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Workers at Co-operative Financial Services’ IT department, managed by IT services firm Steria, vote for strike against bid to move jobs to India

Workers employed by IT services provider Steria on its contract with Co-operative Financial Services have voted in favour of strike action to protest against a plan to move some jobs to India.

The moving of roles to Steria’s Indian delivery centres would involve compulsory redundancy for 31 workers, although there are fears that more would follow.

"The vote for industrial action is a clear reflection of our members' anger that their jobs are being offshored to India at a time of increasing economic uncertainty in the UK," said Richard Lynch, the IT sector representative of Unite, the union that organised the vote.

But Steria’s management pointed to the fact that only 93 out of the department’s 175 workers took part in the poll. That means the majority vote in the poll does not constitute a real majority, it said.

"The low turnout for the ballot, combined with the fact that just 65 people out of a membership in excess of 175 voted to support action, highlights that the appetite for industrial action goes against the wishes of the vast majority of members," said Steria UK CEO John Torrie.

Further reading

Union calls for action against Steria/Co-operative offshore move

Steria finds its soul mate in Xansa
A public sector IT services love story

Lloyds TSB told to scrap offshoring by workers

Indian BPO workers form online ‘union’

Find more stories in the IT Services Briefing Room