OFFSHORING OF MOBILE TELEPHONE COMPANY CALL CENTRES

That this House is concerned at the decision by Orange Mobile to offshore its night shift customer services work from Darlington to the Philippines, withoutconsultation and with staff being told they face redundancy, lower pay or an unrealistic relocation to the other side of the world; believes that such a move will not be welcomed by customers; and calls on the Government to consider the impact on employment in the North East and to take action to secure the future of the three large call centres owned by Orange and T Mobile, following the merger of these companies and the failure of Orange to honour previous commitments to keep jobs in the UK.