I'll address the bold part. I worked for a safety based business that went from public to private ownership in the early 2000's. It was a controversial political move as it was actually Labour who pushed it through. The mantra was that we were to be a "not for profit" organisation. Prior to privatisation we weren't, admittedly, the most efficient outfit staff numbers wise ( once valid, most people didn't leave as it took 3+ years to qualify) but we got the job done with little or no industrial relations issues depite there being a 95%+ membership of the union. The management were ,in the main, ex operational people who understood the operation and to a big degree what made their highly trained and skilled staff tick. In return, staff took alot of pride in what they did and many were valid on more positions than they needed to be. The quid pro quo was for example, leave and the like were managed on watch by the staff. Management didn't get involved as they recognised those who actually knew the day to day were those very people on the shop floor. There was even a system of getting people off shift a bit early if there wasn't demand for all of the staff, but never at the expense of getting the job done. Sickness levels were about half of the national average. Point4 above is dispelled
then came privatisation:
The private company was established with a botched ownership, including a group of customers, a small staff shareholding and a golden Government share. The company was also heavily indebted right from the start as it was forced to take over its' own pension liabilities right from the start. Its' income was also down as the privatisation went through shortly after 9/11. A new CEO was brought in. He was out of his depth as he didn't actually have a clue what the operation entailed but he was supported by mangers who still did. This continues to this day. A number of CEOs out of touch with the core business have come and gone. What has changed is that the managers beneath have now retired and so almost all of the senior mangers now have no operational experience. Point 1 above dispelled
The bean counters slowly took over. Staff numbers reduced but people were still happy to hold more validations than were required. There was still a benefit to doing so as it allowed flexibility around leave both long and short term and rostering. But of course what happened was that management started to abuse the two way flexibility. Eventually leave had to be booked nearly a year in advance,little short term leave was approved,and the ability for people to leave a bit early diminished even in the winter when the workload was low. But staff numbers were cut too far and eventually, on many occasions staff were asked to work beyond their shift length. Many did so initially but as time went on the goodwill was curtailed. Staff realised the management were now gettting most of the benefits from the flexibility and many decided to revert to doing only what was contracturally required. Guess what-the operation could now no longer run in the busiest periods without the need for overtime. So goodwill was pretty much dead and voluntary overtime was being paid at a high rate. Sickness rate also climbed as fatigue became an issue. The desire to go the extra mile, work late was destroyed-by the bean counter management. Point 3 above is dispelled
Every single member of operational staff I came across were proud to do the very best they could on a daily basis. If they got it wrong, the travelling public were put at risk. Poor performance was addressed quickly and re-training brought in for the small number who fell below the required standard. Point 2 is dispelled
The not for profit lasted about 2 years. Dividends have been paid almost continuously for 20 years, the staff shortages continue, people are leaving as soon as they can afford to and about 5 years earlier than they used to, the much needed overtime is now at an eye watering level and the CEO is on over £1m per year.
The union membership is around 98% in a private company. Unheard of these days but without it things would have been even worse than it has turned out. It was all done, somehow, without any major industrial action.
