News

FEARS are rising of job losses at Air Miles' Crawley call centre after news the company has proposed, for the second time in three years, to close the operation.
A total of 87 call centre and back-office staff, 50 of which are full-time, are now in a month-long consultation period, ending on April 22. This follows a suggestion to relocate the centre to an existing Birchwood call centre, near Warrington.
The Transport Salaried Staff's Association claims it has been inundated by calls from Crawley staff who fear they could be made redundant.
TSSA negotiations officer Lorraine Byrne said the move was made worse because many staff had been through a similar consultation in 2001 when the idea of closure was first mooted.
She said: "As most of the workforce are working mums with families, it is unlikely they would want to relocate. Some of these individuals are facing the possibility of redundancy all over again and I've had a great deal of calls from outraged staff."
Byrne also claimed the redundancy package on the cards was less generous than in 2001.
But Air Miles insisted redundancy had yet to be discussed and, at this stage, the consultation was being held to get alternative suggestions from staff.
A spokeswoman said: "We understand this is a difficult time for staff but these are simply proposals and we hope there will be alternative suggestions."
If the relocation goes ahead, 78 jobs would be created at Birchwood, nine less than currently employed in these functions in Crawley. With this move, the company said it would save £3 million over three years and improve efficiency.
There are 380 staff employed at Birchwood. There are no plans to shut the
Crawley head office.