The Thomson Glasgow centre is closing

The Transport Salaries Staff association has enabled to boycott the holyday products of Thomson in response to this company’s closing of its Glasgow call center. The reason is, according to TSSA, Thomson’s failure to conduct a proper consultation with its 450 large staff about the December 12th planned closure. At the Trade Union Congress annual conference from next week there will be an emergency motion which could see the 66 affiliated unions and their members abandon Thomson for rival travel firms. The Thomson company had informed its own staff about the scheduled close only last week.

Thomson already began talks with the authorities about the payment of the £2.5 million states funding the company received since 1999. Thomson was fueled in fact with £1.1 million by the Scottish Enterprise, its main economic development agency, as this agency counts the money it delivers in compliance with the number of the paid institution employees. The company received a further £1.4 million from the Scottish Executive.

The Thomson retail and commercial director Derek Jones stood up to defend his company and explain the recent moves. He says they are working on finding alternative employment places for the staff shocked by the closing of the Glasgow center which was their working place. The results so far in this sense look positive. It was best that they talked to the Scottish Executive first, Jones explains; the current discussions with the Executive focus on finding other working places for the company’s members. Thomson accepted an annual average of 700 new employees ever since it’s opening in 1999. The company contacted the Scottish Executive as soon as soon as it realized it could not make up the numbers required for the 2006 grant, according to Jones.

TSSA expressed its intention in a two part motion to see the Trade Union Congress begin talks with Thomson about saving some or even all of the 450 working places by still keeping the Glasgow call center open. The general-secretary of the TSSA, Gerry Doherty shall lead the debate at the TUC conference next week, which could be held on Tuesday or Wednesday. If Thomson refuses to have a dialogue with any other body of the union about the closure of the Glasgow center the 66 affiliated unions can be urge12:14 12/10/2006d to boycott the Thomson products.

In term, Jones replied that the closure of the Glasgow center was an act of economical realism, for it was not reasonable to still operate it. This act is legitimated by economic realism. The union’s campaign manager Frank Ward is confident that the motion expressed by the TSSA will be passed during the Congress, for the closure has been planned for some time.

Mr. Jones did by the way apologise for waking yet immaterialized high expectations inside the clients due to the apparition of the virtual call center initiative. This virtual centre is very new and the real estate had to be informed about it. He than expressed some considerations that would make both the center’s staff and the costumers more tranquiller. First, he announced that the opening of the virtual call center will not mean supplementary working hours for the company’s stuff. Than he added that costumers shall always be viewed as a priority.

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