Customer Service Centres 
Energy Watch Pay flux
The mostly young staff of Energy Watch signed up as members of the ASU last year following issues such as pay date fluctuations, unpaid super, and unpaid penalty rates. The ASU’s intervention prompted commitments from Energy Watch to improve processes, and the union continues to work with the company and relevant authorities to secure the unpaid allowances owed to our members.
RACV: EBA Campaign to start soon!
As most of you would be aware, our current workplace agreement, is due to be re-negotiated.
Your ASU Delegates have met to discuss the process and we are hoping that RACV will agree that we can get feedback from you about what you want in the claim very soon.
We have also said to RACV that if they want to meet with us to tell us what they want, we’re happy to do so. But we won’t be able to tell them what we want until we’ve got some feedback from you.
Please make sure you come along and tell us what you want out of this round of negotiations.
Not a member yet?
Now is the time to join – there’s a membership form (below). Only with your support can we make sure that we keep all our hard-won conditions and get improvements. Just fill in the form and give it to any one of us, or fax it back to the ASU on 9320 6799.
- Jackie Gadsby, Shirley O’Brien, Tricia Gittins, Barry Leahy
ASU Delegates at RACV Assistance Centre
ASU Member Application Form (122.17 KB)
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Service Stream: Your collective agreement, your wages and conditions, your choice
Shortly Service Stream will present to employees a collective agreement that you will be asked to consider and vote on. The ASU, your union, has been discussing the content of this proposed agreement with Service Stream and raised a variety of concerns with the wages and conditions contained within it.
Service Stream has cut these discussions short and advised the ASU that they will be going ahead with a no-union agreement instead.
Why?
Service Stream wants to push through an agreement quickly for the purpose of awarding a pay rise. This pay rise will only bring staff up to the current minimum wage. The ASU has recommended to Service Stream that a pay rise be awarded to staff immediately and that discussions regarding the agreement continue so a fair wage settlement can be reached.
Problems with the agreement
Wage rise offers are minimum wages outlined by law or a small percentage increase. The percentage on offer does not compound each year (ie doesn't build on the new rate but instead builds on the original rate). This can mean a difference of 40-60 dollars a year depending on your classification. The percentages that Service Stream are offering are below the current cost of living. CPI sits somewhere between 3 and 4%. The percentage on offer is slightly less than 2% a year.
We also have concerns surrounding the dispute resolution clause in the proposed agreement. We understand that some aspects of this clause are not necessarily going to remain now that Service Stream is putting out a non-union agreement. This could result in unnecessary costs being imposed on employees, or disputes not being adequately resolved.
Taking it to the independent umpire
The ASU firmly believes that the decision by Service Stream to refuse to negotiate demonstrates that they are not bargaining in good faith as they are required to under the current agreement. As a result of Service Stream's sudden rush to push through an agreement without waiting for negotiations to conclude the ASU has applied to the Industrial Relations Commission to have the case heard.
We reiterate that if Service Stream wish to award staff with the pay rise that is well overdue (as they should), they can do so without delay. This would mean that staff would then be receiving the minimum wage before the new agreement commences.
What now?
We understand that Service Stream will run information sessions on the collective agreement and give you the required time to consider their offer. A day will be nominated for the vote to take place and you will have the choice to wither vote No or Yes to the proposal.
You deserve a better deal than what's currently on offer
Non-union agreements always have lesser wages and conditions than union agreements. Our role is always to represent your interests. We'll keep you posted as new developments arise.
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Your collective agreement, your wages and conditions, your decision (110.17 KB)
Global study finds regulated in-house call centres are better
A major global study on call centres involving 17 countries and coordinated by Cornell University in the United States challenges perceptions of call centre management and employment. Evidence from the study reveals cost-focussed call centres create low quality jobs, customer dissatisfaction and employee turnover.
The study is the first large scale international study of call centre management and employment practices across all regions of the globe, including Asia, Africa, South America, North America and Europe. The study covered around 2,500 centres, employing 475,000 employees in 17 countries and provides a detailed account of the similarities and differences across diverse national contexts and cultures.
Some key findings from the report were:
The large majority (86%) of call centres in all countries serve their own domestic markets and consumers.
Two thirds of call centres are in-house serving an employer's own customers.
A majority (75%) of employees are female and work in call centres with less than 230 employees in flat organisations.
There is no common global face to call centres, since they tend to take on the character of their respective countries and regions based on that country's or region's laws, customs, and norms.
Most call centres are relatively new and have emerged in countries across the globe at about the same time, within the last five to 10 years.
While union coverage is quite low in the US, over 50% of centres in the international study have some form of collective representation.
"Social Market" ("coordinated") economies with strong labour market regulations (eg. France, Germany Israel and Sweden) tend to have better quality jobs, lower turnover and lower wage dispersion than call centres in "liberal market" economies(eg. Canada, UK and USA) and "recently industrialised" economies (eg. Brazil, India, Poland and South Korea) where labour market regulations and unions are weaker.
Most importantly the study provides ample evidence to show that heavy reliance on a cost-focused model not only creates low quality jobs but also breeds customer dissatisfaction and employee turnover.
What about Australian call centres?
Despite the active support of Australian members of the "Global Call Centre Research Network" at UNSW; Australian employers did not participate. The ASU supports such studies including Australian call centres in future.
Download the Executive Summary
To read more about the study at www.globalcallcenter.org
RACV: Come along to OHS Day to celebrate - 3 OHS Reps elected in Roadside Assistance Centre
The ASU met with RACV late last year to discuss improvements to the OHS Representative system within the Assistance Centre. The outcome of those discussions was that RACV agreed that there should be 3 Rep’s. (1 for each Team within the Assistance Centre).
The ASU recently sought nominations from staff interested in fulfilling the important role of OHS Representative. The role of OHS Representative is vital in ensuring that staff in the workplace have the ability to raise issues in relation to Occupational Health and Safety and have their voice heard.
The ASU would like to announce the following successful candidates (One for each Team):
Chris Turnbull
Dianne Vickers
Lorraine Wilson
The ASU will work with the above Representatives to ensure they receive training to allow them to fulfil the tasks of the role of OHS Rep.
To ensure that you become familiar with your OHS Rep’s and to promote Occupational Health and Safety in your workplace the ASU will be holding an Occupational Health and Safety Day as follows:
Wednesday the 18th of April
11am and 3pm.
We will be located in the landing just below the canteen.
The will be lots of information about Occupational Health and Safety.
So come along have a some cake on us and update yourself about OHS.
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Come along to OHS Day to celebrate - 3 OHS Reps elected in Roadside Assistance Centre (90.86 KB)
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