eiler final report transport-related call center

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Research on Transport-Related Call Centres

in the Philippines

June 2008

Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research

(EILER)

and

International Transport Workers Federation (ITF)



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INTRODUCTION

BPO and the contact centre industry in the Philippines

The exigencies of “globalization” as an economic model have accelerated globaloutsourcing among multinational companies eager to cut costs on service-related business processes. In turn, business-process outsourcing (BPO) has been vigorously promoted bygovernments in underdeveloped receiving countries as a way to reduce high rates of unemployment in the local job market, evolving into a virtual panacea for economicdownturns.

BPO encompasses a broad array of third-party services that include informationtechnology, business administration, sales, marketing, and customer care. In terms of job

market requisites, the industry may be roughly categorized into low-end and high-end,with the former referring to relatively low-skilled business processes such as contactcentres and data transcription; and the latter referring to business processes requiringmore specialized skills such as software, engineering and IT development.

That companies in developed countries benefit immensely from this arrangement is anincontrovertible fact. By tapping the stream of highly-skilled but low-value labour in poorer economies for BPO, foreign contracting firms gain estimated net savings of 20-40% on labor costs. Not surprisingly, global revenues in this sector have grown steadilyfrom $44.9 billion in year 2000 to $67 billion by 2005.

Among receiving countries, India leads by capturing about 46% of the global job marketfor BPO, with emphasis on the IT and engineering industry's “high-end.” While thePhilippines is also on a competitive footing, it is handicapped by the government’slopsided focus on the contact center sector, which in 2005 generated 75% of the totalrevenues in the local BPO industry and provided 68.6% of its total employment. On theother hand, only 13% of the Philippine BPO revenues for the same year were fromsoftware and IT services, compared to India’s 70%.

BPO only gained ground in the Philippines in the early part of the new millennium,although outsourcing in other parts of the globe began as early as the 1990s. From Php 2 billion in 2000, investment in the Philippine BPO industry rose to Php 11 billion in 2001,

then settled to about Php 5–7 billion annually in the next four years.

While BPO in the Philippines are of seven (7) categories (contact centre, back office, datatranscription, animation, software development, engineering development and digitalcontent), investments and government support has been heaviest in the contact centresector (also called call centres). Investments in contact centres in 2003–2005 amounted tonearly P5 billion annually, and between January and August 2006, contact centreinvestments already amounted to around P3 billion. Comparatively, the influx of



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investments in software development eased from about P4.3 billion annually in 2001– 2002 to P800 million during 2003–2005.

Industry analysts are quick to make optimistic projections on the contact centre sector’s potential for the Philippine economy, especially in terms of job generation. From 112,000employees in 2005, the BPA/P (Business Process Association, Philippines) targeted adirect employment close to 1 million by the end of 2010 by cornering 10% of the globaloutsourcing and offshoring market in itsBPO roadmap.

Such a significant and rapidly growing sector of Philippine economy and its workforcecannot but come under the scrutiny of labour advocates sooner or later. While few, if any, primary researches on the micro-impact of contact centres on its workers have beenconducted in the Philippines to date, generalized perceptions on employment standardsand working conditions within the industry have not been very positive, and stories of

falling wages rates, contractualisation, virtually union-free, and life-threateningoccupational hazards abound among contact centre workers.

This research aims to achieve three main objectives. One is to map the differenttransport-related call centre companies in the Philippines. It focused on call centrecompanies servicing the airline, railway, bus, cruiseship/ ferry industry and logistics andgoods transport industries. Second objective is to identify working conditions of transport-related call centre workers. And lastly, is to determine the status of unionisationon the sector and formulate recommendations for union organising among transport-related call centre workers.

While the target respondents are from transport-related contact centres, it is expected thatthe conclusions and recommendations put forward by this research paper will not greatlyvary with and may be applied similarly to those outside this particular sub sector of thecall centre industry.

Methodology

The study made use of both primary and secondary data sources. For the primary sources,a number of 216 respondents were gathered from 10 call centre companies and 16 callcentre sites with transport-related accounts. Some of the respondents refuse to answer

some points, insisting on anonymity. Others withheld information because they believedit would be tantamount to violating their non-disclosure contract with the company.Almost half of these respondents were engaged through direct interviews and groupdiscussions. Key informant interviews and survey instruments were used to gather datafrom the call centre agents or customer service representatives themselves. Keyinformants were reached through contacts and networks from communities, colleges anduniversities and local organizations. But majority of the respondents were impromptuinterviews outside their workplace – in parking lots, cafes, bars, canteens and smoking



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areas. For some of the sites, the researchers had to resort to more creative ways toconnect to the call centre agents by pretending to be applicants to the companies. Also,some of the respondents volunteered to disseminate and collect some of the survey forms

to their colleagues.

Other primary data were culled from attendance to call centre seminars and interviews of stakeholders from different unions.

Online call centre fora were also useful in gathering information about companies andmore importantly, about the attitudes of the call centre agents with regard to their work and organizing among themselves. Aside from fieldwork survey, a month-long onlinesurvey was also utilized targeting call centre agents who are internet habitués. A number of 62 respondents were gathered through this.

Stakeholders from various unions especially the ITF-affiliates were also interviewed to be able to give an assessment of the efforts in organizing the industry.

Guide questionnaires and survey instruments are annexed at the end of this report.

There was a big effort to have a nationwide scope for the research. Thus, actual fieldresearch was conducted in the three major islands of the Philippines covering 16 sites of the selected 10 transport-related. The companies and sites visited in the National CapitalRegion (NCR), Rizal Province, Baguio City in the Cordillera Administrative Region,Cebu City in the Visayan Region, and Davao City in Mindanao.

Here is the list of the sites visited:

In Luzon:1. Advanced Contact Solutions (Cubao and two sites in Makati City),2. eTelecare Global Solutions (in Eastwood City Cyberpark in Quezon City),3. Stellar Global Solutions Philippines (in Cubao, Quezon City)4. Convergys Philippines Service Corporation (in Commonwealth, Quezon City),5. Teletech Customer Care Management Philippines, Inc (in Cainta, Rizal),6. Sykes Asia, Inc. (in Gilmore Avenue, Quezon City),7. PacificHub Corporation (in Ortigas Center, Pasig City)8. Sitel Customer Care Philippines, Inc. (in Eastwood City Cyberpark , Quezon City

9. People Support (Pasig City)10. IBM Daksh (Makati City and Mandaluyong City)11. and Sitel Customer Care Philippines, Inc. (Baguio City)

In the Visayas regions,12. PeopleSupport (Cebu City),13. Teletech Customer Care Management Philippines, Inc. (Cebu City)



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In Mindanao island,14. People Support,15. eTelecare, and

16. Sitel

The sites visited in Mindanao have only recruitment centres. No call centre facilities of these companies were yet established in the city.

These sample sites were taken from the initial mapping of call centre companies throughsecondary research. Selection of these sample sites was based on the total number of employment, registered net income, geographical location and existing contacts.



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I. Mapping of Transport-related Call Centre Employers

Internet researches have, as of January 2008, identified 211 call centre companies

existing in the country1. Out of these companies, 35 companies were identified asservicing transport-related clients globally and potentially servicing the same industrylocally. However, due to limitation of time for the research duration, field research studydid not cover all the 35 transport-related call centre companies. Ten sample sites wereselected for the conduct of the field research. Among the selected sample sites, six of these belonged to top 10 call centre companies

2. For the rest of the 25 other call centre

companies identified to provide services to transport-related clients, only some of thesecompanies disclose their clients in their official websites.

Generally, there is no company exclusively catering to transport-related clients in thePhilippines. Most companies have various accounts or clients of different nature.

Company profiles were retrieved from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),from the internet and from the respondents as well. Most of the accounts/clients gatheredwere taken from direct fieldwork. Although, majority of the respondents were adamant inrelaying the companies’ clients also as their employment contracts stipulated non-disclosure agreements.

Below are the lists of transport-related call centre companies and their profiles.

