Councils operating social care directly and cutting lucrative private contracts should be among top priorities for council candidates in May, says UNISON Cymru/Wales.
Voters, including 16-year-olds having their say for the first time, will be going to the ballot box in local council elections across Wales in just four weeks.
UNISON, which represents more than 90,000 public sector workers across Wales, is calling on all candidates to focus on a series of measures designed to improve and protect public services.
The union will be officially launching its election priorities at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Tuesday April 5.
All council candidates will also be asked to take part in survey and those that sign up to the UNISON priorities will be included in a dedicated web page to record their support for well-funded public services.
Earlier this year UNISON secured a major victory in ensuring leisure services in Neath Port Talbot were brought back under public ownership after 20 years of being run by a private company.
This May, UNISON wants to see council candidates dedicated to bring key services back under direct council control as well as an end to local authorities commissioning social care contracts to private providers.
The union is also calling for a stop to the scandalous system of only paying school support staff during term time as well as a fair and transparent system for assessing what pay different jobs should get as it is now more than 10 years since this type of evaluation was carried out in Wales.
Tackling climate change and driving forward urgent social housing and council house building are also among top priorities UNISON would like to see candidates focusing on at this year’s elections.
Lianne Dallimore, UNISON Cymru/Wales local government chair, said: “Every single local authority employee showed their dedication keeping vital services running throughout the pandemic.
“We know public services are the glue which holds our communities together and investment here is the best way to tackle poverty and inequality.
“We’re asking council candidates to demonstrate they put the priorities of working people first by pledging their support to our top priorities.”
Karen Loughlin, UNISON Cymru/Wales regional secretary said: “Quality local services and decent wages and conditions for those who provide them should be top of the agenda for candidates hoping to win at this year’s elections.
“Hard working people providing key public services have the experience and skills needed to deliver these services and this is why we are asking everyone seeking election to back our priorities.”