IT workers' union Unites has reacted with anger and suspicion to the news,  reported earlier in IT Examiner,  that United Airlines is to close its Indian call centre.

"How many jobs did United Airlines chop?" it demands.

According to initial reports, about 162 call centre workers will lose their jobs. But Unites senses something fishy about the numbers, saying that the airline actually outsourced 650 telephone-reservations jobs to India from the United States in 2005 through agreements with two suppliers.

It had closed a reservations centre in Bloomington, Indiana, which had a workforce of 83 people. The airline also axed some call centre jobs at its 300 plus strong centre in Denver before the move in 2005.

But Unites India general secretary R Karthik Shekhar is demanding clarification on the number of jobs to be lost, saying, "How many jobs were lost in total? Is it closing and transferring only 165 jobs to the United States - so did they fire more employees before?"

He added, "We condemn the stance taken by United Airlines and United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski, who said the airline is able to respond better to customers who write, since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response... Why are the United Airlines talking about quality and customer care now after three-plus years of operations in India? Were they not sure about two suppliers in India before the process was moved to India? Or are they so sure now?""

IT Examiner has learnt that a Gurgaon firm, Coalescent Technologies, has recently posted a job opening for the position of process associate. The job posting clearly says that the company is looking for a candidate for its United Airlines process. We tried reaching the company, but none of the four numbers mentioned in the Coalescent’s website exists anymore.

Shekhar expressed his concern saying, "We feel all this is part of moving back jobs, as we had been telling in the past six months that post-US presidential elections this is bound to happen, but it is sad that the United Airlines is trying to tell that the service received in India is not good and they can handle it better."

The outspoken Unites boss made an appeal to both employees and employers. "It is high time the employers get united to prevent any sweeping remarks and employees need to get organised to get their rights," he said. X