Profiles of Fieldwork Sites

Company Ownership Sites Clients1. AdvancedContactSolutions

Seats:7,000

Paxys, Inc.(Canada)

1. Citibank Building, Makati City2. Asian Plaza Building, Makati

City3. Allied Bank Building, Makati

City4. Light and Industrial Science

Park , Cabuyao, Laguna5. SM City, Lipa City, Batangas6. Araneta Center, Quezon City

US Airways, SpiriAirlines, ATA airlines peach direct (luxshopping) , UniversaAmerican (healthcare)Vonage telecom, Direct Vcable, car rentals, carrentals, Verizons, Bank of New york

2. E-Telecare

GlobalSolutions, Inc.

Total Workforce:11, 400

eTelecare

GlobalSolutions, Inc.,a publiccompany(USA)

1. Asiatown IT Park, Brgy. Apas,

Lahug Cebu City2. Eastwood City Cyberpark

Bagumbayan, Quezon City3. PBCom Tower, Makati City4. Shaw Blvd. cor EDSA

Mandaluyong City5. Northgate Cyberzone,

Alabang, Muntinlupa City

American express

(Travellers cheque), RCI bookings for travSprint (telecom), Del(text support), Singular(Celfone),



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3. Stellar GlobalSolutionsPhilippines

Total Workforce:1,100

Paxys, Inc andStellar Holdings, Inc.

(USA)

Cubao, Quezon City Go America, Directoryassistance

4. ConvergysPhilippinesServicesCorporation

Total Workforce:13,700

A whollyownedsubsidiary of ConvergysCustomer ManagementGroup, Inc.(Ohio, USA)

1. Asiatown IT Park, Cebu City2. The Enterprise Center,

Makati City3. Sampaloc, Manila4. Northgate Cyberzone

Alabang, Muntinlupa City5. Robinsons-Equitable Tower

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

6. Don Mariano Marcos AvenueBatasan Hills Diliman,Quezon City

General Motors, Sprin Nextel program, ODTV, AT & T SBC, BelSouth, Dell,

5. TeletechCustomer CareManagementPhilippines,Inc.

TotalWorkforce:

15,000

TeletechHoldings, Inc.(USA)

1. Novaliches area of QuezonCity

2. Cainta, Rizal3. Lipa City in Batangas

province,4. Bacoor, Cavite5. Bacolod City6. Iloilo City

7.

Pasay City8. Bonifacio Global City inTaguig City

9. Dumaguete10. Cebu City

United Airlines, HP, andAccenture, BellSouth

6. Sykes Asia,Inc.

Totalworkforce:10,000

A wholly-ownedsubsidiary of Sykes NetherlandsB.V.Ultimate

parent: SykesEnterprise, Inc.(USA)

1. Mabolo Cebu City2. Corporate Tower Makati City3. Makati-Robinsons Summit

Makati City, Manila,4. Pasig City, Manila5. Gilmore Avenue, Quezon City

Alltel, TransUnion, MSNMicrosoft, MCI-CCSAdobe, Qwest, Prudentiaaccount, roadsideassistance

7. PacificHubCorporation

Total Workforce:700

AntonioEvangelista,WilliamMclaughlin,Oscar Evangelista

.Ortigas Center, Pasig City Hotels.com, Globe



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et.,al

8.PeopleSupport

(Philippines)Inc.

Seats:8,000

A whollyowned

subsidiary of PeopleSupport,Inc.(California,USA)

1. Harrison Road, Baguio City2. AsiaTown IT Park,

Cebu City, Philippines3. Ramon Magsaysay Ave.

Davao City4. Ayala Avenue Makati City

Expedia, Orbitz, Earthlinkcable

9. IBM DakshBusinessProcessServicesPhilippines,Inc.

TotalWorkforce:5,000

IBM DakshBuss.ProcessServices PLIndianHaryana, India

1. Eastwood City – LibisQuezon City Philippines

2. PBCom Tower Ayala Avenue, Makati City

3. Edsa Central PavillionMandaluyong City

4. IARFA BuildingSampaloc Manila

5. The Enterprise Center Makati City

6. Nissan Commonwealth Bldg.Commonwealth AvenueQuezon City

US Airlines, Ebay

10. SitelCustomer CarePhilippines,

Inc.

TotalWorkforce:8,000

A whollyownedsubsidiary of

SitelInternationalLLC (USA)

1. Robinsons Pioneer - CybergatePioneer St. Mandaluyong City

2. Centerpoint Building

Garnet Road cor. Julia VargasOrtigas Center Pasig City

3. Eastwood City LibisQuezon City

4. Baguio Export Processing Zone,Baguio City

Hawaian Airlines, AT &T, Virgin Blue

Profile of other transport-related call centre employers

Company Profile1. 24/7 Customer Phils., Inc. Ownership: by 24/7 Customer.com (CA. USA)

Location: Eastwood City CyberPark, Libis, Quezon City

2. Accallade International Ownership: Accallade International (Utah, USA)Clients: Sprint, Qwest, AT&T, Avaya, Wells Fargo, FingerhutSears and FordLocation: Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City



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3. Accesscall Solutions, Inc. Ownership: Jose Ong, Desiree Ong, Philip Lim, Suzanne AngGlobus Asia Realty Holdings, Inc.Location: PearlBank Centre, Salcedo Village Makati City

4. Accenture Manila BPO Makati Ownership: Accenture Holdings, B.V (The Hague, Netherlands)Location: GT Tower International, Makati CityTotal Work Force = 15,000

5. Alorica Philippines, Inc. Ownership: Global Outsourcing Ventures Ltd (British virginIslands) Alorica Asia LLC (CA)Location: Eastwood City Libis, Quezon City and Emerald Ave

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

6. APAC Customer Services, Inc. Ownership: APAC Customer Services, Inc. (USA)Location: Northgate Cyberzone, Alabang area, Muntinlupa CityTotal workforce: 4,000

7. ePERFORMAX Contact CentersCorp.

Ownership: ePerformax International, Inc. (USA)Location: BPI Buendia Center Makati CityTotal workforce: 2,000

8. GenPact Services Ownership: GenPAct Services LLC (USA)

Location: Northgate Cyberzone, Muntinlupa CityTotal workforce: 800

9. ICT Group Ownership: ICT Group (Pennsylvania, USA)Location: RCBC Tower, Makati City/ Unionbank Tower, OrtigasPasig City/RiverbanksCenter, Marikina CityTotal workforce: 9,000

10. Inovize Philippines Ownership: Inovize, Inc. (Oakland, California, USA)Location: Don Chino Roces St, Makati City

11. InventAsia Ltd. Ownership: Name is formerly MPP-Hongkong Limited (HK)Location: Orient Square Building, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

12. Logicall, Incorporated callcentre

Ownership:Logicall Services, Inc. (IL, USA)Location: Roces Avenue cor. Metropolitan Avenue Makati City

13. Maersk Global Services Ownership: AP Moller-Maersk Group (Denmark)Location: Corporate Plaza, Ortigas Center, Pasig CityWorkforce: 900 +Service: Maersk Line, Maersk Logistics and Safmarine



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14. NCO Group Ownership: NCO Group (Pennnsylvania, USA)Location: Mother Ignacia Street, Quezon City

15. Transcom Asia Ownership: Nucomm International (Canada)

Location: Ortigas Center, Pasig CityClients: AIG, Aventis, Citibank, Santander, IBM, NordeaOptimal Telecom, Statline, TNT, Xeroz, Anticimex, Cignahotels.com, O2, Orange, redcats, SEB, Stena Line, Tele2TangoVodatel, ORSYP, Sterling.dk Seats: 1,200

16. Outsource2Philippines, Inc. Ownership: Franklin Holz et. al (American)Location: Ayala Avenue, Makati City

17. SPi Technologies Ownership: ePLDTLocation: Sto.Nino, Paranaque CityTotal Workforce: 11,000

18. TELUS International Phils Ownership: Ambergris Solutions, Inc. (British Virgin Islands)Location: Ortigas Center, Pasig City

19. Touchpoint Teleservices Ownership: TouchpointLocation: Antipolo City, RizalClients: Overlook Resort, US Global Consultant, TranscriptionInc. Ameriphil NCLEX Review, East Asia Foundation, Sta. LuciaHealthcare, Total Med Corp., LVR Medical Clinic

