Customer Service Professionals Month Recognizes Workers in a Tough Profession

Washington, DC – Today the Communications Workers of America marks the start of Customer Service Professionals month. Throughout October and into next year, CWA customer service members and their colleagues around the globe will spotlight the accomplishments, professionalism and the problems still facing customer service and call center workers.

Among the activities getting underway this month:

• A new blog open to all customer service workers will focus on the tough issues facing call center workers. This month, the focus will be on electronic sweatshops. Access the blog at http://cwacustomerservice.ning.com.
• Focus on legislative initiatives to support customer service and call center workers, including consumer right-to-know legislation.
• Actions at CWA-represented call centers and support for customer service workers who want a union, including those at T-Mobile USA and American Airlines. 
• Participation in the global labor movement’s World Day for Decent Work, Oct. 7, which spotlights the problems faced especially by women workers. Learn more at www.wddw.org.

“Customer service professionals face many stress factors on the job, from monitoring to quotas to difficulties in balancing work and family responsibilities. Employers who take the high road in labor relations, providing training and fair working conditions, know that a quality workforce is the key to the quality service that customers want,” said CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins.

CWA represents about 150,000 customer service workers in telecommunications, media, airlines, public service and other sectors.

Contact: Candice Johnson or Chuck Porcari, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org or cporcari@cwa-union.org