AOL workers walk out over compulsory redundancies

by Joanne Payne, Brand Republic 15-Dec-06, 09:00

LONDON - NUJ members at AOL have voted unanimously in favour of strike action after the internet firm issued more than 100 compulsory redundancies.

No date has yet been set for any strike action but the NUJ chapel will talk to AOL management in the coming week and announce its intentions then. The company told the chapel in September of the need to cut jobs in the months prior to the sale of AOL's ISP business to Carphone Warehouse for £370m.

The staff are frustrated that a 90-day consultation period, which was due to end on December 18, has not been worthwhile. The NUJ said the only thing its members have been told is that the Time Warner-owned online business will not accept any voluntary redundancies, a move that has angered the union.

Jenny Lennox, assistant organiser for NUJ New Media, said: "I think the vote demonstrates how strongly the members feel about the planned redundancies. It will hopefully force the management to review their decision not to allow voluntary redundancies on several occasions."

The news came as AOL Europe has lost its third president this year. Carlo d'Asaro Biondo is leaving the company after just six weeks in the role. Biondo, previously chief executive of AOL France, was appointed in November.

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