Oxfam workers protest over 'outsourcing' of jobs
Workers at Oxfam have been demonstrating against job cuts.Unite members gathered outside the London, Manchester and Oxford offices because of what they called redundancy and outsourcing plans by the charity.Amit Srivastava, speaking outside Oxfam GB's headquarters in Oxford, said he wanted Oxfam "to think again and come up with a proposal that fits with Oxfam values and its commitment to decent jobs and workers' rights".Oxfam said its "restructuring proposals" were to secure its financial future and "not about a policy to replace in-house roles with non-unionised casual labour".
But Unite said the charity's publishing and training teams were being outsourced, and that it was planning to "replace secure jobs with casual work". "Staff are being made redundant, but the organisation is proposing their work will then be done by outside agencies or casual staff, without a business case being made for this to workers," it said.Protesters also want Oxfam to roll back a wider programme to put 265 of its staff at risk of redundancy.A consultation process is currently under way.
Mr Srivastava, a Unite representative and part of the Oxfam publishing team, told the BBC: "Any corporation that threw out union members and salaried workers to replace them with casual labour or agencies would rightly face criticism from Oxfam - but that's exactly what Oxfam is planning to do to its own staff by outsourcing its work."Emily Gillingham, another member of the publishing team, said she was "frustrated and worried for the future of the organisation and the work"."It's so important to take care of the knowledge and the experience of the people who work here," she explained.
'Difficult decisions'
Sukhninder Sandher, who works as a financial controller for the charity, said he did not think the changes would save money."There's better ways to manage our finances and Oxfam as an organisation, which preaches and places great stall on its values, really needs to implement them in-house in our opinion," he said. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "This situation is totally unacceptable and our members have Unite's full support throughout their campaign."An Oxfam spokesperson said: "We support the right to protest. We believe in union rights. "These restructuring proposals are to secure our financial future, not about a policy to replace in house roles with non-unionised casual labour. "Where our capacity is reduced, if we use short-term specialist expertise, it will be in accordance with our labour rights standards and our values. "Like other charities, we have to make difficult decisions regarding our wage bill, so we can continue to respond to crises around the world."
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