CBI attacks never ending pressure on private sector

The CBI has attacked the government and trade unions for their constant pressure on private sector firms to boost productivity.

Sir Digby Jones, director general of the CBI, told the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) annual convention that he’d “had enough of unions and government saying ‘get more productive’ to the private sector”.

“What about asking the public sector to reform? Whenever the government asks the public sector to change, the unions go on strike – that is not reforming,” he said.

Jones cited the proposed changes to public sector pensions as a good example. Earlier this year, he said, the government backed down in the face of huge union pressure over plans to end final-salary schemes and raise the retirement age.

All public sector pension schemes will now undergo specific negotiations involving the government, unions and employers after union pressure.
However, Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, defended the role of the unions. He said there were examples of reforms in public services.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

“Unions do want to see a successful and productive economy, and we do need a strong private sector,” he said.
see page 4 for more from Sir Digby Jones’s speech at the IoD convention