CWU vex TSTT closing retail centres

CARLA BRIDGLAL

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is demanding that TSTT reverse its decision to shutter nine retail centres owned by the company, or at least explain its intentions. “This is not in the interest of anyone. Not in the interest of the company, the employees, the government or customers,” Secretary-General of the CWU, Clyde Elder told Newsday via telephone.

Elder said the decision will affect over 300 employees. TSTT, however, in a release on October 24, insisted that no workers will be retrenched. Elder said while the company did say it will attempt to redistribute its retail outlet workers to other parts of the operation, those who could not or would not be relocated would be given voluntary separation packages.

He also contended that there are workers in these stores who were hired through external agencies and the company is refusing to acknowledge them as workers even though some have been reporting for duty for years. In phone call yesterday, TSTT senior manager for brand, public and external affairs, Graeme Suite, said the company was closing these retail stores because it was more cost effective and efficient.

“Our data shows that more than 70 percent of customer activity at these stores is bill payment. We’ve streamlined our service to allow for easier ways to do that, with online bill paying portals.

It didn’t make sense, then, to keep these stores open,” Suite said. He clarified that the company was not transferring operation of the TSTT locations to dealers, but were in fact, closing them down. The projected date for this transition is November 1, he said.

He added that the company had not yet determined what it will be doing with the closed stores.

He said that at the meeting between the union and the company, the union had expressed concerns that customer information might be compromised now that retail operations would be exclusively outsourced. Smith said TSTT had been using dealers for about 15 years with no complaints so did not envisage a complication now.