Swansea Council has signed a 10-year £83m IT outsourcing contract with services firm Capgemini after an 18-month disagreement with trade union Unison.
At one stage more than 100 Unison members at the council were involved in a bitter two-month strike over a lack of consulation and transfer arrangements.
Swansea IT staff lost their fight after the council agreed for the permanent transfer of the workers to Capgemini, but that resulted in the threat of further strikes after Unison accused the authority of reneging on an agreement to give staff the option of secondment.
The contract was finally signed by Swansea council on 30 December and Mary Jones, the council’s cabinet member for “top performance and e-government”, said it will transform the way the council operates.
“We expect to save millions of pounds during the 10-year contract, which means the programme pays for itself – the people of Swansea will have a modern and efficient council providing better services without any extra cost,” she said.
