Job news delivers wins and losses as Qantas wins reprieve but regions hit hard

THE jobs of 246 staff at the Qantas call centre in Glenorchy have been saved and up to 450 staff inter­state may be redeployed to Hobart.

Australian Services Union regional organiser Dennis Mullins says 139 workers will lose th

THE jobs of 246 staff at the Qantas call centre in Glenorchy have been saved and up to a further 450 staff inter­state may be redeployed to Hobart.

Jobs in Hobart will be ­offered to Qantas call centre workers in Brisbane and Melbourne as the airline consolidates to one site.

But the good news was offset by the loss of 20 tax office jobs in Launceston and confirmation 139 jobs will go in Devonport when the Sitel call centre closes at Christmas.

The Qantas decision came after significant State Government support, which some sources say could be up to $8 million.

Tasmania’s Qantas Call Centre win, and the retention of salaries worth $14 million a year, provoked a furious reaction interstate, with Victoria’s Planning Minister Matthew Guy blaming his federal counterparts for supporting Tasmania.

“It’s utterly unhelpful for the Federal Government to be assisting Tasmania to move jobs out of Victoria to Tassie,” Mr Guy said.

“We don’t like the idea of the feds taking sides in a state-by-state battle.”

But Minister for Employment Eric Abetz rejected the claims.

“The Federal Government did not make any offer of any form of financial assistance to Qantas in relation to jobs at the call centre in Hobart,’’ a spokesman for the Tasmanian Senator said.

“This was a commercial ­decision made by Qantas.”

Premier Will Hodgman said further details about the assistance package provided to Qantas would be released when negotiations were finalised.

“We expect the number of jobs at the call centre will grow, creating further opportunities for Tasmanians,’’ he said.

Australian Services Union regional organiser Dennis Mullins says 139 workers will lose their jobs when Sitel call centre in Devonport closes at the end of the year. Picture: Chris Kidd

Qantas will consolidate its three call centres into the Dowsings Point centre by 2016 as part of a $2 billion transformation program and associated reduction of 5000 jobs.

Interstate relocation costs for staff moving to Tasmania would be paid by the airline.

Qantas Domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said one call centre would be more efficient.

“Hobart was the logical choice for us to base our Australia call centre operations because of the modern facilities, the space available within the existing site and the ongoing costs of operating there,’’ he said.

“The Tasmanian Government has been very supportive of our Hobart call centre and is passionate about the future of Qantas Group operations in the State.”

But in a veiled warning, Mr Strambi said customers were increasingly turning to online, mobile and social media to communicate with Qantas.

A Qantas spokeswoman said there was not a target number of jobs for the call ­centre.

“We will look at that after we see what level of the interest there is from employees in Brisbane and Melbourne is,’’ she said.

Mr Strambi said employees in the Brisbane and Melbourne call centres would be offered redeployment to Hobart and be paid relocation costs.

Australian Services Union assistant branch secretary Igor Grattan said it was too early to tell how many interstate workers would move to the state.

“The first question that needs to be answered is how many positions there will be in the call centre,’’ he said.

The union will meet Qantas management today.

Glenorchy Mayor Stuart Slade said it was great comfort that many residents of the city would retain their jobs.

“The consolidation of the Australian call centres to Glenorchy will provide positive flow-on effects for our community,’’ Alderman Slade said.

Labor Leader Bryan Green lauded the Qantas jobs announcement, but said the Liberal Government needed to react to the closure of the Sitel call centre in Devonport, announced yesterday, which would see 139 employees lose their jobs.

“Also the workers of the M2 Hobart call centre still face an uncertain future,’’ he said.

“The Government must work with these employers and unions to support workers and find solutions to keep jobs in this state.”