Anxious times as new Capita TUPE looms
Telecoms & Financial Services June 30 2016Urgent assurances on job security and terms and conditions are the priority of the CWU following yesterday’s announcement that hundreds more O2 members are to be TUPE’d over to Capita.
The news has sparked widespread anxiety in Preston Brook and Bury, where the 500 affected employees on Telefonica’s Tesco Mobile account have built a highly successful and profitable business that has ambitious plans to expand further.
That expansion, and an associated requirement to invest in new systems, has been cited as one of the primary reasons why Tesco Mobile has decided to switch the provision of its call-centre operation from Telefonica to Capita, on account of Capita’s experience in technological investment.
Yet, in the wake of more than 700 recent voluntary redundancies amongst previously outsourced Capita employees conducting work for O2 in Bury and Glasgow – employees who themselves were TUPE’d over from Telefonica to Capita in 2014 amid company assurances their jobs were safe – concerns abound at both sites.
“People are understandably extremely nervous,” said CWU assistant secretary Sally Bridge, after CWU commenced formal talks with Telefonica this morning – just 24 hours after the planned TUPE transfer was announced.
“Those in Bury have seen their Capita O2 contract colleagues leaving, and everyone in both Preston Brook and Bury will have heard about the job losses in Glasgow, so it’s understandable that they’re thinking: Am I next’?”
As such, the CWU has already received confirmation that there will be no redundancies – on the basis that Tesco Mobile wishes to retain the skills, knowledge and experience of its current workforce as the business continues to grow.
The union has also been told that those transferring will continue conducting their present roles in their current locations with two years’ guaranteed job security.
“We’ve already told the company in no uncertain terms that we need a specific undertaking that work won’t be moved from Bury or Preston to any other Capita site – such as Dearne Valley or Capita’s off-shored operation in South Africa – in the way it was with the O2 contract,” Sally insists.
The CWU is taking some degree of reassurance, however, at Tesco Mobile’s stated desire to retain the current unique culture that exists on the contract, and similarly its intention to maintain an active presence on both sites going forward.
Sally explains: “We need to flesh out the detail, but this sounds encouraging as it suggests the relationship between Tesco Mobile and Capita is going to be quite different from the one that exists between Capita and O2.
“Already we understand that Tesco Mobile is going to have a very hands-on relationship with Capita, and that it wants to remain very much involved in the decision-making process, whether that be for the product or for the employees – the latter being particularly encouraging.
“In the light of the recent downsizing on the Capita O2 account, however,the anxiety currently being felt by our Tesco Mobile members in Bury and Preston Brook is entirely understandable,” she continues.
“We believe there will be a lot of work required by Capita to reassure and convince our members that their jobs are safe – and that it is not Capita’s intention to change the current unique culture that makes Tesco Mobile such a great place to work.”
- Now the formal period of consultation is getting underway, the CWU will be actively engaging with Telefonica, Tesco Mobile and Capita to finalise transfer terms – members’ interests will be paramount in those talks.Updates will be provided as these discussions develop.