O2. Dispelling the myths

TO ALL MEMBERS IN TELEFONICA UK O2
Dear Colleague

Voice Transformation - Dispelling the Myths 

I am writing to you to correct some of the misleading information you have been given by O2 and Capita with regard to the proposed Tupe and to give you an indication of what the Union is currently doing. 
This whole matter has been extremely difficult to deal with on account of O2 refusing to openly declare the full nature of any arrangement with Capita. This lack of openness dates back to April when the Sun Newspaper first leaked the story about O2 outsourcing. At that time O2 Directors were clearly finalising their deal with Capita and the Company could have responded without breaking any City rules by telling staff that it was looking at outsourcing options. Instead it chose to lull employees into a false sense of security his dismissing the report as speculation. 
Subsequently and following the Tupe announcement Director, Sales & Service Feilim Mackel said during a Radio 5 Live interview that Telefonica O2 would love to have given their employees and their families more notice but couldn’t because of City 
Regulations. This however is untrue. The standard business notification and custom and practice of TUPE is 90 days. The decision to give you just 41 days had nothing to do with the City or the law, but is solely down to o2 senior managers. 
The Director of Sales & Service further claimed that Capita could give job security for two years whereas O2 could not. The CWU equally regard this as a misrepresentation of the facts. O2 currently has thousands of jobs with third party suppliers and faced with call volume reductions these jobs could all be in-sourced to protect O2 employees long before any threat of compulsory redundancy. This option would not rule out the potential offer of VR for people who genuinely might want to go. In the same interview O2 went on to claim that Capita had expertise in transformation from Voice to other types of customer interaction. This we believe to be false. Who are these companies and where is the hard evidence for this? In fact the experts in this field are not Capita but are indeed Telefonica O2.
On 29th May the Daily Telegraph reported on a leaked document from Capita stating that as part of the deal Bury and Glasgow would close in 2015, by which time the work-force would be reduced from 3,700 to 1,370 whilst centres in South Africa (for 
voice work) and India for (webchat) would be expanded. O2 responded to this article by claiming it was only one scenario and, in Big Yaks, by stating it was an early draft. We regard both statements to be inaccurate. Indeed, this is not our understanding and when challenged the company have failed to produce the latest scenario. Whatever the truth of the matter, it is clear that O2 Directors were well aware of the potential ramifications of their announcement.
Dealing with some of the more fundamental matters relating to pay and future conditions of service O2 has sadly been equally misleading. O2 have failed to address the serious issue of compulsory redundancies after two years and site closures. Also many employees appear to now believe that their pay is being guaranteed by Capita for two years. Notwithstanding that is not good enough, it is simply not true. If you read the letter sent to reassure you after the Big Yaks carefully you will find there is no mention of pay protection for any period but only of terms and conditions. At the Big Yaks employees were also repeatedly reassured that it would be unlawful for Capita to change pay and terms and conditions under TUPE. This again is not true. A Company can seek a change after the transfer. 
Employees were also not informed that TUPE legislation is currently the subject of a government consultation exercise, the outcome of which is likely to be a significant watering down of terms and conditions to the detriment of employees. It has also 
not been made plain that if employees agree to any move within Capita they will almost certainly go on to a Capita contract and lose their Tupe’d terms and conditions. Equally and again not made clear to employees is that TUPE only protects contractual terms and may well not apply to many of the current non-contractual bonus arrangements. 
Meanwhile, O2 managers in particular have been presenting the move to Capita as a great opportunity, yet if any member simply Googles the words ‘Capita’ and ‘redundancies’ the Capita record will speak for itself. 
Tesco mobile people in the meantime have been reassured that their jobs will remain in-house. Again we are not certain of this. The matter however can be easily resolved by O2 simply confirming in writing that no talks have taken place with Capita about Tesco Mobile: that they do not intend to have any talks with Capita or another outsourcer on this matter and that from September forward, when the current contract expires, the jobs will remain in-house. 
Members will appreciate that trying to negotiate in this vacuum of ambiguity is extremely difficult, especially given the timetable imposed by the Company. Indeed, notwithstanding the above, we still have no details of some of the most basic 
issues, such as pension provisions, disciplinary processes etc. We will therefore be formally asking O2 to place the whole of Project Vincent timetable on hold for a short time so that we can make proper representations and resolve the issues between us. Given that the Company has claimed at Big Yaks that no contract has been signed with Capita and that they are keen to avoid a dispute this should not present an insurmountable problem.In the meantime, the Union cannot allow its members to be simply sold off to a third party outsourcer in a complete vacuum. Accordingly and subject to O2 agreeing to place matters on hold, we have no alternative but to proceed with an industrial action ballot. We will also be seeking to have this matter raised at the highest political levels. What is clear is that we will not allow members to be transferred without calling to account the senior managers who have made this decision and who are trying to rush it through against a background of subterfuge and disingenuous promises. It certainly has not helped that people have been prevented from freely airing their discontent about the decision to Tupe. 
Trying to silence people and stop them from publicly registering their disapproval over a decision that will profoundly impact on their lives and those of their families has no place in 21st Century society. The Union will take up the case of any person 
who believes they have or will suffer discrimination on account of legitimately airing their views. We appreciate that many members are confused and deeply concerned at what is taking place. We want to assure you however that we are doing everything we can to bring about a change in O2’s approach and to ensure that you are given the best possible protection. We need your support in this. Please sign the petition at: 

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/ronan-dunne-telefonica-uk-ceo-stop-the-outsourcing and vote YES in the 

forthcoming Industrial Action ballot.
Yours sincerely,

Sally Bridge
Assistant Secretary