UNI Global Union stands in solidarity with workers who are standing up against rampant violations of labour rights by US-based Alorica in the contact centre sector in the Philippines.
Workers at Alorica in the Philippines filed a notice of strike before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board in answer to rampant harassment of union members, union busting and illegal termination of employees. UEA (Unified Employees of Alorica) is the only union that is registered in the Filipino contact centre industry, which employs 1.4 million workers, mostly for the United States English language market.
UEA, CWA and UNI are calling on Alorica to:
- Stop massive dismissals – over 200 union workers were illegally terminated or forced to resign in the last six months alone.
- Recognise Alorica employees have the basic human right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
- Abolish the 8 point attendance system – an abusive system which tallies the tardiness and absences of employees as a basis for termination.
- Recognise the union representatives of UEA and engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with the union about the issues facing Alorica workers in the Philippines.
- Allow the union’s registration to go ahead without unnecessary and unjust interference from the company.
Sarah Preztoza, President of UEA said, “The Alorica and West management have left us with no choice. We will have to go on strike”, said Sarah Preztoza, President of UEA. “We have tried every avenue, but our complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Management refuse to engage in any kind of constructive and meaningful social dialogue, preferring instead to sack union members illegally. They have repeatedly tried to bust the union and cancel our union registration and must change their ways.”
Teresa Casertano, Head of UNI ICTS said, “We fully support Alorica workers taking strike action in the Philippines. Collective bargaining and organising workers into unions are essential if we want to create decent contact centre jobs. Alorica must stop all forms of union busting and respect the workers’ union.”
Alorica is the third-largest contact centre company in the world by revenue, and mainly services its North American clients from the Philippines.
