Unionised workers at call centre company Abtran have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in a ballot distributed to members last month. This comes after a pay claim delivered by workers to Abtran was ignored by the company.
In May, the workers, all of whom are members of the Independent Workers Union (IWU), launched a claim for a pay increase to €15 per hour, which would increase to €18 per hour over the next five years. The claim also included the reintroduction of 15 minute welfare breaks, and the removal of disciplinary procedures for workers who took their statutory sick leave.
The IWU has been engaging with workers in the company over the last six months, as well as speaking with local residents around Abtran facilities, and sending correspondence to clients of Abtran about conditions for workers in the company.
The decision to engage in industrial action is a significant step forward for the workers, and highlights their frustration after having received nothing from the their employer. Abtran have completely refused to respond to the IWU.
Since the launch of the pay claim, internal emails seen by Forward, which have been sent by Abtran management to staff, include advice on better budgeting on money management, something that the workers have described as “deeply insulting”.
Workers have also spoken about punishments for those exceeding bathroom breaks of seven minutes, with an informal warning being followed up by disciplinary processes if done repeatedly.
The poor pay and conditions provided by Abtran are not a reflection of the company’s financial health. A recent article by The Ditch revealed that Abtran has received over €200 million in state contracts since 2012, a figure which doesn’t include its many private contracts.
Call centre workers are often overlooked and the importance of their work can be often forgotten. Workers at Abtran provide outsourced labour for state agencies including Electric Ireland, Irish Life Health, Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), the Road Safety Authority – National Drivers License Service (RSA – NDLS), and the Teaching Council of Ireland.
Many state agencies outsource labour to Abtran as a way of reducing the amount of workers they need to keep in unionised jobs with relatively healthy pay scales. Workers in Abtran are currently being paid a minimum wage of €12.70 per hour, with no sign from management that this will increase.
While being extremely overworked, it is no wonder that these call centre workers have decided to agitate against the poor conditions in which they find themselves in. It is no coincidence either that there is a consistently high turnover rate in companies which display poor treatment of workers, as companies like this have no desire to keep their workforce static, and benefit from a labour market in which cheap labour is readily available due to economic pressures facing workers.
Typically, call centre workers in Ireland are on the younger side, including college students and young people generally trying to get by and afford rent or other necessities.
This is reason alone for the full support and recognition of the struggle of Abtran workers from working class youth, and our class more broadly. The Connolly Youth Movement continues to commend the Independent Workers Union on their use of grassroots organising models to help workers facing poor conditions group together and fight alongside each other based around their common hardship.