Maximus Call Center Workers Warn of Strike During Open Enrollment

At a rally today in Hattiesburg, Miss., Maximus call center workers organizing with CWA said that they are prepared to go on strike during the upcoming Affordable Care Act open enrollment period unless Maximus addresses their demands.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., NAACP President Derrick Johnson, Executive Director of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable Cassandra Welchlin, Congressman Bennie Thompson and other allies joined the workers outside of the Maximus call center to call on Maximus for more affordable healthcare, a living wage of at least $25 per hour, and the freedom to organize a union free from employer intimidation.

Maximus workers have been facing unacceptable labor practices for years including low pay, unaffordable health care, unfair layoffs, harsh attendance policies, and significant racial inequities within its workforce. These challenges become even more pressing during the open enrollment period, and particularly following recent layoffs affecting nearly 800 workers.

In an editorial published last week in NewsOne, President Cummings and President Johnson highlighted the connections between the Maximus workers’ fight and the issues raised at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “Workers at the federal call centers run by Maximus are proudly continuing the fight for racial and economic justice symbolized by the 1963 March on Washington,” Cummings and Johnson wrote. “Economic insecurity, disparities in treatment, and lack of equal opportunities should be relics of the past, not the everyday struggles of the present.”