NEWS RELEASE Tuesday 16th March 2004
STUC to press Trade and Industry Secretary to accept that offshoring is not inevitable
Commenting prior to a meeting with Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia's Hewitt to discuss the impact of globalisation on trade and investment, Stephen Boyd, STUC Assistant Secretary said:
"The STUC appreciates this opportunity to raise some ongoing concerns with Patricia Hewitt and will ask that she and her ministerial colleagues consider responding critically when decisions to offshore UK jobs have been motivated more by the need to maximise short-term profits than improving the long term prospects of the organisation or the service it provides to customers.
"The STUC is calling for a clear strategy to maintain full employment in the UK economy in the face of growing competition from developing economies for global service sector trade. In our view such a strategy should include:
· An authoritative analysis of the potential impact on jobs, region by region, identifying the key areas and likely timescale; · Additional support to encourage training and upskilling to allow staff to re-deploy to high value added jobs, including the extension of lifelong learning opportunities in IT and other transferable skills and support for Union Learning Representatives; · A commitment by the DTI to draw up a code of best practice to encourage all firms to handle change through negotiation and consultation; · Support for the trade union movement's efforts through international agreements and through the WTO to promote core labour standards and the international codes of best practice.
"The STUC believes that large-scale offshoring of Scottish service sector jobs is not inevitable and that the process can be mitigated by the public policy response. The UK Government and Scottish Executive can and should act now to help ensure that service sector jobs are retained in Scotland.
"That ministers have little influence over global economic forces should not prevent them from embarking on a mature discussion with their employer and trade union partners on how the quality and sustainability of service sector jobs in Scotland might be improved".
ENDS
Tel: 0141 337 8100 / Fax: 0141 337 8101 www.stuc.org.uk
For further details contact:
David Moxham Stephen Boyd