Coditel Brabant SPRL, operating under the SFR brand, has told trade union representatives and staff that it intends to make the majority of its Belgian workforce redundant.
Some 40 of the 49 employees are affected, with only a handful involved in the operation of the company remaining, and a consultation phase with the unions is now underway.
Following the acquisition of Coditel by Telenet in June 2017, Coditel has continued to function independently under the SFR brand.
Among the possible options, the choice was then made to offer SFR customers in Belgium the possibility of gradually changing over to Telenet products. In accordance with an agreement concluded with Altice at the time of the takeover, the SFR brand can only be used for a limited amount of time, resulting in the rapid reduction of Coditel’s commercial activities (sales and customer services) and other associated activities (finance, IT, etc.) and, ultimately, the termination of its activities at the end March 2019. From an economic point of view, it is no longer justified to retain all of Coditel’s staff members.
Staff as well as employee representatives were informed early on Tuesday.
“The decision of going ahead with collective redundancy was particularly difficult to take, and we shall do everything we can to collaborate with the employees and their representatives in the coming weeks. We are doing our utmost to ensure the best follow-up for the employees affected”, said Patrick Vincent, CEO of Coditel.
If the management plans are confirmed the affected employees will have the chance to apply for other jobs within the Telenet group. Coditel said it will do its utmost to ensure the best possible support for those affected.