20. Transnational DiversifiedGroup, Inc.

Ownership: a wholly owned subsidiary of TransnationaDiversified Corp. (Filipino)Location: Delgado St., Port ManilaPartners and principals: Nippon Yusen Kaisha or NYK Line(Japan), American Express (USA), Asiana Airlines (Korea), Vroon

B.V. (Netherlands), Yusen Air & Sea Service (Japan), CrystalCruises (USA), Malaysia Airlines (Malaysia), Virgin Atlantic(UK), Disney Cruise Line (USA), Hong Kong Disneyland (HK)ePerformax Contact Centers (USA), PayPal (USA), AustrianAirlines (Austria), Etihad Crystal Cargo (UAE), Tokyo SenpakuKaisha (Japan), Transcontainer Ltd. (Japan), Nippon ContainerTerminal (Japan), Uyeno Transtech Ltd. (Japan), Eurail (Europe)Minotel Hotels (Europe)

21. The Resource Group (TRG)Philippines, Inc.

Ownership: TRG (Washington, DC, USA)Location: Ortigas, Pasig City

22. UniComm Global Solutions,Inc.

Ownership: UniComm Global Solutions, Inc (Filipino-owned)Location: Ortigas Center, Pasig City

23. VisionQwest Resource Group,Inc.

Ownership: VisionQwest Resource Group, Inc. (USA)Location: Salcedo St. Makati City

24. Xynet CommunicationSolutions, Inc.

Ownership: RL Group of Companies(Filipino-owned)Location: Singian St. Makati

25: West Contact Services Ownership: West Corporation (USA)



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Location: Chino Roces Avenue, Makati CityClient: DHL, Yellow,

II. The Transport-related Call Centre Workers

Respondents to the survey are mostly female (51%), single (75%) and 21-30 years of age(62%), and are college graduates (61%). Only 30% have dependents.

According to the 2008 Asian Call Centre Benchmarking report, 59 percent of the 129,000call centre seats were women workers, higher than that of male counterpart at 41%.

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Fieldwork interviews also approximated gender breakdown in the workforce of eachcompany visited as 60:40 or 70:30.

Educated women workers are being drawn into the call centre industry because of thesalary despite erratic work schedules and despite the dangers of night work, andnotwithstanding the huge gaps that exist between education and the nature of the work.About 37% say that their educational background is not related to their work while 34% believe otherwise. About 29% are ambivalent.

About 41% answered that they have been working at least 6 months in the companywhile 34% answered less than 6 months. The rest have been working in call centers for two to five years. Most of the respondents (at 63%) have never worked in a call centre before. Most of those interviewed, when asked why they chose such work, would replythat “there is no other work available.” It is the “in” job that pays relatively well. Despitethis, the large number of entrants in the industry is also matched by a huge turnover.According to the Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), the turnover rate inthe country is at 60 to 80 percent, the highest in the world.4

Work organization

Nature of tasks

Most respondents in transport-related accounts were providing service through inboundcalls (82%). Most of these agents provide inbound services to customers in need of travel-booking. In addition, they are required to ensure that the callers who make travelinquiries are convinced to choose their respective airlines or modes of transportation.



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Aside from reservation and booking services, these workers are also conducting post- purchase inquiries and resolution regarding complaints on service, refund policies, andcancellation. They also assist in general site navigation, member enrolment assistance,

special service request relating to air, car and hotel purchases, billing inquiries anddisputed charges. Most of the accounts found through fieldwork are mostly US airlineaccounts (Hawaiian Airlines, US Airways, United Airlines, ATA Airlines and SpiritAirways), while the rest are Australian accounts (Virgin Blue).

Call centre workers with accounts of online travel agencies such as Expedia, Orbitz andRCI also do the same work as reservations, booking and the whole works of travel products and services.

Logistics services, meanwhile, include claim administration, security investigations,customer retention, billing management, integrated channel customer satisfaction survey

services and others.

On the other hand, the call centre workers of General Motor (GM) account under Convergys provide information regarding the particularities of the vehicles the customersacquired and geographical information and other location-related information on themajor American states. Agents have to do on the spot researches to provide theinformation needed by their customers. In the event that an agent is not able to providethe needed information within the average handling time, it will be his/her responsibilityto call the customer as soon as he/she has done sufficient research. In cases like this, theagents do not only provide inbound but also outbound service.

Other companies such as Sykes, which have electronic dispatch over the internet, provideroad assistance, through wide network of towing, locksmith and emergency service providers.

Management System

Most call centre companies are organized by means of a “work floor” system. This is for the operations. Such a “floor” consists of hundreds of cubicles, each with a computer,telephone plunger and headset. This is the work station.

The workers are organized by teams. Each team is composed of five to 10 agents. The

team is handled by a supervisor or the team leader (TL). The regularization of each agentdepends on the endorsement of the TL to the manager.

The team is organized into “a layer of support systems for more efficient call handling”.Thus, frontline agents will resolve the basic inquiry and troubleshooting; the technicalsupport department or group will handle those which cannot be resolved by the frontlineagents; and the assistance of the senior support staff is also present5. This senior supportstaff may be tenured agents or the team leader according to interviewed agents.



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The team manager, on the other hand, handles about five to 10 team leaders. Theoperations manager handles three to five accounts.

In some companies, the Mission Control (MC) determines when the agent may go on a break, have lunch or log off. They control the calls and the agents “on avail” (available).The supervisor has to ask the permission from MC to send agents on break, lunch, or logoff. The Quality Assurance (QA) is more stringent. There is the in-house QA, there is theQA in the contracting countries (such as the US). The QA pays particular attention to thecall flow.

Working terms, conditions and social impact

Salaries

Salary ranges of respondents were mostly at Php 10,000-P15,000 (45%) and Php 15,000-P20,000 (36%). The others receive a salary range from Php 20,000-P40,000. A minorityreceives less than Php 10,000. There is discrepancy of wages between technical and non-technical accounts6: average hiring rate are Php 12,500 – Php 15,000 (for non-technicalaccounts) and Php 15,500- Php 18,000 (for technical accounts). According to interviewedagents, hired agents with no work experience yet receive at least Php 13,000 basic pay plus allowances (meal, transportation and communications) while those with experiencereceive basic pay depending on their length of stay in the previous company. Theyusually measure up to the previous payslip. Wages depend also on the skill level of theagent. There are additional premiums for those answering calls in any language other

than English.

The ongoing trend of call centre companies expanding and distributing its sites in citiesoutside of Metro Manila7 also affects wages. Salary levels in the outlying regions aregenerally lower than those in the National Capital Region (NCR). According to fieldwork interviews, the basic pay in the province-based call centers have gone down to as little asPhp 7,500 in Davao City and Php 8,000 in Baguio City compared to the Php 12,000-Php15,000 in Metro Manila. Different companies are offering also different salary levelsaccording to skills set. Bigger companies offer higher salaries and perks than the smaller companies. There is no reason to doubt that this policy shift will ultimately lead to a raceto the bottom contact centers position themselves farther away from NCR. Call centre

companies are also expanding and distributing across the country to maximize profits.

In Davao, interviewed call centre agents are complaining about the meagreness of their pay. They are hoping that the government will have a policy for uniform salary across theregion to protect the workers. Although there was no call centre facility that was found tohave transport-related accounts in Davao, it is not farfetched that even transport-relatedaccounts will be established in the region.



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In Baguio, an interviewed non-tenured agent receives Php 300/day basic pay,transportation allowance (Php 620-P1,200), and rice allowance (Php 750). Tenuredagents meanwhile receives Php 500/ day basic pay plus other allowances. Agents with

college degrees receive much higher pay, sometimes at Php 15,000 a month.

Agents in Cebu City receive relatively higher basic pay than either Baguio or rural Cebuand even comparable to those in the NCR, the lowest being at Php 12,000.

Although there is an apparent decrease in salaries from the NCR to those in other regions,the general perception remains that call center work pays better than other type of work,and is certainly better than having no work at all amidst a high national unemploymentrate.

More than half of the respondents (62%) are still satisfied with their work while 21% are

highly satisfied. More than half of the respondents (70%) feel that they are dulycompensated for their work. About 20%, on the other hand, were ambivalent about their compensation while 10% feel that they are not duly compensated.

