New Delhi: The multiple data theft cases started it all. Then came the Channel 4 sting that showed the Indian outsourcing industry in a bad light and sent various multinationals panicking about the security of their clients’ data in Indian call centers.
The final nail in the coffin came when Acme Power Solutions alleged data theft from a call centre in Gurgaon and subsequently decided to pull out from India.
Now, as a part of its efforts against offshoring jobs overseas, Australian Finance Sector Union (FSU) has urged its St George Bank shareholders to reject sending jobs to India.
FSU national secretary Paul Schroder was quoted by Aussie newspaper Herald Sun as saying that frontline bank staff and union members will urge the Bank’s board members to commit to keeping jobs in Australia.
Schroder also said that offshoring the bank’s jobs to Bangalore from Sydney and Adelaide earlier this year was undermining St George's reputation.
"St George cannot continue to satisfy shareholders with the argument that offshoring is necessary to give the bank a competitive advantage when they base their reputation around caring for people," Schroeder was quoted, adding "their actions continue to fly in the face of concerns from workers, customers and shareholders.''
On December 11, Australian financial sector union launched a media campaign against offshoring of jobs to India stating that the move would risk customer details.
"When a bank sends jobs to India it is not just the jobs that go, but information, such as about driver's licences, passports, signatures, earnings, assets, debts, credit cards and account details - and Australian privacy laws do not apply to other countries," a radio advertisement by the union said.
However, Schroder denied the ads were racist. "We're not saying foreign workers are more likely to (commit fraud), but here we are at a complete loss (to know) what legal remedy people would have if their data was stolen," he was quoted as saying.
According to research by the organisation for economic co-operation and development, up to 80 per cent of jobs in the finance industry could be lost overseas, costing over 100,000 Australian jobs, Schroder said.
The radio ads will be supported by a website on which the union has posted details of jobs sent offshore by Australian banks.
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