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Operators and Sales Reps Join Together for Union Jobs and "High Road" Customer Service
More than 300 operators and customer service representatives came together to share concerns and lay out an action agenda for "high road" customer service at CWA's first combined National Operator and Marketing Conference, Sept. 24-27, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Telephone operators and service reps, US Airways reservations agents, newspaper ad sales reps and public employees found common ground in the work they do and the challenges they face, particularly fear of their jobs moving overseas.
CWA President Morton Bahr told how members' solidarity, the AFL-CIO's carrier-change campaign and outspoken public officials led to the successful conclusion of Verizon East bargaining.
"We know who our friends are in public office and we've got to elect more of them," Bahr said. "Most important for jobs and the economy, we've got to defeat George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election."
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, a former operator, said call center issues demand a union-wide strategy. "It doesn't matter where we work, or for what company. The work is the same, and the challenges we face are the same," she said.
Citing the challenges, Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said, "Threats of outsourcing are faced by customer service professionals regardless of where they work. The stress, monitoring, relentless sales quotas, scheduling problems, health and safety issues, lack of time to catch up are issues faced around the globe. Our response must be global as well."
He urged members to promote "high-road," professional customer service - value added by friendly, courteous service and the ability to sell bundled services - as the alternative to "low-road" service, characterized by scripting and pressure to quickly get the customer off the phone.
He said communications unions around the world were preparing to take part in the Union Network International's campaign to urge employers to adopt high-road customer service. Workers in many countries received solidarity stickers to wear at work during October's Call Center Workers' Global Action Week.
Another strategy CWA is pursuing to keep customer service jobs at home is state legislation, such as the "right-to-know" bill up for a vote in the New Jersey Assembly this month. The bill would require call center reps to tell customers where they work and who employs them. Call centers, such as one in Delhi, India, are training call takers to make small talk and use American names to make customers think they are based in the United States.
Rosemary Batt, of Cornell University, outlined such future trends as online customer service. AT&T is already experimenting with "e-care" and "e-chats" via a web page, in some cases linked to India. "Whether you do that work and how it is shaped is a management choice. The union needs to get involved to make sure management makes the right choice," she said.
Foreign guests addressing the conference spoke of the global pervasiveness of low-road outsourcing and how their unions are fighting it.
Andrea Snowden of the United Kingdom's Communication Workers Union talked about the "Pink Elephant Campaign" her union is running to let people across England know how many British Telecom jobs are being outsourced. Irene Moggan of Australia's Community and Public Sector Union said her union struck back by organizing an outsourcing company, Teletech.
District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn and host Local 6201 President Denny Kramer welcomed the conferees and praised the host committee and its chair, Ellen Wakefield.
Dina Beaumont, executive assistant to Bahr, led a summary discussion as the conference closed.
"We're no longer talking about a desperate effort to save the jobs of a few," Beaumont said. "This is about putting all our employers on notice. Our customer service workers are professionals, worth every penny the companies pay them."
Telephone operators and service reps, US Airways reservations agents, newspaper ad sales reps and public employees found common ground in the work they do and the challenges they face, particularly fear of their jobs moving overseas.
CWA President Morton Bahr told how members' solidarity, the AFL-CIO's carrier-change campaign and outspoken public officials led to the successful conclusion of Verizon East bargaining.
"We know who our friends are in public office and we've got to elect more of them," Bahr said. "Most important for jobs and the economy, we've got to defeat George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election."
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, a former operator, said call center issues demand a union-wide strategy. "It doesn't matter where we work, or for what company. The work is the same, and the challenges we face are the same," she said.
Citing the challenges, Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said, "Threats of outsourcing are faced by customer service professionals regardless of where they work. The stress, monitoring, relentless sales quotas, scheduling problems, health and safety issues, lack of time to catch up are issues faced around the globe. Our response must be global as well."
He urged members to promote "high-road," professional customer service - value added by friendly, courteous service and the ability to sell bundled services - as the alternative to "low-road" service, characterized by scripting and pressure to quickly get the customer off the phone.
He said communications unions around the world were preparing to take part in the Union Network International's campaign to urge employers to adopt high-road customer service. Workers in many countries received solidarity stickers to wear at work during October's Call Center Workers' Global Action Week.
Another strategy CWA is pursuing to keep customer service jobs at home is state legislation, such as the "right-to-know" bill up for a vote in the New Jersey Assembly this month. The bill would require call center reps to tell customers where they work and who employs them. Call centers, such as one in Delhi, India, are training call takers to make small talk and use American names to make customers think they are based in the United States.
Rosemary Batt, of Cornell University, outlined such future trends as online customer service. AT&T is already experimenting with "e-care" and "e-chats" via a web page, in some cases linked to India. "Whether you do that work and how it is shaped is a management choice. The union needs to get involved to make sure management makes the right choice," she said.
Foreign guests addressing the conference spoke of the global pervasiveness of low-road outsourcing and how their unions are fighting it.
Andrea Snowden of the United Kingdom's Communication Workers Union talked about the "Pink Elephant Campaign" her union is running to let people across England know how many British Telecom jobs are being outsourced. Irene Moggan of Australia's Community and Public Sector Union said her union struck back by organizing an outsourcing company, Teletech.
District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn and host Local 6201 President Denny Kramer welcomed the conferees and praised the host committee and its chair, Ellen Wakefield.
Dina Beaumont, executive assistant to Bahr, led a summary discussion as the conference closed.
"We're no longer talking about a desperate effort to save the jobs of a few," Beaumont said. "This is about putting all our employers on notice. Our customer service workers are professionals, worth every penny the companies pay them."