***

Talent search

Aside from lower costs, the company also benefits from the skills of English-speaking prospective agents. PeopleSupport, eTelecare and Sitel already have their recruitmentfacilities in the different regions . They are hiring their agents for their Cebu and MetroManila call centre facilities. That is why in Cebu, agents are also recruited from Leyte,

Tacloban, Dumaguete, Cagayan de Oro and Davao. Most of them land their jobs through job fairs and recruitment offices in their respective provinces.

In Baguio City where Sitel is the pioneering call center company which have two sites inthe Baguio Export Processing Zone, its search for talents go as far afield as SagadaProvince. There, they conduct trainings for future prospective agents.

***

Work time, work schedules and overtime

Majority of the respondents (74%) are working at five days a week. “5 by 40” mostwould say, meaning they work for 5 days and 40 hours a week which is the standardworkweek. Generally, there are nine hours per shift – two 15-minute breaks and an hour long break. Usually, this long break is called “lunch” by the agents regardless of morningor evening shifts. Standard shifts would be 8pm-5am, 9pm-6am, 10am-6pm and so on



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and sometimes the schedule can be more erratic than this. But commonly, the shifts arecategorized as day, mid and graveyard shifts.

But some agents have a four-day workweek such as in Orbitz account in People Supportin Cebu, City. They work for 11 hours, four days a week. Instead of having two rest days,they would have three. Working mothers prefer this as they would have uninterrupteddays for their families.

A 10-minute per day period is allowed for personal use (going to the restroom andothers). This is difficult as cold temperature in the workplace is a condition for frequenttrips to the restroom. This is also especially difficult for women, who generally needmore time for personal hygiene.

Schedules are released in advance by the Workforce Department which forecast the

number of agents needed for a specific shift. This is confirmed by the survey where 69%of the respondents say their work schedules are flexible, and agents often describe thissituation as “crazy.” The agents usually would have no control over their schedules.Women are left vulnerable with this abnormal schedule because most are forced to go towork even after midnight when hazards related to commuting is generally greater. One of the interviewed agent said that only when she complained about the after-midnightschedules did the human resource department reconsider.

Weekends and holidays are included in the work schedules of 82% of the respondents.Quality time for the family is practically non-existent for married agents. They relatedthat when they go home in the morning, they would already have missed sending off their

children to school.

An average handling time (AHT), the length of time that an agent resolves a call, dependson the account. An interviewed agent in car rental said standard AHT is 2 minutes and 20seconds. AHTs are important in keeping up with the production time and queuing of calls. The aforementioned car rental account receives about 2,000 calls per day and anagent is expected to accomplish 100 calls per day during queuing. In Expedia account, anagent receives 40-50 calls a day and her AHT is 8 minutes. In the United Airlines accountof Teletech Cebu, the AHT is 6 minutes and an agent receives at least 60 to 70 calls aday. Failure in complying with the standard AHTs will result to low performance scores.

Compulsory overtime (OT) or extended time (ET) is prevalent, according to 59% of therespondents. OT becomes the order of the day. ET is related to the goal of each team. For instance, for a week the goal would be 29,000 production minutes. If an agent is absent,all the other members of the team will be forced to render ET to offset the absences. Insome cases, a protracted resolution of a call results in ET for the agents.

Agents are also forced to render 6-day OT. The agent can refuse to submit to OT but shehas to compensate for it the following week. If she refuses, she will receive a “citation”



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Results of Online Survey

Out of the 62 respondents, 87% are single, 90% of them are college graduates. Thirty-six percent haveworked in the company for a year while 27% have been working for less than 6 months. Others have beenworking for two to five years. About 58% are first timers in call centre work. Fifty-seven percent of them

receives a salary range of P15,000- P20,000 followed by P10,000-P15,000 range at 9%.

Fourty-eight percent are providing inbound support while 27% are providing technical support. Majority, at76%, are regulars. All of them are working on a five-day workweek. Eighty-six percent of them said thatweekends and holidays are included in the work. Seventy percent are working on a flexible schedule and therest are working on fixed terms. Seventy-seven percent are on graveyard shift followed by midshift at 13%and day shift at 10%. Fifty-seven percent said there is no mandated overtime.

Medical insurance and sick/vacation leaves are in the top of the benefits list for with 49% each followed bytransportation and meal allowance by 42%. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents have pay for performance.

More than half, at 52%, said there is no termination/separation pay given when an account is closed by a

client company. Although 89% believes contractuals can be regularized in their companies. Majority saidthat team building workloads as well as disciplinary actions are provided by the company.

Workstress (21.4%), irrational behaviours of customers (18.6%), work time (15%), and basic pay(13%) areon the top lists of difficult areas.

Seventy-nine percent of the respondents believe that in relation to call centre work problems, an associationmay help. But more than half, at 55% will let others do it then join later. As to the forms of actions thatcould protect call centre workers, dialogue with employers is at the top of the list, at 35% followed by mediacampaign at 20%, petition-signing (19%), work slowdown at 11%, Boycott of overtime is only at 8% and picket and street actions only at 5%.

for incomplete staff time. This makes OTs extremely stressful, especially when renderedafter a graveyard shift.

Employment arrangement

Sixty-eight percent of the respondents work as regulars, 19% are contractuals or project- based, while the rest are in the category of probationary/trainee.

Previous studies show that generally agents are “regularized after fulfilling the probationary period of six months but by and large, employment contract is project-based

or account-based”.In a fieldwork site, an employment contract thus stipulates, “…appointment to the position of the customer service associate shall be on project-based status from the firstday in production. Regularization to the post and promotion to a higher position shall be performance-based, subject existing policies and procedures”

8.

Upon hiring, agents have to undergo at least three to four weeks of training, whichinclude soft skills training and product - specific training. The same abovementioned



17

contract also stipulates that there is “no employee-employer relationship” during this period. Only free meals are given during the soft skills training, and that during the products-specific training only a daily allowance ranging from Php 280- Php 650 per day

is given. If an agent passes the training, a “nesting” will follow where the agent will practice with tenured agents as their mentors. If she does not pass the training, a remedialtraining will be given which will decide her termination or employment as probationaryto the company. Training for travel-related accounts is reputedly more rigid than other accounts, requiring intensive memorization of airport codes, airlines, among other labor-intensive tasks.

Majority answered (90%) that contractual workers may be regularized in their companies.But for most companies, the probationary period is an extended one as evaluation of theagents is often delayed. Most of the interviewed agents expressed disappointment that ittakes too long for the human resources department to evaluate their tenure for

regularization.

More than half (57%) think their job is secure and stable while 32% are ambivalent aboutit. Only 13% disagreed. Some of the interviewed agents expressed apprehensions on theUS economic recession and the closing of their accounts. Sixty percent are going to keeptheir job while 6% think otherwise. Thirty-three percent are not sure if they will keeptheir jobs.

Seventy-two percent believe they can be promoted while 24% are not sure. Only afraction, at 7%, disagreed.

Seasonal call centre agents are also hired during peak seasons when the highest volumesof calls are received. Aside from these, contractual workers are hired during specialevents when the volume of calls will also escalate. These are hired for two months andonly a small percentage is usually absorbed in the regular workforce.

Call centres, other than those included in the fieldwork sites, have starting hiring agencyworkers. Agency-hiring tends to peg the salaries of call centre workers even lower.

Occupational health and safety

Since working in call centers, the respondents reportedly have been experiencing thefollowing ailments:

- sleeping problems (59%),- eye strain (58%),- overall fatigue ( 49%),- headaches (53%),- chest and back pains (47%),- voice problems (39%),



18

- and mental stress (35%).

These findings are consistent with a study by the Occupational Safety and Health Center

of the Department of Labor and Employment identifying ergonomic risk and psychosocial stress factors triggering muscu-skeletal disorders affecting the upper back,neck and lower back, visual problems, voice and ear complaints and other health issues.

9

Chest and back pains are also common since agents are required to position themselveswithin the confines of their cubicles for prolonged periods. In addition, there are reportedcases of urinary tract infection (UTI) because the agents have to finish a specific number of calls before they can go to the bathroom.

