In many countries with active trade unions, a primary concern for a municipality considering reforms that promote private sector involvement will be the negotiations and discussions with trade unions. While this may have been addressed at a national policy-making level, with national-level associations (such as SALGA in South Africa), the process of change requires extensive consultation at the local level, and municipalities need the skills and organisational capacity to listen, present and negotiate with trade unions over the process of introducing the private sector into traditional public sector functions.
Trade unions generally have valid concerns about job security and the profit element of private sector operations. It is necessary for municipalities to have the ability to:
• engage with trade unions over key labour issues, to understand their concerns and ensure that these are addressed in the partnership arrangement;
• present the benefits of private sector participation to trade union forums, particularly in relation to the poor sections of society;
• prepare and operationalise ongoing and meaningful consultation processes with unions;
• build consensus around a project; and
• manage conflicts of interest, should they arise.