By Alex Scroxton
20 August 2008
Levels of Nortel stock in the channel are reportedly unaffected by a strike at its Northern Ireland EMEA supply chain facility earlier this week.
On Monday, 200 workers at the communications giant’s Newtownabbey facility walked out after pay talks broke down. Unite, which represents some of Nortel's UK workers, said it had called for a pay rise of 4.6% in line with the Retail Price Index, but Nortel was only prepared to go to 3.75%. The plant employs about 625 people and Unite has threatened to repeat the action until the dispute is resolved.
Westcon vendor manager Bernie Dodwell said levels of Nortel stock in the channel were currently high and the distributor had not seen any effect so far.
One Nortel reseller pointed out the timing of the action, coming during the slack summer period, meant not enough stock was moving out through the channel for it to present a problem.
A Nortel spokesperson said: “We are aware of this action and can confirm there has been no impact to our suppliers and partners.”
But as economists called for trade unions to cease demands for inflation-beating pay rises, it emerged the possibility of strike action during the downturn could have an impact on the channel if vendors find their supply chains disrupted.
Many agreed industrial action was a potential worry for distributors and resellers alike, but Dodwell pointed out that in general, the IT industry was not very well unionised.
“It’s an exception within the industry; integrators and VARs don’t see unions operating and in 25 years in the industry I’ve never worked for a company that was unionised,” he said.
Arman Khan, divisional director at managed services provider and Nortel partner Maxima, added: "I don’t feel there are any more vulnerabilities to the channel than other areas of working life." He added: "Our industry has proven to be steadfast and pragmatic when there are disputes and always seem to be resolved quickly."
Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has rejected a 4.1% pay deal offered by the Isle of Man’s incumbent telco, Manx Telecom, claiming inflation on the island was running as high as 6%, paving the way for a series of strikes to begin at the end of the week
