130 jobs on the line as Woolworths considers shifting customer care centre to Australia- union

More than 100 Woolworths jobs could be axed under a proposal to shift the company's customer care centre to Australia, according to union Workers First.The union said staff were told at a 1pm meeting on Tuesday of a proposal to shift the centre across the Tasman, which could result in the loss of around 130 roles.A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed it had announced a proposal to "explore the integration of its customer care operations" with its operation based in Sydney."We acknowledge proposals like this have an impact on our team and we don't take that lightly. Right now our primary focus is on supporting those team members and ensuring customers are not impacted while we consider the proposal."Woolworths said it was working one-on-one with staff to get their feedback and were looking at redeployment opportunities in the company.Workers First deputy secretary Rudd Hughes said the proposal prioritised profit over people and would have been "crushing to hear"."This is yet another example of New Zealanders losing out to Australia because companies like Woolworths see them as expendable," he said.Hughes said many of the staff in customer care were solo parents who would struggle to find comparable employment if the proposal went ahead.He said there should be a reasonable expectation that large companies like Woolworths should reinvest in their customer base."They're happy to earn big profits in our country and make Kiwis reliant on their supermarkets, but they are planning to throw away more than a hundred of our jobs to save a very small amount of money over the next three years."Hughes said feedback on the proposal was due on 15 September and warned if it went ahead, New Zealand customers would get worse service."Someone calling from Paekākāriki to inquire about a product return, for example, may find it much more difficult to deal with an Australian who lacks local knowledge and local experience."Woolworths New Zealand reported $8.49 billion in sales in the year to June - an increase on the $8.29b on the previous year. Earnings were also up from $150 million to $163m, it said.