Updated: GO repeats layoffs warning if retirement scheme fails
GO plc reiterated this evening that if its current early retirement scheme did not achieve the necessary reduction of workers, particularly in fixed line operations, it would have to reduce its headcount by other means, including redundancies.
The company was reacting to a statement by three trade unions which said they had registered an industrial dispute over the scheme.
The Union of Maltacom Graduates (UGM0) the Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) and the General Workers' Union (GWU) complained that employees had received a letter from the company's CEO, David Kay, informing them of the scheme and warning them that if the scheme was not taken up by as many workers as expected, the company would have no other option but to resort to dismissals.
The unions said that they could not understand how the company wanted to reduce workers when it was farming out work which could easily be done by its own employees. They said that the company increased profits last year in spite of competition.
The management was also buying out another company in the telephony sector,, increasing its employees.
The unions appealed to workers to practice solidarity and to be on the lookout for any directives that might be issued.
GO REACTION
GO said that it had been working closely with all the unions by providing the necessary information with respect to the right-sizing and restructuring process throughout the organisation for those classifications covered within the collective agreements. In addition, the GWU had agreed with the terms of the current Voluntary Retirement Scheme and both the union and the company had issued a joint communication on the matter in October 2008.
GO said its objective was to finalise the restructuring process by reducing its headcount to 1,000 employees – as per the communication issued to the company’s employees over the past weeks. The main focus of the rightsizing was in the fixed line business, and the employees had been informed about the areas within the fixed line business that require rightsizing.
"GO’s management is mandated by the Board of Directors to achieve this reduction in the short term. Ideally and in the interests of all stakeholders, the reduction is achieved by means of the current Voluntary Retirement Scheme, which comes to an end on 31 May.
"As stated in the employees’ communication, if the target is not achieved through this last Voluntary Retirement Scheme, the decrease in headcount will be met via other measures, including redundancies, in accordance with all relevant legislation and within the parameters of the current collective agreement."
GO said the current Voluntary Retirement Scheme was the last it would offer and it was not considering changing or extending it.
"The current Voluntary Retirement Scheme was launched in July 2008 and hence this long time period has provided ample time to allow employees who are interested in the scheme to obtain assistance on pensions, alternative employment and re-training. The scheme is one of the most generous launched locally, with payouts reaching up to €60,000."
GO pointed out that as its financial results for last year showed, it made a loss last year, and the reduction in headcount in the fixed line business was crucial for the long-term sustainability of its business.
"Increased competition and the effects of the worldwide economic slowdown have driven GO to become a leaner organisation with significantly increased efficiencies in order to ensure that the company has a successful future, and continues leading the market and offer the best value services to customers."
14 Comments
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jcmicallef
May 14th 2009, 07:32
My heart goes out to the workers who may feel that they are no longer 'needed'.
Work is an important factor in life.
This is globalisation, and companies are getting leaner and meaner - it's a fact of life, and with the excuse of the global recession, things are getting meaner every day.
However the workers at Go should consider themselves lucky as they are getting offered something in return - whether it is deserved by some or not.
It is much more than workers in other sectors could ever dream of getting.
Galea. L
May 14th 2009, 07:21
If you continue discharging the workers you shall no longer be my supplier.
Arrogant foreigners, I shall get the services you are supplying from others.
Mary Micallef
May 14th 2009, 03:58
It just goes to prove that all the sale of the majority shareholding of Maltacom was all about a property deal, the acquisition of the land at the Smart City site ( quite a nice slice of land) with a promise or an illusion of some 6,000 jobs, the Maltacom assets, buildings, exchanges at prime sites with a nice plot of land at Qawra worth Ten Million of the old LIri - Lm10,000,000, thrown into the deal.
Quite a deal for Tecom and certainly not for the local stakeholders.
Victor vella
May 14th 2009, 02:25
P Gauci, I bet you never tried the customer service from Melita.I have been waiting for an answer to their breach in the contract for 3 months now,further more I have been complaining about the reception since day 1 what did they do? nothing, with Go even though I missed paying for my internet connection they extended the service for 2 days to give me time to pay without being without internet service,and what about the quickness of the calls answer it is fast on a 24/7 basis,I regret switching to Melita.If melita care to see these comments they can contact me I am all ears .
R Gatt
May 13th 2009, 23:46
Glad I am not subscribed to any of GO's services. I also fail to see what Gonzi has to do with this. The issues GO are facing are probably all due to the mis-management of the merge of GO/Go Mobile.
C Chircop
May 13th 2009, 23:38
People have to wake up and comprehend the reality.
This is a privately owned international company working in a highly competitive enivronment which needs to effect rightsizing as part of its overall restructuring process.
Specifically, the company targetted its fixed line business as the area where such reduction in headcount is required. In other words, it has not taken the opportunity to reduce headcount across the board. The fixed line business is attributed to the former Maltacom structure, which was evidentally overstaffed. In the meantime, profit margins are diminishing in this line of business.
The voluntary redundancy scheme is adequate with its generous payouts, and facility to re-enter the job market thereafter. A 10 month period for such a scheme is not bad. Other companies in malta had a notably shorter timespan within which such schemes could be taken.
Anybody with a proper understanding of the market forces in the telecom industry will understand this.
Mark Galea
May 13th 2009, 21:54
@Steve Pace
first, better check who the shareholders in other telephony services are ... you might be 'slightly' surprised ... :)
Please, after checking, do not fail to write your results, in this blog.
Waiting to hear from you, my friend ...
Joe Vella
May 13th 2009, 21:28
Is Minister Gatt going to issue a statement?
Mary Jane
May 13th 2009, 21:06
The smell of the global recession is creeping in Malta slowly but surely as forcast by alot of readers including myself, there is no way out but to sit and keep our fingers crossed, that it will be the biggest flop of this century for the Maltese Islands. A bit grim but best to be prepared i say and not to live beyond our means.
Emanuel Vella
May 13th 2009, 20:13
I think the writing was on the wall when Maltacom changed its name to GO.
The name change underlined the fact that a large number of workers had to simply GO!!
Steve Pace
May 13th 2009, 20:10
I do not work for Go, nor have relatives or friends who do so. However, if they go ahead with this, I will switch to the competition as a gesture of solidarity. I AM FED UP OF FOREIGNERS AND ILLEGALS TAKING OUR JOBS. The €2 daily pay maybe good for Gonzi and his friends in Brussels who have everything paid for, but not for me and hundreds of thousands of workers. Bye bye GOnzi.
P.Gauci
May 13th 2009, 19:55
"GO pointed out that as its financial results for last year showed, it made a loss last year "
What were they expecting? That's what you get if you don't take care of your customers. Go's customer service is terrible.
David Borg
May 13th 2009, 19:54
@J Farrugia
Welcome to Globalization! There is no return....its a one way ticket!
J Farrugia
May 13th 2009, 17:51
My solidarity goes to the workers. They are right in complaining with the company which is harvesting millions in profits and now wants to reduce its workforce while farming out its operations. Thus saving on overheads. No this should not be allowed to occur here in Malta. Even though it is a private company it cannot do what it wants when it has such a vast amount of the local infrastructure which was paid by the maltese taxpayer with heavy sacrifices.