Staff fear call-centre jobs on the line

FORMER Oldham Council staff fear they will be sacked because they are refusing to move to an isolated industrial estate in Rochdale.

Call-centre workers are fighting plans to relocate them from Henshaw House in the town centre to Hafley Court.

The move is due to take place on Monday.

Most of the 42 employees are former Oldham Council staff whose jobs were transferred to Unity Partnership, the council’s link-up with private company Mouchel. They are refusing to sign a variation to their contracts to allow them to be moved, which could lead to them being dismissed.

One member of staff told the Chronicle: “The forced move is a breach of contract for the ex-council workers.

“The leader of the council, the chief executive and the councillors are all aware of the bullying tactics deployed by Unity. This move is a cost-cutting exercise for Unity Partnership which was only recently bailed out by Barclays bank.”

The plan was criticised when it was first announced in September.

Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher wrote to Oldham Council chief executive Charlie Parker saying he was appalled at the decision and the lack of will to prevent it.

His letter added: “The Unity Partnership was legally contracted to bring jobs to the town, reduce costs and improve services to local people. Instead, it is to be allowed to relocate out of town, in the most undesirable, hard-to-reach area imaginable.”

Unity Partnership was set up in 2007 in a £260million deal to bring in extra investment and greater expertise. It runs a range of council services such as the customer call centre, housing benefit, council tax collection, building management, ICT and highways and engineering.

Wendy Bradbury, Oldham branch chairman of Unison, said: “We had a very good meeting between staff and management on Friday. We were were quite encouraged by that and negotiations are on-going.”

A Unity spokesman added: “In response to public-sector funding cuts, Oldham’s Unity Partnership, on behalf of the council, is looking at innovative ways to save money while continuing to provide local residents with effective and efficient services.

“In 2010 the council announced plans to amalgamate its contact centre with Rochdale’s and to relocate the centre and its staff to the neighbouring authority. All Unity Partnership staff who currently fill these roles in Oldham have been offered the opportunity to move to Rochdale in the first instance.

“As there is an ongoing consultation process with staff we are not in a position to comment further though we can confirm these discussions appear to be constructive and we hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion shortly.”