Despite such high occupational health risks in call centers, clinical services are found to be wanting especially during graveyard shifts. A certain manager in Teletech in Cebu

City that there have been an alarming number of cases of lung-related problems such as pneumonia. Many suffer nightly fever which is a common symptom of lung-relatedillness. The conditions of agents afflicted with such illnesses have worsened, since theyare forced to continue to work on graveyard shifts. Several cases of laryngitis had also been accounted. Making the situation worse is the fact that the clinic of this Teletech siteis not operating 24 hours and is not even open everyday.

Generally, in pursuit of protecting the computers and other machines, call centerscompanies have to keep the temperature within the workplace unbearably low withoutconsidering the susceptibility to lung-related problem that their agents (who are muchused to tropical climate of the country) might end up suffering because of constant

exposure to such an unnatural environment.

Other health hazards are workstress, worktime, and irrational behaviour of customers.Fifty-two percent of the respondents find work stress to be the most difficult in their work followed by irrational behaviour of customers and worktime. Only 8% have chosen jobskill/mismatch as a cause for worry, while 67% expressed confidence that they candefend themselves from verbal abuse from irate customers, with 17% disagreeing.

***

Mandatory overtimeForced overtime as a norm in call centre work is alarmingly high. One is either forced toextend his work time because of queuing or forced to take the six-day OT. This meansthat aside from the usual workdays, an agent has to forego vacation days to reach targets.

In Advanced Contact Solutions (ACS) in Cubao, Quezon City, an agent was reported tohave collapsed after working overtime. An account has it that the said agent was notfeeling well and asked her supervisor to allow her to go home but the request was denied.



19

After working, she was about to go home when she collapsed at the lobby of the callcentre facility. She was immediately brought to an intensive care unit. She is currentlyrecuperating.

Call centre managers say that such incidents are isolated. But just recently, ABS-CBN’s

“TV Patrol World “(a major network program) reported the death of a call centre

agent named Dingdong Flores after he suffered hypertension while at work. He

lapsed into coma before being taken to a hospital.

Doctors said stress from irregular work schedules could have aggravated Flores’hypertension and caused his death.***

Benefits

About 82% of the respondents receive medical insurance, 75% receive pay for performance, followed by sick and vacation leaves at 74% and meal allowances at 58%.

Work incentive schemes such as pay for performance, performance appraisal incentive or performance bonus are derived through performance metrics such as real time adherence,quality of work and AHT.

Other incentives include commissions such as those in Expedia account, wherein acompleted survey accomplished through an agent will give her additional Php 2,500.

Sick/vacation leaves are much sought after because the agents have a difficult timesecuring one. An agent even lamented that even though they file vacation leaves inadvance, these would not be easily allowed. Most of the time, companies merely insiston converting the leaves into cash.

Grievances

Fifty-five percent say that their company has a system to work out grievances while 36%are not sure. Meanwhile, 10% say that there's no system for grievances.

Other companies have an Ethics Department - nominally detached from the company – tohandle delicate grievances as a “third party”. They also have employee-relationsdepartments or labor-management councils (LMCs).

Some forms of airing grievances devised by the management are the quarterly surveyemployee satisfaction surveys, focus group discussions, online company fora, and the“open door policy”that gives agents a direct channel to upper management.



20

In spite of all these, call center agents say management bodies are very slow inresponding to their grievances.

Disciplinary action

All respondents to the survey agree that disciplinary actions (such as warning,suspension, dismissal) are being used by the company.

Women call centre workers

Although more and more women are being employed in the call centre industry, this doesnot translate to better working terms and conditions of employment. Woman’s work isstill connected to the increasing informalisation of labor and “computer-aidedexploitation”10.

Working mothers

Betsy (not her real name), 34 years old, works as a customer service associate at a callcentre in Eastwood Cyber City. She studied abroad. Before entering the call centreindustry, she worked as a researcher for the local food industry for eight years andresigned after having a baby. Her friend recommended her to eTelecare and when shewas contacted by the company’s human resources department for work, she gave it a try because of the salary offering having a language premium. She thought it will be a just atransition job until she finds one with decent pay.

She felt she was financially fulfilled. But the work is monotonous and stressful. Her average handling time should be 2 minutes and 65 seconds. There is no considerationwith regards to work schedules for mothers. Thus, she also has to work in graveyardshifts. Everyday she has to take the long ride from Meycauyan, Bulacan where sheresides to her work in Quezon City. She admitted that she has unlearned most of theacademic knowledge she learned from her college education, making it very difficult for her to embark on her intended career. Without a choice, she said she will make call centrea career, answering calls for foreign customers.

*** Pining (not her real name), 25 years old, has been working at a call center in Baguio City

for a year now. She has a child and another is on the way. She is the primary breadwinner in the family as her husband is only working odd jobs as a carpenter. She worked as anurse before in a private hospital in Pangasinan province but she is only taking home Php5,000 a month. Because of this, she opted to work as a call center agent earning a basicsalary of Php 10,000 excluding meals and transportation allowances.

Being pregnant, she is allowed to only work day shifts in the call center. “This is better than taking home Php 5,000 a month which does not suffice for my family.”



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III. Unionisation of transport-related call centre companies

“They have no voice in a voice industry.”

- Towards an IR/HRD Agenda for the Call Center- BPO Industry,UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations

Unionism is covertly and overtly discouraged, even forbidden, in the call centreindustry.

11During field interviews, a number of transport-related call centre workers,

when asked about their views on forming a union in their company, directly answeredthat it is clearly stipulated in their contracts that they are not to form or join a union.Even in trainings given by management to newly hired call centre workers,discouragement of unionism is part of the course content.

This is a clear violation of Philippine labor law where it is stated that every worker has the right to form and join a union. The Department of Labor and Employment(DOLE) itself remains silent on unionism and industrial relations in call centrecompanies.

12

On the employers’ side, there are two differing opinions on the issue of unionism inthe sector. The dominant side clearly opposes any attempt to build one. As stated byan American investor in a roundtable discussion, “ If there is a union, we will go.”

13

Some employers, however, view it as a positive factor for the industry. They believethat unionizing the sector may address the industry’s problem of high attrition rates,

as unions will be attending to the needs and demands of the call centre workers andthus reduce the reasons for job hopping.14

Among call centre workers, the same differing opinion can be seen. The relativelyhigher income received by call centre workers compared to the minimum wageearners of Php382 in the National Capital Region, is enough to compare them to‘professionals’ or ‘managerial employees’. Thus, they are made to believe that theyare a class apart from the working population and see no reason for forming a union.15

Most groups found through fieldwork sites only resemble interest clubs such as book

reading, airsoft and others which is mostly pushed by the human resourcesdepartment to answer the need for team building. About 85% of the respondents saidthat the company uses team building workloads.

A considerable number of the survey respondents and focus-group discussion participants do not feel the need to form an organization. Among their reasons, thefact that forming a union is prohibited within call center companies (citing that this prohibition is written in their contract) stands out. Many of them think twice about



23

unionizing since they signed a “contract” and consider themselves duty-bound tofollow each stipulated rule and regulation. Benjie, an agent in Sitel in Baguio Cityheatedly points out that if one has complaints about the system within her workplace,

she might as well leave the company instead of pursuing with the complaints. Themanagers and team-leaders of different call centers with transport-related accountsexpressed similar views. Rolly, a team-leader in Sykes said that “the agents arealways free to leave our company if she feels that her rights are being violated.”

Some of the agents said that they cannot see the viability of a workers’ organization because one has a “choice” to resign if he/she does not like the work. Most of themcannot specify the clause in their contracts that prohibits organizing in the workplace.

Some agents said that if a union is organized in a call centre, it will counter the policyof call centres stipulated in the employment contract, it will undermine the authority

of the labor-management council that is in place. One commented that an agent was“given a choice to abide by the constitution” or to abide by the “employmentcontract”. One said, however, that if unionization is pursued, it will threaten the“bread and butter” of the agent. Some said that, Sitel is a big company so it will bedifficult to buck.

