Vodafone cuts 130 irish jobs

THE UNACCEPTABLE FACE OF GLOBALISATION

BY GERRY ADAMS
Sinn Féin President and TD for Louth

VODAFONE’S announcement that it plans to cut over 130 jobs from its workforce in Dundalk and Dublin and ‘outsource’ them to India and Egypt has outraged the Communications Workers’ Union and has led to condemnation from Sinn Féin and others.
Most of the jobs are expected to go in Louth.
The impact on those affected will be traumatic. The effect on the local economy in Dundalk, which is already reeling from the imposition of the Universal Social Charge and austerity cuts to Government programmes and public services, will be incalculable.
CWU Deputy General Secretary Terry Delaney and four local workers from the call-centre in Dundalk have met me to explain their concerns and to express their determination to fight this decision by Vodafone.
After meeting management, the CWU said:
“Vodafone has enjoyed exceptional profitability in Ireland since it entered the market and continues to be highly profitable. However, the company’s plan to shift moderately-paid Irish jobs servicing Irish customers to off-shore locations in India and Egypt, at a time when over 400,000 people are unemployed and ordinary workers and businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water, displays breath-taking callousness and insensitivity.”
The decision to axe these jobs is typical of the approach multinational companies take toward local investments.
Multinationals primarily take decisions based on costs and profits. If they can produce the same service or product elsewhere in the world at a cheaper price and for a greater profit they will follow the money. It’s called globalisation.
They have no loyalty to the local community. They have no loyalty to their workforce.
A good case in point is the Visteon Corporation, which was set up by the Ford Motor Corporation to run a number of factories previously directly owned by Ford. In March 2009, the directors of Visteon UK put their company into administration.
That day, 210 men and women employed at the Belfast plant of Visteon were told that their jobs ceased to exist. That information came by letter from the management of Visteon UK.
The statutory 90-day consultation was not afforded to the workers. No information was given to them about their rights and entitlements. They were denied any right of reply.
Moreover, their right to Ford terms and conditions, including the lifetime protection of their discretionary pension in payment increases, contained in the ‘Agreement governing the separation of the Ford Visteon organisation’, was binned by Visteon.
This was unacceptable and contemptible behaviour by the management of these two companies.
In light of this, the workers rightly and courageously took over the plant and refused to leave until Ford and Visteon negotiated a satisfactory agreement on redundancy and pensions.
They refused to be cowed or intimidated by threat of legal action and lobbied and fought for their rights. And their actions encouraged their union colleagues in Britain.
Like Ford, Vodafone is a huge multinational. Through its investments in Ireland it controls over 40% of the mobile phone market and has almost 2.5million subscribers.
Last year, Vodafone made profit here of €122.3million and paid an additional €125million in a dividend back to its parent company.
In total, Vodafone in Ireland has contributed over €2.2billion to the profits of this multinational.
So, Vodafone receives grants and tax breaks to set up in the south of Ireland, they make huge profits but then arbitrarily sack 130 workers and move their jobs to a cheaper location.
No loyalty to the workers who contributed to those profits.
No loyalty to the Irish people who subscribe to Vodafone.
This attitude emerges clearly in the minutes of a meeting the CWU had with Vodafone management. The union representatives questioned Vodafone about the jobs it plans to axe directly from Vodafone and those that will be lost from Rigney Dolphin, which supplies employees to Vodafone.

The union asked:
Q:     Why is Vodafone off-shoring these jobs?
A:     Cost and quality.
Q:     Does Vodafone accept that customers currently receive an excellent customer service from employees in the area?
A:     Yes.
Q:     What will happen to Rigney Dolphin employees who are loosing their jobs? Will they be redeployed in Vodafone?
A:     No.
Q:     What will be the terms of redundancy for Rigney Dolphin employees?
A:     This is noting to do with Vodafone. It is a matter for Rigney Dolphin.
Q:     Does Vodafone accept that they have a responsibility to Rigney Dolphin employees working in Vodafone?
A:     Vodafone only has a responsibility to the business contract between Rigney Dolphin and Vodafone.
Q:     The union requests that Vodafone postpone this decision to enable all parties to engage in discussions with a view to finding alternatives that will save jobs.
A:     No.
Q:     Can Vodafone guarantee the union that further work/jobs will not be outsourced?
A:     No.
Q:     What are the cost savings involved in off-shoring these jobs?
A:     Don’t know.

This is the unacceptable face of globalisation. But it is not a new phenomena.
I’m sure readers can think of other businesses (for example, shipbuilding and breweries and shirt and clothes manufacturers and others) which have over the years left this island and moved their base of production to other climes.
Those who support globalisation claim that this movement of capital and production benefits those poorer countries that can offer cheaper labour costs. But the facts suggest otherwise. The evidence thus far is of the income gap between the rich and poor countries widening in recent decades.
No state can grow economically without some measure of international investment. But every state has the right to ensure that such investment is responsible and that there are contractual agreements in place to ensure this.
As the people having their jobs cut say: Vodafone supports the Dublin GAA team — why not support Irish workers?