PCCW staff unions assured jobs and pay safe - for now

PCCW said yesterday it would make an announcement on Monday about a plan to subcontract work, but promised there were no plans for pay cuts or lay-offs in the near future.

After a 90-minute meeting with PCCW chief operating officer Mike Butcher, PCCW Employees General Union chairman Cheng Chun-man said the company had given an assurance on pay and jobs for the short term.

Mr Cheng said Mr Butcher told him that the company, which employs 13,000 people, planned to introduce subcontracting. But no details were revealed in the meeting.

Staff in the departments concerned would have meetings with their superiors on Monday to discuss the changes, Mr Cheng said.

Representatives of Mr Cheng's union, the Cable & Wireless Staff Association and the PCCW Staff Association, yesterday met PCCW heads to discuss rumours circulating in the company that mass lay-offs would be announced before the company's interim reports next Thursday.

Before yesterday's meeting, the three unions had collected 4,808 signatures from workers calling for the company to issue a statement.

Mr Butcher later sent a letter to all staff telling them of the plan to reduce costs by subcontracting out some business operations. He said there could not be a blanket promise of no sackings. He also said in the letter that due to the economic downturn and increased competition and deregulation, PCCW needed to balance the interests of shareholders, customers and staff.

'In this environment . . . the company needs to define and conclude ways to achieve operational efficiencies. Whatever we do, we will do our utmost to minimise the impact on employees, to the best of our ability,' the letter said.

Mr Butcher said the company would work through some decisions and changes between now and the end of the year, but he promised to inform staff as soon as decisions were made.

PCCW sacked 858 workers in the most recent wave of lay-offs in March. PCCW Staff Association chairman Terry Ip Ngok-fun said the company yesterday promised to maintain dialogue with the unions.

'The company should listen to our views. Otherwise, it will further lower our morale, affecting the service quality as well as the company business. In the end, the company would suffer the most,' he said.