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Customer Service Professionals Cheer Outsourcing Victory in France
Companies that operate call centers in France were put on notice Oct. 7 that from now on workers will have to tell customers where they are located at the beginning of any conversation. The huge victory against outsourcing came as CWA and tens of thousands of union members worldwide, Oct. 3-9, celebrated Customer Service Professionals Week.
"We have been pushing for customer service right-to-know for two years, including endorsement by the world telecom unions at our meeting in Zagreb, Croatia, in summer 2003 and endorsement later from all the UNI unions," said CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, who is Telecom Sector president of Union Network International. "Hopefully, we can continue to press forward in the United States using the French example and their emphasis on lying about identity and location. Our emphasis needs to include all outsourcing, not just foreign."
Friends of CWA have introduced bills in several state legislatures and Senator John Kerry has sponsored a bill at the national level that would require call center workers to identify themselves and their locations, raising awareness among their American customers about just how much of the work has been relocated.
Among the week's activities, call center professionals in more than 130 CWA locals wore stickers to work proclaiming their solidarity with call center workers worldwide. Members of counterpart unions in countries, including Great Britain, Mexico, France, Malaysia, Brazil, Cameroon, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Peru, Portugal, Greece and Nigeria wore the same stickers and held similar events.
For instance, Local 6450 President Judy Sterns in Lees Summit, Mo., gathered her legislative coordinators and served cake and punch in AT&T break rooms. They distributed solidarity stickers to 380 telemarketers and 600 customer sales and service representatives.
"We talked to them about outsourcing and a little bit about what was going on in France," Sterns said. "The workers would talk it up in the break room, how important it was and how important it is to keep our jobs here in the United States. They wore those stickers all day."
Over the past five years, French companies have sent more than 6,500 jobs to 55 call centers in Morocco. Other jobs have been exported to Senegal and Tunisia.
In announcing the right-to-know policy, , French Industry Minister Patrick Devedjian said, "It is unfair to let consumers believe they are enjoying a close relationship with a firm when they are in fact dealing with a subcontractor, often in another country."
"We have been pushing for customer service right-to-know for two years, including endorsement by the world telecom unions at our meeting in Zagreb, Croatia, in summer 2003 and endorsement later from all the UNI unions," said CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, who is Telecom Sector president of Union Network International. "Hopefully, we can continue to press forward in the United States using the French example and their emphasis on lying about identity and location. Our emphasis needs to include all outsourcing, not just foreign."
Friends of CWA have introduced bills in several state legislatures and Senator John Kerry has sponsored a bill at the national level that would require call center workers to identify themselves and their locations, raising awareness among their American customers about just how much of the work has been relocated.
Among the week's activities, call center professionals in more than 130 CWA locals wore stickers to work proclaiming their solidarity with call center workers worldwide. Members of counterpart unions in countries, including Great Britain, Mexico, France, Malaysia, Brazil, Cameroon, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Peru, Portugal, Greece and Nigeria wore the same stickers and held similar events.
For instance, Local 6450 President Judy Sterns in Lees Summit, Mo., gathered her legislative coordinators and served cake and punch in AT&T break rooms. They distributed solidarity stickers to 380 telemarketers and 600 customer sales and service representatives.
"We talked to them about outsourcing and a little bit about what was going on in France," Sterns said. "The workers would talk it up in the break room, how important it was and how important it is to keep our jobs here in the United States. They wore those stickers all day."
Over the past five years, French companies have sent more than 6,500 jobs to 55 call centers in Morocco. Other jobs have been exported to Senegal and Tunisia.
In announcing the right-to-know policy, , French Industry Minister Patrick Devedjian said, "It is unfair to let consumers believe they are enjoying a close relationship with a firm when they are in fact dealing with a subcontractor, often in another country."