Work on Dundee’s Fibrecity high-speed broadband project has come to a halt and staff laid off in worrying developments that workers say have come “like a bolt from the blue”.
Fujitsu, which is contracted to install cabling for the roll-out of the fibre optic network, said it had been left with no alternative but to let 52 people go pending the resumption of work.
The company funding the multi-million pound scheme, i3, said operations had been “delayed slightly” for restructuring purposes but stressed the project was still alive.
Furious workers have claimed that as many as 150 jobs are at stake and are unhappy that they have been given seven days’ notice to tidy up sites around the Coldside area of the city.
The first signs of trouble began to emerge on Monday when workmen claimed they had been told their jobs were finished just a few months after they had started laying the new cable. They described the news as a “bolt out of the blue.”
It is understood that i3’s Fibrecity office in Dundee, which employed a handful of people, has also been shut down.
The company responded to the workmen’s claims with a statement that it was “committed to Fibrecity Dundee.”
An i3 spokesman added, “However, work on the project has been delayed slightly while the group’s UK operation is restructured to bring it in line with the company’s overseas subsidiaries. We expect this to take up to four weeks.
“While we regret the confusion that this has caused in the marketplace, this restructuring will increase the efficiency of the organisation and place it in an even stronger position to use its innovative technologies and methodologies to deploy Britain’s largest fibre-to-the-home network.”RumoursOne of the workers cleaning up on Tuesday said the employees are not entitled to any compensation or redundancy money as their contracts can be terminated at a week’s notice. He added that rumours have circulated that the shutdown was due to substandard work being carried out on a similar project in Bournemouth and i3 don’t want the same problems emerging in Dundee a claim vigorously denied by i3.
The employee said the situation now leaves those who had banked on a long-term future working on the Fibrecity project struggling to provide for their families.
“We packed up our old jobs to come here we thought it was going to be a good thing,” he said. “I said to them that paying us off at this time of year was crazy they could have left it until Christmas or just afterwards.
“We’ve all got families to try to support. I’ve got three kids myself.”
Another cable layer said the news had come without warning after he had taken the job in the belief he would be involved in fibre cable laying operations for 77 weeks.
Dundee West MP Jim McGovern says he wants clarity on the future of the project.
“I will be following up earlier representations I have made to the parent company, i3, contractors Fujitsu and Fibrecity itself to further clarify this situation,” he said. “I have been assured by the company responsible that they are thoroughly committed to Dundee and the project will resume after a four-week pause.
“I have been told that this delay is occurring because of restructuring within the company, to bring it in line with the company’s other operations overseas.
“I met representatives from Fibrecity earlier this month and they gave no indication that there might be a problem. I am concerned that workers have been laid off and the Dundee office closed, despite it only being a four-week delay.
“I will be contacting all those organisations involved to clarify the situation, to seek assurance that this important project will be going ahead as planned and jobs will not be permanently lost.”
On Tuesday, Fujitsu stated, “We can confirm that Fibrecity has asked Fujitsu to suspend its work on the project in Dundee for a temporary period. Unfortunately, this has meant that 52 temporary employees, who Fujitsu recruited for the project, have been advised that their contracts have had to be terminated.
“We very much regret having to take this action and hope that the people affected will soon find other employment.”
Work started at the end of the summer and workers were concentrating on the area around the Law and Hilltown at the end of last week, with plans to move on towards Clepington Road. To cut disruption to road surfaces, the fibres are being laid using microtrenching equipment or through the city’s sewers.
Just two months ago, the partners behind the project Scottish Water and i3 said the broadband network and jobs that go with it were secure despite an English water company pulling out of a similar project in Bournemouth.
Wessex Water cited commercial and technical reasons for its decision to withdraw even though that project had been validated through a pilot scheme.
Asked about the latest development, Scottish Water said it would be seeking talks with i3.