News

Unions around the world are gearing up for a week of events designed to spread the union message to contact center workers.

Now in its tenth year, the UNI ICTS Contact Center Week of Action (19 – 23 October) aims to highlight key issues for contact center workers – from stress to salaries – and the difference having a union can make. This year, the emphasis will be on part-time and temporary workers who contend with some of the most difficult conditions in the industry.

Some two-thirds of all interactions between companies and customers take place in contact centers via groups of highly trained workers.

“This work often involves intense performance monitoring, tightly controlled schedules and breaks as well as high rates of turnover, all of which can contribute to increasing levels of stress and anxiety,” said Alan Tate, Head of UNI ICTS.

With the trend for outsourcing contact center work continuing to grow, more and more workers are being employed by temporary agencies while others are hired directly by contact centers but could have non-standard work arrangements such as fixed-term or zero hour contracts.

“For some workers the choice is theirs; they prefer more flexible work,” Tate added. “But for many there is little choice. Temporary agency and non-standard work is often precarious, offering inferior pay and fewer benefits.”

UNI ICTS affiliates in Belgium will kick of this year’s actions with an event in Brussels (Boulevard Pacheco 34, 1000 Brussels) on Friday October 16. The event will feature a climbing wall with the theme of “climbing the route to land a decent contract”. The unions will hand out free climbing carabiners to contact center workers.

Are you planning an event for Contact Center Week of Action? Post your pictures to social media using #CCWA2015 and follow the UNI ICTS Facebook page for more details.