Call heart employees for a number of the world’s largest tech firms together with Apple, Google, Microsoft and Netflix are accusing their employer of retaliating towards union organisers, continuously surveilling employees and even refusing toilet breaks.
Within the US or Europe, when you name for technical or buyer assist from an enormous tech firm, it’s possible you’ll be talking with a employee at considered one of Teleperformance’s name facilities in Greece.
Teleperformance, the biggest name heart operator on the earth, employs about 12,000 employees in Greece, serving greater than 140 markets around the globe in 43 completely different languages and dialects. The corporate has seven multi-language hubs in Greece – in Athens, Chania, and Thessaloniki.
Employees who’ve been pushing for a collective labor settlement with Teleperformance in Greece say the corporate has just lately retaliated with focused layoffs of union leaders.
They are saying wages have remained unchanged since 2010, when Greece was hit by austerity measures by collectors, regardless of excessive inflation in recent times and will increase to the price of residing.
Nikos Spyrelis, a name heart employee at Teleperformance and president of Setep, the commerce union representing Teleperformance employees in Greece, defined that the union effort started in early 2024 in response to the shortage of any pay raises for years and growing manufacturing strain that employees are put beneath.
“They’ve dozens of productiveness indicators that they’re judging you by, and relying on the venture, it’s a must to reply quite a few calls. If you wish to go to the toilet, there are numerous cases the place they don’t permit you to go to the toilet,” stated Spyrelis. “If you’re sick or absent for any purpose by any means, that is counted as being counterproductive and a purpose to resume or to not renew an worker’s contract.”
He defined the employees are employed on short-term contracts, and through work hours are continuously surveilled, recorded and despatched messages to ramp up manufacturing as a result of the corporate receives bonuses from shoppers relying on what number of calls they consumption.
“You may be working for years on finish and when you’re not productive for 2 months, three months, you’re handled such as you simply began,” stated Spyrelis.
Round half of the decision heart employees are from exterior Greece and face points with having their pay deducted for housing and utilities.
“It’s a societal subject they’ve created,” stated Giorgos Krasadakis, a name heart employee at Teleperformance in Chania, Greece, and president of the native Setep department representing employees.
“The traditional wage [per month] can be round €1,329 ($1,376) , however with housing it’s €1,029 ($1,065) , and on prime of that they cost electrical energy at 4 instances what an area firm would cost,” stated Krasadakis. “It is a device they use to place extra strain on them, as a result of in the event that they hearth somebody, or in the event that they don’t renew their contract, on the primary day, they will simply say, OK, it’s a must to be homeless now.”
He additionally claimed the employees aren’t allowed to obtain guests at their residences, the place they’re surveilled by safety.
“They’ve safety passing by the residences two to a few instances a day to ensure they don’t have guests,” added Krasadakis.
Migrant employees have reported going through harassment, bullying and intense productiveness pressures at Teleperformance in Greece.
“Stress turns into part of your life,” Rania, a migrant employee at Teleperformance, advised Remainder of World in 2021. “You’re in danger even when you will have a six-month contract, since you could be fired in the course of that contract. Nothing is granted, nothing is assured.”
The union has been pushing for everlasting employment contracts, greater wages, job safety measures for employees on visas and a lower in working hours. However they are saying Teleperformance has opposed the unionization effort from the offset.
“They confirmed their intentions from the start. They are going to do something to not signal the collective labor settlement,” added Spyrelis. “They’re making an attempt to inflict the blow to the union, to silence us and to keep away from us defending our colleagues on the whole and signing the contract with the wages and our truthful calls for.”
The union has held 10 strikes, with probably the most latest in December 2024, to push Teleperformance to signal a collective labor settlement with the union, which claimed the corporate has engaged in retaliatory layoffs geared toward union leaders and supporters.
They stated Teleperformance argued in courtroom in Greece that they weren’t a communications firm, claiming the union was not relevant to their sector.
Ghassen Ben Jannet, a Teleperformance employee in Greece from Tunisia and vice-president of the union, advised Le Monde final month he was one of many focused union leaders who had been terminated.
“My superior justified this resolution due to my habits. However I’ve been working for Teleperformance since 2018, I’ve by no means had a sequence of absences, my shoppers and superiors have at all times given me constructive suggestions,” he advised Le Monde, including he felt the corporate is making an attempt to strain different employees from backing off on the union demand.
Teleperformance didn’t reply to a number of requests for touch upon this story.
Netflix, Google and Apple additionally didn’t reply to requests for remark.
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