On the other hand, majority of the respondents and focus group discussion participants feel the need to form an organization. Some are open-minded enough torealize the importance of organizations in helping the agents with their work problems. According to Rico, an agent in Teletech in Cebu City, the need to form anorganization starts from the fact that the rights of the agents will be protected

primarily by the agents themselves.

There have been studies that show call centre workers are open to forming a union or some other type of organization. The studies which reveal the possibility of workplace organization

16were confirmed in the survey as follows:

A significant figure (78%) answered that an employees association may help inrelation to call centre work problems.

Transport-related call centre workers answered positively on survey question

regarding their participation in employees association as shown:- take the lead (45%),- let others do it then join later (27%),- just leave it as it is (15%)

However, they do not necessarily think that an employees’ union is the appropriateform. Some suggest that an organization that will cater to their demands as well astheir interests will be more feasible. According to Jenny, a political activist during her



24

college days, since the majority of the call center agents comes from the middle class(usually not predisposed joining a union), it is necessary to plan the organization withsufficient consideration to the particular characteristics and inclinations of their class

background.

Which sites are organized

There is yet no existing outsourced call centre union in the country. Only in-housecall centre workers at Standard Chartered Bank were recorded to have a union.

17It

has been identified that high attrition rates and prevalence of flexible employmentcontracts in the call centre industry18 as well as the “yuppie culture”19 are factorscontributing to difficulty in organizing call centre workers.

Organized transport-related call centre workforce may be found in the Reservation

and Ticketing Department of the Philippine Airlines (PAL). The 300 call centreworkers there are all members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association(PALEA), an ITF affiliate, with total union members reaching 4,000. According toLinda Marcelo, Board Director of PALEA who works also in the said department,that since the establishment of their union in September 21, 1946, the call centreworkers in the Reservation Department have been members of the union. Althoughnot an outsourced call centre company, the issues and grievances they face are similar to the transport-related call centre workers in outsourced companies. Issues such asoccupational health and safety, graveyard shifts, period of break times, security problems in the area, and income abound their everyday lives. Fortunately, the callcentre workers in PAL have their union (PALEA) to defend their rights and issues

inside the workplace, and unlike most transport-related call centre workers in anoutsourced company, they enjoy various benefits and most importantly they have jobsecurity. Lately, there have been reports that the management is planning to transformthe whole Reservation and Ticketing Department into administrative work. If thishappens, 300 union members will be deprived of the bargaining power of their union.

At present, the dominant tide continuous to be towards a non-unionized sector but theobjective conditions being faced by the call centre workers inside their “high-endfactories” coupled by the aggravating global and national economic crisis, theconditions are always fertile for building a union. In fact, field interviews haverevealed that there have been some spontaneous and relatively organized, albeit

minuscule, collective actions that have been carried out by call centre workers inresponse to their grievances inside the workplace.

Collective actions

Though there had not been any form of organization present in these call center companies with transport-related accounts prior to or while this research is being



25

conducted, there were cases wherein call center agents acted collectively to air outtheir grievances.

Some good examples would be the experiences of the customer servicerepresentatives (CSRs) at the General Motors account in Convergys. Oya, one of theinterviewees in the said account, told a story about a team-leader (TL) who did notattend to the needs of the agents under her. The agents would approach her to talk about their grievances with regards to the difficulty that they were experiencing interms of handling irate customers, issues on salaries, workload and other work-related problems. The TL would continuously ignore them and instruct them to go about their work without complaining. A certain agent, according to Oya, initiated a petition-signing in which an overwhelming majority of the agents participated. They presentedtheir petition to the Human Resource Department that gave them a positive response.The mentioned TL was given a disciplinary action and as a concrete result of the

collective effort at petition-signing, she was transferred to another site.

Collective action also urged the management of Convergys to address severalcomplaints on its medical insurance provider, Intelicare. As a rule, the insurance provided by Intelicare does not cover ‘pre-existing [medical] condition’ that might persist as an agent works in the call center. Rose, who went to the hospital to have acheck-up because of her painful sore-throat that she got from hours of talking tocustomers over the phone was told by her medical attendants that Intelicare refused tocover the services and hospital facilities because they classified her medical conditiona pre-existing one. The agents collectively complained about the medical insurance provider.

Many of the agents complain that their beneficiaries, mostly parents, could not availof the medical services that they should get as their beneficiaries. Oya, who is one of the best call center agents and is handling the sale of ‘premium’ brands of automobiles such as Chevrolet and Ford said that there was a point when she wantedto leave Convergys after experiencing Intelicare’s mishandling of the medicalconcerns of the agents.

As a solution, the abovementioned agents, along with other agents with similar grievances, maximized the on-line survey conducted by the company to collectivelyair out their grievance against Intelicare. It was an organized action by the agents

because they talked about the plan before they collectively spoke through the on-linesurvey.

The result was again concrete and in favor of the call center agents. The rules andregulations of Intelicare was reviewed by Convergys and the grievances of the agentswere attended to.



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In Teletech-Cebu, an agent recalled how a mass resignation occurred because of low pay and overwork under the Expedia travel account.

In Advanced Contact Solutions in Makati, an interviewed call center agent recountedthat agents in an account aired their grievances because of low basic salary amountingto only Php 10,000 (US$225.30). The agents threatened to resign en masse. Themanagement responded with alacrity and increased their basic salary.

An online correspondence

Collective expression is also manifested in various online fora, and numerous blogs.Most busy online fora would have threads or discussions by call centre workers. For call centre workers, accessing the internet is inherent to their work and has become anatural part of their lives. The internet’s accessibility to every call centre agent and

the democratic space it gives provide practical venue for them to express their grievances, provide tips and even stories among members in each forum. Varioustopics are being tackled from quotas, irate customers, companies to work, to wherethe best coffee shop is located. Even unionism is openly discussed in some of thethreads. Examples of such fora are the pinoyexchange.com and the

pinoycallcenter.com.



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Call center agents meet onlineBecause they cannot talk about it at work, the call center agents discussed alot online. They discussed about how to combat stress especially with irate customers, the attrition rates,call center experiences and are even exchanging tips on the worst and the best company to apply for.They even talk about organizing unions. The following is taken from a call center forum(www.pinoycallcenter.com):

Call Center Union? Anyone?

By jerk

I've noticed that call centers don't have unions? Reason is most call center managements say that with a

union, clients may pull out of the center's contract or close down. But under the labor code, companieseven private ones are NOT ALLOWED to disallow forming a UNION. Forming a union is one of our

rights as filipinos for democracy in the country. Even if foreign companies invest in us for workforce and require certain regulations, they should not disallow us from forming a union, for a union can help

protect the employee's interest. I am looking for a possibility of creating and forming a union, uniform

for all call centers in the philippines. Post your ideas and perhaps message me to vouch your support!

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! (Long live the Philippines)

By prometheuss

Probably it's one of the factors why we still have a lot of foreign investors who wanted to have their call centers in the philippines. If we do this, long term effect is losing the call center industry here in the

Philippines.

By brownfox24kaya mlkas loob magtangal ng managemnt kc wlng chek n blance dapt tlg thre are unions that protects

us! (That is why the management is bold in retrenching us because there is no check and balance, there should be unions to protect us!)

By pal_ku

YES!!! A CALL CENTER UNION! COUNT ME IN!

.



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At present ALU is part of an ILO-sponsored collaborative effort to organize call

centre workers together with other labor federations such as Federation of FreedomWorkers (FFW), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), and UNI. The forum was heldlast year wherein the different labor federations who participated were assigned actualcall centre companies to organize. But according to Ms. Raquel Clavillas, an ALUorganizer, the different federations were divided on the issue of organizing call centreworkers into one umbrella association. This project is still on-going. Ms. Clavillascited that the main difficulty in organizing call centre workers is their very tight work schedule. After their graveyard shift, workers rush to go home to get some sleep. At11:00 in the evening they go back to their offices. “There is actually no time to talk tothem,” she said. And when they get inside their work floors, they are not allowed to bring their cellphones or any ballpen and papers.

