing trade union organisation during the post war period. The contract service industry, which has exploited the growth of contracting out in the public and private sectors, is described with specific reference to the multinational operators which now dominate it. Detailed profiles of the key multinational service companies are included, with descriptions of their industrial strategies and employment practices. The impact of European integration on public procurement is analysed, along with a brief description of the forms of public service provision adopted throughout the European Community. The nature of industrial relations in European public cleansing is investigated, and this study includes a detailed report on the impact of privatisation and multinational contractors domination of public services, on cleansing workers in France. The core of the research is provided by a series of case studies, which are concerned with the impact of competitive tendering on cleansing workers terms and conditions, trade union organisation and the nature of industrial relations, in a number of individual local authorities. The conclusions drawn from these studies are combined with empirical evidence, on the employment consequences of privatisation in a selection of additional authorities, to demonstrate the price paid by public service workers during the CCT process. The dual impact of privatisation and the internationalisation of capital in the contract service industry, indicates a fundamental break in the pattern of public service employment and local government trade unionism. Current policy is examined in the light of these findings and recommendations for a reappraisal of policy are outlined