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Press Release

CWU seeks Talk Talk assurances

9 September 2011

CWU is seeking assurances over UK jobs in broadband company Talk Talk after the company made the surprise announcement to close its Waterford call centre with the loss of 575 jobs on Wednesday afternoon.

Staff in UK Talk Talk sites received an e-mail telling them that the company has "made enormous progress simplifying our business" and that call volumes have dropped by 40 per cent leading to the "sad news" that Waterford site will be closed. The memo, from Human Resources Director Nigel Sullivan, also blamed fluctuations in the Euro for the decision and goes on to say: "As our largest in-house site, the proposed closure would allow us to quickly reduce complexity, simplify operations and realise the benefits for our customers."

Responding to the shock news, which gives only a 30 day consultation period, CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: "This is terrible news for staff in Waterford who would have thought their jobs were safe after the recent company reorganisation. We're sending our wishes of support to the Irish CWU which is dealing with this devastating news.

"Many of our members in UK sites are now feeling concerned for their jobs so we would like to see Talk Talk reassure people over job security. It's important that this process is managed openly and that all possible options of retaining jobs are explored."

Graham Armstrong, CWU rep from Talk Talk in Warrington, has raised concerns at the sudden decision, saying: "The personnel at Waterford have an enormous amount of experience, energy and commitment. We think the company should look at using their experience for the enormous tasks we in the rest of the Group are facing with resource in provisioning, fault diagnostics and process building and management. It's really shaken staff in the UK sites so we'd like to see some assurances over job security from management."

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