Based on ALU’s experience, efforts in organizing call centre workers in thetraditional model of union organizing at this time will still be futile since theconditions are not yet ripe for union building. Workers are not yet aware of their rights, the industry is still not open for union, and the government is still protectingthe industry. At present time, mutual aid association is the the best organizationalmodel for call centre workers. It can cover membership from top to bottom (includingTeam Leaders, etc.), and it can represent call centre workers and push ‘socialcontract’ as an alternative substitute for collective bargaining.

Global Union affiliates such as the Union Network International (UNI) through its

Philippine Liaison Office started their organizing in the call centre industry two yearsago. According to Mr. Brother Umali, Secretary General of UNI Philippines, they arestill at the initial stage of organizing the sector, i.e. mapping and surveying thevarious call centre companies nationwide.

In Cebu City, the AMA-SUGBU, a regional affiliate of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)or May First Movement, is also on its initial stage of organizing the ICT hub in their area.

The agents in a call center company in Cebu City are planning on forming employeesassociation few weeks after the EILER’s research team conducted a survey and

facilitated focus-group discussions in the company. Nell (not his real name), who isinitiating the forming of the association, said that he and his co-agents realized thetimeliness and necessity of forming an organization within call center companies thatwould defend the interest of the agents. They have recently formed a core groupwhich they hope will grow into an employees association. Nell now regularlycontacts EILER to ask for comments and suggestions and is currently busy withestablishing an online forum for Cebuano call center agents.



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Unfortunately, according to Dr. Rene Ofreneo of UP Solair in his study on industrialrelations and human resources development in the Call Centre-BPO Industry thatoverall, the unions in the Philippines have poor records of success in organizing and

addressing the concerns of the Call Centre-BPO industry. He said that moreimagination and new organizing experiments are needed to successfully organize theindustry.

20He believes that a global industry requires global work rules, and in this

light he commends Union Network International’s (UNI) work on propagating its‘UNI Charter on Offshore Outsourcing’.

IV. Analysis and recommendations

1. Employment and Social Issues

Transport-related call centre workers experience the same employment issues as other call centre workers in the industry. Employment issues hound every call centreworker in his/her daily work routine.

The occupational health risks from graveyard shifts, long working hours, period of break time, very cool temperatures in work areas, and high work stress due to highquota are very serious and potentially life-threatening. The industry alreadyrecognizes that these numerous OHS issues confronted by their workers is a strongfactor why they need to improve the “desirability” of the job to attract new collegegraduates. That is why HRD and retention strategies are geared toward training their workers into fostering a ‘healthy lifestyle’. Studies have shown that graveyard shifts

can increase the risk of cancer among women workers.21 But call centre workers cando very little about these occupational health risks. For them getting a call centre jobwould mean having a relatively high compensation in exchange for their health.Organizing strategy in the call centre industry should maximize and bank on themajor issues confronting call centre workers- their occupational health and safetyissues.

Lack of job security and flexible forms of work organization is also prevalent in theworkplace. Although most companies regularize their employees after 6 months of probation or training period, flexible work arrangements are being used to squeeze profits from them. The team circle system is used to ensure high productivity among

their workers. Being a regular worker does not ensure security of tenure, as the TeamLeader or supervisor can easily impose disciplinary action and terminate an employeewithout due process.

In an underdeveloped country like the Philippines, the wages that call centre workersreceive are considered above average in most industry sectors. But with theintensifying economic crisis and soaring inflation rates, the purchasing power of their income is gradually being eroded with the family daily living wage reaching Php 770



31

(US$17.35) as of March 2008 according to National Wages and ProductivityCommission. And based on wage comparisons between outsourced and non-outsourced contact center work, Filipino call centre workers as part of the former may

be considered highly exploited.

Among core labour rights, the right to organize and form a union is the most violatedright of for call centre workers. They also have to contend with unreasonably strictsupervisors and stringent monitoring of work and activities.

Working in a western time zone greatly affects their social and personal life. This hasgreatly reduced quality time with their families. Working mothers could not attend tothe daily needs and provide guidance to their children. They cannot participate infamily gatherings and special occassions since they do not have control over their work schedules.

Deskilling has also becoming an emerging concern as hundreds of new professionalssuch as nurses, teachers, accountants and engineers engage in call center work, onethat may not even be remotely related to their academic qualifications.

2. Benefits of trade union organizing for these workers

The right to form a union is a basic democratic right for workers. Thus, there is nodoubt that transport-related call centre workers need unions to protect their rights andwelfare inside the workplace. Unions are the only workers organization that can

collectively and legally represent and bargain with management. It is the onlyinstrument of workers to ensure job security. Through a union transport-related callcentre workers could collectively address the urgent issues and concerns that they arefacing such as having a say on the labor process, improving working conditions insidethe workplace, grievances, and disciplinary actions.

Not even the best human resources development and retention strategies22 couldreplace the role of unions in protecting the interests of transport-related call centreworkers. With a unionized workforce, call centre workers can comprehensivelyadvance their concerns on health and safety, career paths and development, skillsdevelopment, their social life, savings for their future, and long-term occupation

security.

A unionized call centre industry can also be a contributing factor for stabilizing theindustry and reducing the problem of high turnover rates 23. For the workers, areduction of the high turnover rate would also be beneficial on their part since they donot have to resort to job-hopping and leaving their jobs whenever their needs anddemands are not satisfied. This would spare them from the trouble of jobdisplacement and job hunting.



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Strategically, forming a union among call centre workers will serve as their valuabletool amidst the continuing attacks on wages and job security brought about by

globalization. The global outsourcing industry is fully dependent on the demandsfrom the outsourced country, and it is also very vulnerable to caprices of foreigncapital. Foreign companies can easily “cut and run” and pull out their investmentsfrom the Philippines whenever there’s cheaper labor cost and promise of higher profitin other developing countries. Only through the union can workers defend themselvesfrom globalization’s troubles.

3. Strategic analysis of the importance of union organizing in transport-related

call centre workers to the Philippine union movement

The BPO industry with Call Centre as its major subsector is the fastest growingindustry in the Philippines today with 23% growth rate for 2008 and estimated200,000 number of seats (j). By 2010, industry estimates 500,000 to 600,000 seatswill be created. Contributing 11% of the jobs for the new labor force entrants, thegovernment is bent on providing all the needs of the call centre companies.

With an increasing number of total work force in the coming years and a bigger shareof investments in the country’s economy, it is for the strategic interest of the tradeunion movement in the Philippines that unions should gain foothold in the industry.Efforts in union organizing in the transport-related call centre workers will contributeto unionizing the whole call centre industry, if not the whole BPO industry.

For the country’s union movement, organizing transport-related call centre workersinto unions is also an investment in the future of unionism in the Philippines. Withmost call centre workers belonging to the educated youth with ages ranging from 18years of age to 30 years old, building unions among these age range would also meantraining the next generation of unionists.

Unionizing the transport-related call centre industry would also mean unionizing amajority of women workers. With 60:40 to 70:30 ratio of women to men in each callcentre company, organizing a union means mobilizing mostly women workers andincreasing their participation and capacity to lead. Women and other gender issues

inside the workplace would be prioritized.

Being part of the outsourcing industry and part of the global production chain, it isnecessary for unions that will be formed among call centre workers to build organiclinkages with unions from other parts of the global production chain, and withinternational unions and workers organization. This will directly benefit the wholePhilippine union movement in building international solidarity and more active participation in global union actions. The continued dominance of globalization as an



33

economic paradigm necessitates unified international action to uphold and respect thecore labor standards.

4. Recommendations for organizing

The difficulties of organizing a union is aggravated in the case of organizing callcentre workers by various factors- 1) high attrition rates, 2) prevalence of flexibleemployment contracts, and 3) “yuppie culture”. But survey results and fieldinterviews show that majority are open in forming an organization but not exactly aunion. Why is this so? Why is there an aversion among call centre agents with regardsto unionism?

The industry’s almost outright prohibition of union among call centre workers is onemain factor for this. Call centre workers fear losing their jobs if they get engage with

union building. Field interview showed that for some companies it is clearlystipulated in the employment contracts that workers are prohibited to join or formunions. And so, in exchange for their jobs, they give up their union right.

