Hi °C | Lo °C Around 40 jobs could be lost at an outsourcing company which holds the contract to clean all PSNI stations in Northern Ireland, it has emerged.
Aramark, incorporating Campbell Catering, employs around 900 people in the province.
In a letter sent to Aramark employees dated June 20, the regional managing director of the firm, Christine Magee, said the company has been "forced to consider redundancies as part of a reorganisation of our PSNI business".
She said that in order to remain competitive, the firm must review the cost of the operation, specifically the cost of labour and services when the new contract commences this September.
The letter adds: "As it is envisaged that around 40 employees in the company could be selected for redundancy, we are obliged to consult with representatives of the workforce."
Robin McClelland from the services union Nipsa said staff were "concerned, angry and upset".
"We are trying to get further clarification from the company because at the minute, a lot of employees are very confused," he said. "We are calling for a meeting with Aramark to see what the options are."
Aramark yesterday declined to comment.
Around 200 people work on the PSNI contract, of whom around 100 are Nipsa members.
The letter to employees said the consultation process, which is due to open next week, will try to identify ways of avoiding dismissals, reducing the number of employees and mitigating the consequences of any redundancies.
The correspondence ends by saying that "every effort" will be made to avoid compulsory redundancies and to minimise the numbers of employees affected.
The firm initially won the PSNI contract in 2006 and was awarded the work again in May 2011.
The company employs 4,100 people throughout Ireland and is headquartered in Dublin. In addition, the company has offices in Cork, Limerick and Belfast. The US-based firm operates in 22 countries across the world.
It is ranked number one in the 'diversified outsourcing services' category of Fortune magazine's list of the world's most admired companies.
