Teleperformance Workers Mobilize for National Action Against Company’s Mistreatment of American Workers

NATIONWIDE – American workers for global outsourcing firm Teleperformance held a national day of action on Thursday, calling on the company to respect the right of its American workers to join unions, as the company has committed to globally. Workers at a dozen sites across California, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Puerto Rico joined together to demand better working conditions and a union voice at work.

The workers are organizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union and the ASL Interpreters Union-OPEIU (ASLIU), affiliated with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). American workers employed by the French multinational company provide call center customer service support, debt collection, data security, phone and video language interpretation services, American Sign Language interpreting services, social media content moderation, and more to major global and U.S. companies.

“Teleperformance workers provide critical services to communities and companies across the U.S.A., but are being denied the same union rights as Teleperformance workers in other countries,” said Erin Mahoney, CWA Assistant Director of Organizing. “Without a union voice, these dedicated workers report unsustainable working conditions and pay that can’t support their families. To make ends meet while working these challenging and demanding jobs, workers report taking on second jobs and even qualifying for Medicaid for their children. Teleperformance workers and customers deserve better.”

At Teleperformance, the work is often demanding and emotionally draining and can lead to burnout and high turnover that can have a negative impact on service quality. Workers are seeking workplace improvements through union representation that will empower them to provide the highest quality of service to customers.

In 2022, Teleperformance and UNI Global Union signed a global agreement to secure the right of workers to organize free from interference while allowing unions access to Teleperformance workers both on-site and remotely, covering nearly 500,000 Teleperformance employees globally.

“I was hopeful that things would change once Teleperformance took over at Purple, but they’re still constantly understaffing the queues, overworking and underpaying our interpreters, and not providing the Deaf community with enough qualified interpreters,” said Angie Valdez, a video interpreter at Purple/ZP Better Together. “We need to unionize to have a say in correcting these issues, because the owners have demonstrated they are not going to improve things themselves.”

Workers report low pay across the country. Some workers report going eight to ten years before receiving their first raise, while other workers have even seen pay decrease after being transferred to a new, lower-paying contract. Skilled workers like interpreters have reported pay as low as $16/hour.

Workers are also focused on gaining affordable health insurance. With low wages and high-cost plans, workers have reported qualifying for Medicaid for their children. Other workers are unable to afford to use their high-deductible, low-coverage health insurance to see the doctor when needed.

“Teleperformance is a major company with thousands of workers all over the world. I answer calls and provide crucial services for Deaf community members as a VRS interpreter, all the while fighting repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel,” said Kaitlyn Bertic, a Video Interpreter at Purple/ZP Better Together. “Me and my coworkers at Purple Communications, which is owned by Teleperformance, are unionizing to win more time between calls and stronger protections against abuse while on the clock.”

Teleperformance was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Paris, France. The company offers services in data security, telemarketing, customer service, analytics, technical assistance, debt collection, and business process outsourcing. Teleperformance contracts to many industries, including banking, financial services, energy, utilities, and automotive. Teleperformance is the largest call center operator in the world and sets the standards for the call center industry.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields. cwa-union.org @cwaunion

About OPEIU: The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO, represents approximately 94,000 working people throughout the United States and Canada. Representing employees in nonprofit organizations, tech, hospitals, hotels, credit unions, insurance agencies, colleges and universities, administrative offices, and more, OPEIU is committed to advancing economic justice for working people no matter their occupation. Professional organizations and guilds affiliated with OPEIU are a diverse group that includes podiatrists, teachers, registered nurses, and helicopter pilots. OPEIU is an affiliate of the 15-million-member-strong AFL-CIO.

About ASL Interpreters Union: The ASL Interpreters Union (ASLIU) is organizing thousands of Video Relay Service (VRS) interpreters at the two largest providers of VRS, private equity-backed Sorenson Communications and Teleperformance-owned ZP Better Together, to improve interpreter working conditions and service quality for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing VRS users. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing VRS users are an integral part of the ASLIU’s unprecedented efforts to improve both services for millions of VRS users and working conditions for VRS interpreters across the country. The ASL Interpreters Union is affiliated with OPEIU.