Agents rap insolvent call center company

CEBU, Philippines - Disgruntled agents have filed a complaint for alleged violations of labor standards against a call center company which ceased operation last weekend.

The complaint was supposed to be heard yesterday by the National Labor Relations Commission-Regional Arbitration Board-7.

However, the management of Bluconnect Solutions did not show up for the hearing. It did not also have a lawyer to represent the company prompting the labor arbiter to reset the hearing on July 17.

The call center agents were assisted by Sylvio Dorig, vice president for external affairs of the Inter-Call Center Association of  Workers. The complainants alleged non-payment of overtime pay, shortened break time, as well as non-remittance of premium contributions to Philhealth and Social Security System.

According to Dorig, the company started terminating more than 300 call center agents since May this year.

“Pero pag-closed na gyud nila pag Sabado, mga forty kabuok na lang ang nahabilin,” said Dorig.

Catherine Gauden, Cyndee Marie Sebado, Jean Rose Pindo, and Sarah Marohomsar were among those who filed a case for illegal suspension before the Department of Labor and Employment-7 against the company before it shut down on Saturday.

According to the complainants, they were surprised to learn that the company was already closed.

“We were told that the company closed because there is no more return of investment or bankrupt na daw sila. Pero wa silay gipakita nga dokumento nga tinuod na ilang gisulti,” Dorig said.

DOLE-7 director Chona Mantilla said that their personnel have three conferences with ICCAW representatives since last week to talk with the affected workers.

“We still have to verify with Dorig because the workers who talked with us were not the ones affected by the alleged Bluconnect closure last Saturday,” Mantilla said.

Mantilla added that the workers who came to them were terminated last May and they will require ICCAW to verify such report.

Mantilla added that they too are now conducting some verification.

Earlier, ICCAW call on the government to look into the plight of the call center workers and strictly implement labor laws in the so-called sunshine industry.

ICCAW is an industry-wide organization for the rights and welfare of Business Process Outsourcing employees.

Cebu-based ICCAW has been calling DOLE for the promotion of a decent work in the BPO sector in the face of several reports of violations of labor standards in the industry. —/FPL (FREEMAN)