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UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “Telefonica has abandoned its Atento staff to the private equity greed formula, as developed by Mitt Romney, of high management fees and high rates of return fed into tax havens , Bain Capital has a reputation for buying up, restructuring and asset stripping to grind out those high rates of return which have resulted in extensive job losses in the past. This is not about customer service but a quick buck for Bain which is the only winner from today’s deal.”

Jennings added, “We are ready and organised to fight for the future of the Atento workers. We are launching a UNI Atento Alliance which will spearhead and coordinate our strategy. We will bring together our affiliate unions from all over the world and demand answers, including details of the tax base and origin of the deal and guarantees that the staff won’t be thrown to the wolves.”

Jennings concluded, “UNI Global Union has a global agreement on fundamental rights with Telefonica which applies to Atento. Bain Capital should honour this agreement which recognises the rights of workers to join a union free from management interference. Telefonica cannot be allowed to wash its hands of Atento and its loyal workers.”

UNI Americas Regional Secretary Adriana Rosenzvaig said there is particular concern over possible job losses in Latin America where Atento chiefly operates.

Rosenzvaig said “We are already hearing rumours of retrenchments in certain Latin American countries. The combination of Bain’s asset stripping reputation coupled with the regions weak labour protection laws, violence against trade unionists and a failure to adhere to international labour norms is a lethal cocktail. Bain must uphold the global agreement on fundamental labour rights signed between Telefonica and UNI which applies to Atento today. The sale to Bain Capital must not trigger off lay-offs.”

A number of countries where Atento operates currently have existing collective bargaining relationships with unions that are members of UNI. Any sale should maintain those contracts and relationships.