Concern for jobs in Carphone Warehouse
7th November 2011
Responding to news today (Monday) that
Carphone Warehouse is closing its 11 Best Buy stores with the loss
of over 1,000 jobs, CWU calls for assurances around job security in
other parts of the company.
Andy Kerr, CWU deputy general secretary, said:
"The Best Buy venture lasted briefly in the UK - but long
enough for people to rely on the jobs it provided. The news of
compulsory job losses is awful for
the staff affected. We're
hearing worrying rumours that they will lose their jobs as early as
Christmas Eve in a similarly speeded-up redundancy process as Talk
Talk used earlier this year.
"We're also concerned about job security across the rest of Carphone Warehouse more generally. Around 65 jobs have been lost in Express Repair centres in Carphone Warehouse shops since May and there is ambiguity about job security in the newly-branded Wireless World stores. Store managers in particular are telling us about their fears of job security in these areas.
"We're urging Carphone Warehouse to be as transparent as possible and to give clear assurances to staff around job security at this fragile economic time."
In reaction to news of Carphone Warehouse co-founder Charles Dunstone's recent windfall, announced on the same day as these job losses, Andy continued: "It's pretty sickening that Charles Dunstone will pocket £236 million while hundreds of his staff face the sack. It's the same story time and again - another executive with his snout in the trough and those at the top living in a different world to the rest of us. Dunstone's company didn't even have the decency to delay announcing his windfall - it's massively insensitive when his own staff will be wondering how they'll pay for Christmas."
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