ABSTRACTS/RÉSUMÉS
Union amalgamations as a basis for union renewal in Australia: insights from unfinished business
PENSIONS AND PUBLIC
PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: A CAUTIONARY NOTE FOR UNION TRUSTEES
John Calvert
Centre for Labour Studies, Simon Fraser University,
British Columbia, Canada
A major demand of public
sector unions in recent years has been for greater control over their members
pension plans. Recently, several provincial governments, most notably British
Columbia, have agreed to joint trusteeship, a development which gives union
trustees a voice in investment policy.
This article focuses on the implications for union trustees of investments in
Public Private Partnerships (P-3s) and related privatization initiatives. Examples
of such investments include: transportation infrastructure projects, hospitals
and health services, schools, municipal water and sewer systems, electrical
utilities, and other projects that, historically, have been within the public
sector.
It argues that trustees should be wary of such investments. Public sector unions
have criticized privatization initiatives as a threat to public sector jobs
and services. P-3 investments are problematic because they may threaten the
jobs of their unions members, undermine the credibility of their unions
public policy objections to privatization and, in the end, may prove far more
risky than P-3 promoters contend.