- Conference
- 2004 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 2 March 2004
- Decision
- Carried
Conference is concerned that an increasing number of UK jobs are being offshored. The establishment of call centres in India and elsewhere has so far resulted in the loss of 1,500 jobs affecting UNISON members in the energy and water companies. While in the last two years 50,000 jobs in the UK finance sector alone have been transferred overseas and estimates suggest that this could increase to 200,000 jobs by 2010. The TUC estimates that between 150,000 and 750,000 jobs could be at risk in the private service sector. Due to the high density of young workers employed in call centres, Conference believes that offshoring is a key organising issue for UNISON young members.
Conference believes that our priority is to defend our members’ jobs and therefore welcomes the initiative to set up a joint UK trade union working group to develop a strategy on call centre offshoring at a national, regional and workplace level. Conference supports the call by the working group for an independent commission of enquiry into all aspects of call centre offshoring.
Offshoring on the scale envisaged is not inevitable and may in the long term be counter productive, where quality of service to the public is adversely affected through the loss of the knowledge base of UK call centre workers. Conference is also concerned about the impact of offshoring on the education and training of UK workers. Offshoring offers employers the opportunity to opt out of these responsibilities, thus undermining efforts to build a skilled workforce in the UK.
Conference accepts that full employment in the UK is compatible with developing countries having a bigger share of an expanding world trade in services, and that there are benefits to the economies of developing countries where jobs are transferred. Rates of pay for call centre work in India, although much lower than in the UK, are significantly higher than the Indian average. However, call centre work is non-unionised, leaving staff defenceless and weak against unscrupulous management and conditions of employment are deeply regressive with staff working long, unsocial hours. Consequently, Conference believes that where jobs are transferred abroad, workers must be fully protected by trade union membership and International Labour Organisation core labour standards on terms and conditions of employment must apply.
Conference welcomes the establishment of international links between UK trade unions and those in India and other developing countries. These links will facilitate the exchange of information and personnel and build up a knowledge of call centre offshoring work to assist the development of an international trade union strategy. Conference notes that UNISON has already set up links with trade union bodies in India, following its involvement in the World Social Forum in Mumbai in January where outsourcing/offshoring was a prominent issue of debate.
Conference calls for a continuing campaign on call centre offshoring work which includes:
1)a Department of Industry assessment of all jobs at risk in the UK private service sector, including call centre work;
2)a national strategy statement produced in consultation with DTI stakeholders, including trade unions;
3)a national consensus on best practice on offshoring with the DTI taking a lead in promoting best practice at national and regional level;
4)lead responsibility for regional development agencies to ensure that any
adverse impact of offshoring is offset by regeneration policies to create new jobs;
5)early consultation between employers and staff where call centre and other private service sector jobs are at risk;
6)strengthening of the links between UNISON, the ICFTU, ITF and PSI, and trade union bodies in India and other developing countries to help develop an international strategy on call centre offshoring;
7)communication with the National Young Members Forum to encourage a high level of involvement by UNISON young members and activists.