Council chiefs in Britain's second city met with trade unions Friday after plans to outsource computer jobs to India sparked an angry response.

Birmingham City Council bosses held talks with members of Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, for talks over what Unite says is the first outsourcing of British local authority jobs to India.

Employees have already been recruited from India to shadow workers in the city in central England.

The jobs come under Service Birmingham, a joint venture between the council -- Europe's largest local authority, representing more than one million people -- and business process outsourcing firm Capita.

Capita took on 17 support staff in its information technology and human resources departments in India, and could recruit another 38 in August. Unite claims the number could rise to 100 by 2012.

"It beggars belief that council workers will be forced to train workers from overseas to do their jobs so Capita and Birmingham Council can lift and shift them abroad," said Unite national officer Peter Allenson.

"We fear this could be just the tip of the iceberg and other councils could follow suit. Thousands of public sector jobs could go."

Service Birmingham says nobody in the city has lost their job as a result of the move.

English local authorities are facing cuts in central government funding as Prime Minister David Cameron's administration tries to cut Britain's record budget deficit.

The city council, like Britain's national government, is run by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

Lib Dem council deputy leader Paul Tilsley said Capita had created hundreds of jobs for Birmingham.

"The current offshoring proposal involves 17 vacant jobs and a possible 38 jobs which are either vacant or filled by temps," he told the Birmingham Mail newspaper.

Labour opposition leader Albert Bore insisted the move was about cost-cutting.

"Offshoring jobs to India undermines the future of Birmingham," he said.

"At no time have the council said what savings are to be made, but it is obvious that is what they intended by this action."

Service Birmingham said it was committed to operational efficiency.

"We therefore need to offer the council the best combination of operating models to deliver cost savings and efficiency gains while maintaining our existing service levels.

"We are talking about a limited number of back office technical roles."

earlier related report
Argentina fights for more Chinese imports
Buenos Aires (UPI) Jun 3, 2011 - Argentina is fighting for a more balanced trade with China but the talks have given Beijing, a major buyer for Argentine commodities and goods, a significant edge over the Latin American country.

China is on a regional charm offensive, seeking to develop new markets for its manufactured exports as resistance to Chinese trade maneuvers grows elsewhere.

Last year Argentina exported $5.85 billion in commodities and goods to China, a 60 percent improvement over its 2009 trade figures but found its own import bill for China soared to $7.65 billion -- a 59 percent increase.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner began anti-dumping measures against China after the 2008 economic downturn -- a sore point in all trade negotiations between the two countries.

Argentine planners are hoping they can diversify the country's economy into more manufacturing and processed commodities while at the same time boosting agricultural production and exports.

Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming, on a recent regional tour, promised to encourage more imports from Argentina but made clear he wanted the Argentine market freed up for more Chinese goods. Buenos Aires has balked at the suggestion, saying the trade balance is already in favor of China.

Argentine officials also faced criticism they have heard frequently from Western Hemisphere investors that Argentine conditions for foreign investment lack incentives and are too forbidding for potential foreign entrepreneurs and trade partners.

Analysts said they expected Beijing to play a long game and extract maximum concessions from Latin American exporters, including members of the Mercosur trade bloc, before easing on the issue of imports from the region.

Addressing a news conference with Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Timerman, Chen said, "China is Argentina's second trade partner, while Argentina is China's fourth trade partner in Latin America" and current talks would aim to strengthen the partnership.

The strategies of the two sides couldn't be more different, analysts said. While Argentina is clamoring for more balanced trade, the Chinese side is angling for what can best be seen as a more unbalanced outcome in China's favor -- until Buenos Aires buckles and accedes to requests for a more open market.

Analysts said South American countries remained concerned and resistant toward a more liberal trade regime that, in the government economists' view, could decimate local manufacturing and even hurt Argentina's commodities markets.

Timerman said Argentina would continue trying "to harmonize trade and a more balanced exchange which would include not only commodities but also finished goods." It wasn't immediately clear what additional manufactures Argentina hoped to sell to China.

China is determined that as long as its level of exports is maintained it will be able to increase imports from Argentina, Chen said.

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