To: Allison Kirkby, BT Group CEO
BT/EE: Stop your double betrayal of Enniskillen workers
BT/EE must offer all staff at their Enniskillen customer contact centre the same redundancy terms, regardless of participation in the Voluntary Paid Leaver scheme. These loyal workers fought for their jobs and community. BT/EE should do the decent thing and treat them with the fairness they deserve.
Why is this important?
Imagine being threatened with losing a job you have worked for loyally for many years. But when you ask your employer to reconsider, they punish you for it by docking the redundancy pay you are due. That's what's happening to 50 workers at BT/EE in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
In February, BT/EE gave the 300 staff at their Enniskillen contact centre the shock news that their site would be closing in December. It was a terrible blow to the town, where BT/EE is the biggest single employer in an already deprived community.
Many staff reluctantly signed up for the company's voluntary redundancy scheme, but around 50 staff initially held out, in the hope that that the community campaign being run with union and political backing could persuade BT Group to reconsider.
But now BT/EE have announced that they are going to bring forward the closure to October instead.
The company have said they will retain the voluntary redundancy date of December for those who already signed. But adding insult to injury, they are going to penalise the 50 staff who were trying to keep the site open. For those 50 workers, redundancy terms will now end in October, giving them two months less pay and redundancy benefit than their colleagues. BT/EE are even deducting 5 days annual leave from them as well.
This is a disgraceful way to treat BT/EE's long-standing and loyal colleagues. Not only are BT Group letting down Enniskillen by closing the site, but these workers are being additionally punished for wanting to fight for the future of their colleagues, the site and their community.
BT/EE must do the right thing and reverse this mean-spirited decision immediately.
In February, BT/EE gave the 300 staff at their Enniskillen contact centre the shock news that their site would be closing in December. It was a terrible blow to the town, where BT/EE is the biggest single employer in an already deprived community.
Many staff reluctantly signed up for the company's voluntary redundancy scheme, but around 50 staff initially held out, in the hope that that the community campaign being run with union and political backing could persuade BT Group to reconsider.
But now BT/EE have announced that they are going to bring forward the closure to October instead.
The company have said they will retain the voluntary redundancy date of December for those who already signed. But adding insult to injury, they are going to penalise the 50 staff who were trying to keep the site open. For those 50 workers, redundancy terms will now end in October, giving them two months less pay and redundancy benefit than their colleagues. BT/EE are even deducting 5 days annual leave from them as well.
This is a disgraceful way to treat BT/EE's long-standing and loyal colleagues. Not only are BT Group letting down Enniskillen by closing the site, but these workers are being additionally punished for wanting to fight for the future of their colleagues, the site and their community.
BT/EE must do the right thing and reverse this mean-spirited decision immediately.
