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THE Unite union vowed today to fight to save as many jobs as possible after energy giant Npower’s “horrific” announcement of thousands of redundancies cast a shadow over Christmas for the firm’s staff.
Npower, which supplies gas and electricity to 2.5 million households, said it would axe up to 4,500 IT and customer-service workers as part of a drive to protect profits.
The company has not yet confirmed the exact number of job losses, but they could have a heavy impact on its sites in Hull, Leeds, Rainton, Swindon and Worcester.
Workers were told at their weekly briefings today that Npower was facing an “unsustainable business situation.”
The company, which employs 5,700 people, has seen its market share shrink in recent year as many customers move to smaller suppliers. In 2016, it reported a £99 million loss.
Npower has responded with significant attempts at restructuring, which led to 2,400 job losses in 2016 and 900 more in January this year.
Unite regional officer Kelvin Mawer said: “This is a huge blow to our members and, although the job losses won’t start until next year, the announcement just before Christmas is about as bad as it can get. The scale of the proposed job cuts is horrific.
“Unite will be involved in all the consultations and our aim is to fully support our members. We will look to prevent as many job losses as we can.
“Our members in the affected areas will struggle to find suitable work that provides security for their families and a viable income that will pay the bills.”
Labour shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said: “We need energy workers more than ever to improve the efficiency of our homes and roll out renewables, and customer service is an essential part of that.
“Job cuts on this scale, done to make a quick buck, are utterly senseless and illustrate how the energy market is failing to deliver for workers, customers or the climate.”
Labour has promised to take the supply arms of the Big Six energy giants into public ownership to deliver a system “that works for the many.”
