The campaign kicked off in mid-July, when PSA learned that the Council’s governing body would vote on the privatisation in two weeks. “There was a bit of alarm – we were caught by surprise,” said Martin. “We knew that if we wanted to stop the privatisation, we had to win this at the governing body.”
Getting word out
The first step was to hold meetings with members at the affected centres to get their input. “[Members] were outraged at not being told about this before,” said Gaby, “This would directly affect their jobs and communities.”
Alongside the member meetings, PSA published resources and social media posts that laid out the issue and had a very clear ‘ask’: email your councillor, ask them to vote against privatisation.
Working with allies in the community like ActionStation increased the reach of our campaign.
Playing the game
We also met with the councillors who would be voting on the issue. Martin said the idea was to “put our position to them and get agreement from them to vote against the proposal.”
“I was a little bit nervous before meeting them,” said Gaby. “[But] they were just normal people. They were doing their game, and we were doing our game, it wasn't scary or anything. It was really good to see how politics actually works.”
Decision day
Two weeks of campaigning flew by, and 1 August was the day the governing body would make its decision. Martin and Gaby spoke at the Council meeting. “It was intimidating, but it was worth it,” said Gaby, “it felt that we were actually changing their minds.”
As the mayor and councillors debated the issue, it was clear the campaign had gotten through to many of the councillors. Still, it wasn’t an easy wait: “Right up to the vote, it wasn't clear what would happen,” said Martin.
But the wait was worth it: councillors decided not to contract out management of the facilities it currently operates. The facilities will remain publicly owned and operated.
We have the power
The campaign showed Gaby the potential of focused, people-driven campaigning. “At the start we didn't have much hope,” she said, “[but] very soon we saw we have a lot of power, more than we thought.”
“We can make change happen,” she continued, “but nothing will happen unless we try. Even if you don’t always get the result you want, by doing something you can achieve a completely different result than what you were expecting.”
“Never underestimate the capacity of our members to take on the big challenges of the day,” said Martin. “They're intelligent, they're passionate, and they're committed to public service.”
“Always try,” concluded Gaby, “Don’t lose hope, and fight with all you know.”