After years of pay cuts and diminishing working conditions 200 mainly female, low paid, part-time workers were sacked in early 1998 for taking a stand against their treatment. Commissioned by Unison North West Region, this report examines the mismanagement which underlies the workers’ treatment through the establishment of the Tameside Community Care Trust. The report places the analysis of the issues surrounding the Tameside trust within a broader debate on the fundamentally problematic nature of the trust option.Commissioned by UNISON North West Region (1999).