However, this no-union policy is not exclusively employed by the call centreindustry. Other industries, such as industries found in the special economic zones,exploit the no-union policy throughout the Philippines. In fact, the government usescatchphrases like “industrial peace” to entice foreign investments. In spite of this,workers still strive to build unions in their workplaces. Thus, prohibition of union incall centre companies should not stop call centre workers in organizing their ownunion.

Efforts in organizing transport-related call centre workers should also consider thefollowing factors: 1) the class composition of the call centre workers in general belongs to the middle class. They are educated (mostly college level) and arereceiving relatively higher income than minimum wage earners. They live relativelymore comfortably compared to majority of workers who are either earning minimumor below minimum wage and who are struggling daily to make ends meet. 2) The peculiarities of their work and the work shift have created a different sub-culture(“yuppie culture”) among them. They are working while everyone is asleep and theyneed to master a foreign language.

Atty. Joseph Entero, Vice-President of the International Seafarer’s Action Center (ISAC), an ITF partner, believed that it is possible to organize call centre workers intoa union. He cited graveyard schedule, work-related terms of condition, health-relatedissues, turn-over rate as the reasons why call center workers are likely to beorganized. But because call center workers are usually from the middle class, he saidthat the organizing effort will face challenges. (But he noted the experiences of andsuccesses in organizing bank employees who, like those in the call center industry,come from the middle class.) He stressed that it has to begin with awareness drive



34

since “they [call center workers] are not really aware of their rights.” He thought thata forum which will be attended by call center workers can work well as a jump-start.

Multiple forms of workers’ organization

Since previous efforts of national unions and federations have shown difficulties or impeded progress in organizing among call centre workers, other creative ways of organizing should be used in order to penetrate the industry. Multiple forms of workers organizations can be used in organizing. These will not replace a union butrather will pave the way for union organizing. They will serve as venues to lay downfavourable conditions for union building. With these multiple forms of organizations,call centre workers can put into practice on how to build unity among them inaddressing their common issues. Collective strength is gained along the way to

building a union.

Below are some recommended multiple forms of workers organizations that couldgain more organizing mileage when applied judiciously and flexibly, and possiblyalso in combination:

1. Workers Associations

Different types of workers’ association can be formed among call centre workers.Among them are as follows:

i. Industry-wide

Industry-wide associations can have membership of all call centre workers regardlessto which call centre companies they are working. If successfully established, it could be at par with the various associations of call centre companies in the Philippinessuch as the CCAP and BPAP which plays an active role in pushing BPO companies’interests in government policy-making. The industry-wide association, can representthe unified voice of call centre workers in the industry, upholding their interests and bringing their issues and demands. Common workplace issues such as quotas,overtime, workshift, etc., can be brought up by the industry-wide association to thedifferent association of call centre companies and demand standardization of labor

standards throughout the industry.

ii. Account-based

The accounts-based association maximizes the vulnerabilities of contact centrecompanies to client pressure, especially those that have contracts with bigmultinational corporations (MNCs) abroad. As an organizing method, employeesfrom the same “account” may be formed into advocacy clusters, while simultaneously



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trying to gain greater organizing leverage with the help of international corporatesocial responsibility (CSR) organizations. Transport-related call centre workers can be organized such as this. The only difficulty is the fact that one company holds

multiple accounts.

iii. Gender-based

There is strong basis for gender-based organizing among “call center” workers, withat least 59% of them being women and gender-based problems being a primeworkplace issue. Women’s/gay rights organizations may conduct the initialorganizing work, which may then be expanded to include labor rights to the extentthat approximate the scope of comprehensive trade union concerns. Women’sorganizations can be easily set up in each site with an objective of addressingwomen’s issues inside the workplace.

iv. Geographical/ area-wide

Regional-wide and city-wide associations among call centre workers may be formed.The practicality of proximity of sites is just one basis for this association. Variousissues can be facing call centre workers in a particular area/ region or ICT hub. Anexample would be that differing wages in different regions. Security and other socialissues can also be addressed to municipal governments with city-wide associationswhere they can even propose passing of municipal ordinances to address certainconcerns.

2. Thematic approach/ OHS-based approach

Occupational health and safety (OHS) issues rank high among contact center employees, with over 50% experiencing work-related illnesses and other hazards. AnOHS service institution may be established that will cater specifically to contactcenter agents, a “soft” venue is created for initial organizing work among them, thiscan be later shifted to other core labor concerns as the timing and the situation merit.

3. Welfare support group/ Mutual-Help Associations

Informal associations or clusters of employees may be formed based on the principle

of collective, mutual aid may be formed or encouraged among contact center agents,at the beginning packaged innocuously as self-sustaining, small-credit groups(“paluwagan” in Filipino culture). Follow-through organizing methods may thenserve to consolidate their ranks to the point where conversion into a full-fledged tradeunion becomes a self-evident next step.



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Sources:

1. “An Analysis of the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing Industry,” ERD Working Paper Series No. 3, Asian Development Bank (ADB), March 2007, Philippines.

2. “Understanding the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Industryin the Philippines,” Factsheet No. 200711-ES2-01, National Statistical Coordination Board(NSCB), November 09, 2007, Philippines.

3. “Roadmap 2010 Update,” by Oscar Sañez, BPA/P, September 24, 2007, Philippines.4. “Industry players ride on BPO popularity,” by Liezl Ellen Antonio, Special Report, Business

World, January 26, 2006, Philippines.5. “Towards an IR/HRD Agenda for Call Center-BPO Industry” by Rene Ofreneo, UP SOLAIR.

December 2006.

Endnotes:

1 Although majority of these figures may only be categorized as "small- and medium-scale call centres(SMCCs) which operate with a capacity of 200 seats or less, and preferably at least 10 seats to ensureviability.

2 Top 10 call centres according to http://www.callcenterphilippines.net/3 Ibid.4 www.pinoypress.net5 Hega, Mylene. “Assembly Line Workers of the 21st Century: A Glimpse into the Lives of Customer

Service Agents.” CSWCD Development Journal, 2007.6 Ibid.7 According to a study by Tholons, an investments advisory research company, “As cost advantages of

outsourcing operational processes become a given, the challenge in today’s services sourcing landscapeis to identify destinations that may be able to provide an equal (if not greater) level of cost effectivenessand operational efficiency than previous or existing locations. As such, the focus for many of the larger and best-of-breed providers has been to scale, expand and distribute their outsourced processes acrossmultiple cities within a country. For example, companies need to identify calculated benefits of

expanding to Cebu City in the Philippines, as opposed to simply expanding their already establishedoperations in Manila NCR.” This is culled from the seminar attended by the researcher, the 8th e-ServicesPhilippines: Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition held on February 11-12, 2008 at the SMXConvention Centre in Manila.

8 From a copy of work contract gathered in fieldwork 9 From the “Case Study on the Health, Safety and Working Conditions in a Contact Center,” a study by

the Occupational Safety and Health Center of the Department of Labor and Employment.10 Hega.



11 Ofreneo, Rene. Towards an IR/HRD Agenda in Call Center-BPO Industry. UP SOLAIR. December 2006. http://www.fes.org.ph/pdf/UPSOLAIR%20FES%20CC-BPO-IR-HRD%20agenda.pdf

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ibid.13 ibid.14 ibid.15 ibid.16 A UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations study said that a majority of surveyed call centre

workers were interested in joining unions. CCW respondents said they wanted better negotiating positions to compensate for the negative impact of night shifts and intense work pressure on their health. and they encountered heavy work pressure.

17 Although this is an in-house call centre and the union is integrated in the bank employees union. From“call centres: Boon or Bane?”, accessed in http://www.nordis.net/blog/?p=502

18 Pico, Ermelo T. “Employment in the Philippine Contact Center and BPO Industry”. Philippine Journalof Labor and Industrial Relations, Vol. XXVI, Nos 1 & 2, 2006.

19 http://www.nordis.net/blog/?p=50220 Ofreneo.21 www.iohsad.org/6/06/women/dangers-working-night22 A few call center companies have programs such as --refer-a-friend, recurrent training, OD training onwork-life balance and stress management, coffee talks, HR@theLounge,town hall meeting, Friday treats,quarterly industry-wide and call-center wide salary survey, and monthly HR Forum.23 Ofreneo.

eiler final report transport-related call center

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