An American Tale
Modernising public services, containing privatisation

By Brendan Martin

Published: July 2002

The UK government has committed massive extra funds to expand public services, and promised to make every penny count in terms of improved delivery. It's a challenge that can't be met without mobilising not only the commitment, but also the knowledge, of the people who must deliver the services.

That means developing a common approach to reform with those workers' increasingly confident unions, says Brendan Martin. Here he tells the surprising story of how America's 12th largest city achieved massive efficiency gains in its public services not through privatisation or competition, but co-operation founded on employment security.

Brendan Martin is the author of In the Public Interest? Privatisation and Public Sector Reform, Zed Books/PSI, 1993,and In the Public Service, Zed Books, 2002.

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