ASOS was accused today of planning to make hundreds of call centre workers redundant and to transfer jobs overseas.

General union GMB said that the online fashion retailer was to cut 300 jobs at its Leavesden site in Hertfordshire while moving work to the Philippines and other countries with cheaper labour.

The union said that workers were receiving letters announcing the redundancies.  

GMB London region organiser Steve Garelick said: “Asos say they are ‘fashion with integrity.’ You could have fooled me.

“The company is sacking workers under the cover of a national crisis in order to save money by offshoring their jobs.  

“What are sacked workers supposed to do?”

He accused company bosses of “washing their hands of all responsibility.

“It’s heartless and immoral,” Mr Garelick said.

“Sending these jobs overseas when the UK needs every job and income it can get shows the contempt the company holds UK communities in the middle of a crisis while the rest of us are pulling together — it’s the bottom line above all else for them.  

“There’s still time to do the right thing — if they’re serious about acting with ‘integrity’ they need to halt this plan now.”

Asos said in a statement: “Once again, we are seeing the GMB union — which isn’t recognised at any Asos site anywhere in the country — stirring up trouble and continuing to spread false and reckless claims in a desperate attempt to drive memberships.

“It would be inappropriate to discuss it publicly out of respect for the process and for those involved.”

Earlier this month workers called for a boycott of the company, which has had staff working in its giant Yorkshire warehouse during the pandemic, after a change of contractors meant that 70 of its delivery drivers were left facing redundancy.