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Abhrajit Gangopadhyay

BT's decision to outsource these call centre jobs to India is in line with its strategy to consolidate 104 UK locations into 33 centres and save close to 150 million pounds annually.

BANGALORE, March 20

THE Communications Workers Union (CMW), the trade union body of the telecom and postal staff in the UK, has warned of industrial actions which could blow up to massive strikes following British Telecom's (BT) decision to move 2,200 call centre jobs to Indian vendors like Infosys Technologies and HCL Technologies. Communications workers staged demonstrations outside 34 call centres across UK on Thursday in protest against BT's move. The current UK backlash against the outsourcing spurt to India is in line with similar protests that have gained momentum in the US.

In a statement posted on the CMW website, the Deputy General Secretary Ms Jeannie Drake said, "These job cuts could have a huge impact on the economy of the some of the poorest parts of the UK. If BT gets away with this, the effects on local economies could be disastrous. Together, we want to send BT and other telecom companies a clear and unambiguous message."

BT has admitted the number of people employed in call centre work will drop from 16,000 to under 14,000, though no permanent BT employee is likely to lose their job.

Another office-bearer of the NCW, the National Officer, Ms Sally Bridge, said, "None of BT's competitors have plans to move significant chunks of work to India. BT will be setting a hugely dangerous trend and the consequences for the telecom and call centre industries are massive - thousands of jobs could be at risk."

She added: "BT is a UK company that derives its profits from UK customers. It therefore has a duty to support the UK economy by employing UK workers. This day of protest is only one part of what will be a long and determined campaign. If BT does not take a more reasoned stance we will not hesitate to sanction industrial action." BT's decision to outsource these call centre jobs to India is in line with its strategy to consolidate 104 UK locations into 33 centres and save close to 150 million pounds annually.

Salaries for Indian call centre employees are close to 1.25 pounds an hour compared to 5-10 pounds in Britain.

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Outsourcing of work to Indian call centres — UK union warns of stir against BT

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