The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, indicated that the government was ready to listen to unions' concerns but would not allow them to block plans to increase private-sector involvement in the delivery of public services.
He told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost: "Public-private finance has been an important initiative. It is the best use of public- and private-sector financing within a number of areas. It may be in hospitals, in some cases, and it certainly will be in transport."