Bitter twist to Virgin’s Christmas ‘thank you’
23rd December 2011
More than 400 CWU members facing redundancy at Virgin
Media's call centre in Liverpool's Albert Dock were
astonished to receive a special Christmas 'thank you' for
their efforts - namely a seasonal gift of Richard Branson's new
book, 'Screw Business as Usual'.
With 435 previous Merseyside jobs on the line - and a determined
CWU campaign underway to try to save well over 320 CWU-represented
roles in an area of high unemployment - the extraordinarily
ill-considered gift struck an understandably discordant note.
The Adecco employees now facing redundancy carry out crucial
customer facing roles for Virgin Media - and, indeed, many of the
employees now facing the axe were directly employed by Virgin prior
to being outsourced several years ago.
As such, the special Christmas message, sent out by VM chief
executive Neil Berkett, was greeted with a mixture of disbelief,
anger and 'gallows humour' by employees who justly feel
that they are being 'screwed' by the company.
Eulogising staff members for using their "talents, time and
passion to make our business so much more than 'just
business'," Mr Berkett's message continued: "As a
thank you for all of your hard work this year, and in celebration
of how you're making our business a force for good in our
communities, we're sending you each a copy of
Richard's new book 'Screw Business As
Usual'.
"In the book, Richard talks about his vision for business as a
catalyst for change, a powerful force for good in the world. Virgin
businesses are at the forefront of that movement, and I'm proud
to say that as the biggest Virgin business, we're leading the
way."
Mr Berkett was unspecific as to quite where the 'way was
leading', but for 400 plus Merseyside employees facing
redundancy on statutory minimum terms, the implied destination is
far from rosy.
CWU general secretary Billy Hayes comments: ""If Virgin
Media really valued its staff as this e-mail says then why are they
cutting 435 jobs in Liverpool?
"A free book is hardly a consolation when you won't have a
job in the New Year. It's unbelievably insensitive to send an
e-mail like this to staff who are facing redundancy. Virgin has the
opportunity to keep these jobs in Liverpool and that would be a
real Christmas message about how they value their staff."
