Workers decry removal of assets in closed call center

Press conference of call center workers organized by ICCAW

The workers of Eziconnect Philippines decried the furtive removal of computers from their call center which had shutdown without due notice. They revealed that on December 24 several men took out six computers, a day after the Department of Labor and Emploment (DOLE) made a site visit. Fifteen employees filed a complaint for illegal closure one day after Eziconnect suddenly shuttered on December 21.

Gerard Escubido, one of the 15 Eziconnect employees, exclaimed that “Instead of a Santa Claus bearing gifts on Christmas eve, here we have Ebenezer Scrooges stealing assets that can be used to defray out claims for unpaid wages and separation benefits. We have identified the perpetrators who removed the Eziconnect computers and we also have a suspect who masterminded it.”

“We call on Eziconnect owner Rodney Kafer to honor obligations to his workers who have loyally served the company for the past several years,” added Escubido. Kafer is a former Australian rugby player and Fox Sports commentator.

Dennis Derige, Partido Manggagawa-Cebu spokesperson who is assisting the Eziconnect employees, stated that “We will duly notify DOLE-7 of the incident and demand appropriate action once the government offices open after New Year’s day. It seems Eziconnect did not just shutdown illegally but is also a runaway shop.”

Aside from half a month of salaries and separation pay, the Eziconnect workers are demanding financial assistance and damages.

Derige insisted on prompt action from the government as the illegal shutdown of Eziconnect was the fifth case in Metro Cebu that they have encountered in the last four years. He cited the earlier cases of Direct Access, Cordia, Leadamorphosis and Blue Connect in which a total of about one thousand workers were adversely affected by sudden cloures.

“Through the help of PM partylist, the workers of the four call centers got favorable settlements or awards from the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). Although in the case of Leadamorphosis workers, they have yet to receive a cent of the P36 million NLRC decision because the owners are in the USA,” Derige elaborated.

The partylist group reiterated its request that government require BPO’s to put up a bond to compensate workers’ money claims in case of sudden or illegal closure. “Call centers should set aside two months worth of salaries of all workers they intend to hire which will be used to defray unpaid salaries, benefits and separation pay,” Derige explained.

December 30, 2015

Call center workers demand reforms in BPO industry

Press Release

January 15, 2014

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

Amidst the closure of a BPO company in Cebu City, an association of call center workers today demanded reforms in the industry to protect labor rights. Rosie Hong of the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) declared that “We are for a stable BPO industry so that we can have regular jobs that provide decent salaries and benefits but this cannot happen if the requirements and criteria for operating a call center company are so relaxed.”

Last Monday some one hundred employees of Leadamorphosis picketed their office building in downtown Cebu in protest at illegal closure and non-payment of salaries. Workers then trooped to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) to file cases against management.

Tomorrow ICCAW will attend an industrial tripartite council meeting together with representatives of the DOLE and BPO employers to demand a swift resolution to the Leadamorphosis labor dispute.

Hong averred “ICCAW is in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Leadamorphosis. We are enraged that a call center company closes down then runs away from its obligations. We attribute this problem due to lack of strong state regulation in BPO industry. For a start, we demand that BPO companies be required to post cash bonds equivalent to one month of salaries and benefits of its total workforce.”

The bond requirement was proposed but was not enacted at the height of the hasty shutdown of another the Cebu City-based BPO company called Direct Access that left some 600 employees with unpaid wages, commissions, overtime pay and separation benefits.

A priority agenda of ICCAW is stricter government regulation of the BPO industry. It is proposing guidelines on requirements to set up call centers must be put in place and strictly implemented. This will reduce fly by night centers that are not financially equipped to run the business and does not respect labor rights, according to the group.

“We want a BPO company to be a better place to work with but if the occupational health of employees are compromised this industry will instead be a time bomb just waiting to explode. ICCAW aim to be a voice and advocate for call center and BPO workers so that the 600,000 employees in the industry who are entirely unorganized can enjoy protection,” Hong insisted.

ICCAW is also calling for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits and entitlements that must be well above the minimum mandated by law and commensurate to the profitable dollar-earning nature of the call center industry.

BPO workers protest illegal closure

Press Release

January 13, 2014

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

Some one hundred employees of a BPO company in Cebu City held a mass action at their office building today in protest at illegal closure and non-payment of salaries. Workers of Leadamorphosis picketed the Dakay Building along Escario St. in downtown Cebu before trooping to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to file cases against management.

“Leadamorphosis management took away the joy from Christmas and the hope for the new year. Fly-by-night BPO companies like Leadamorphosis are a scourge on young workers and breadwinners,” asserted Marnick Unabia, one of some 120 affected employees.

Leadamporphosis workers only received 30% of their wages due for December 15 to 31, 2013 while none of the mandatory deductions for the last quarter of last year have been remitted. Leadamorphosis also did not submit any required notices with DOLE for bankruptcy, insolvency, redundancy or closure before abruptly shutting down last January 8.

The Leadamorphosis workers are expecting to hold a dialogue with DOLE Region 7 officials for the resolution of their grievances after the formal filing of complaints. Meanwhile their call for Leadamorphosis management to meet with them has fallen on deaf ears. They have been on vigil outside their office since last Friday to stop management from running away with company assets.

Rosie Hong of the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) criticized DOLE for its inability to require BPO companies to put up cash bonds to defray employees for their money claims. ICCAW is an industry-wide association of BPO workers and has a chapter among Leadamorphosis employees. “In the parlance of the BPO industry, the DOLE is a bottom performer for failing to meet its metrics,” Hong claimed.

The DOLE was supposed to compel BPO companies to put up cash bonds equivalent to one month of salaries and benefits of its total workforce. The bond requirement was proposed at the height of the hasty shutdown of another the Cebu City-based BPO company called Direct Access that left some 600 employees with unpaid wages, commissions, overtime pay and separation benefits.

“The DOLE has been found sleeping once more on the job. Where can Leadamorphosis workers now get their unpaid wages and unremitted deductions in the absence of a bond? Does the DOLE want a dozen more BPO companies to run away from its obligations to thousands of workers before it acts on its responsibilities?,” Hong added.

Leadamarphosis handles voice and non-voice outbound calls for US clients. The company was formerly called Vector whose corporate officers still comprise Leadamorphosis. In June of 2013 it merged with another BPO company called Sasnet which handled non-voice marketing for home security gadgets.

(Photos of vigil @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=774160375944928&set=pcb.774160479278251&type=1&theater)

Group calls on gov’t to aid laidoff BPO workers

BPO workers hold vigil vs illegal closure

Press Release

January 12, 2014

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

A BPO workers association called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to assist some 120 call center workers who have been laid off after the abrupt and alleged illegal closure of their company. Workers of Leadamorphosis, a BPO company in Cebu City, have been on vigil outside their office since Friday to stop management from running away with company assets. Tomorrow the BPO workers are planning a protest action to highlight their plight and demands.

“The DOLE should immediately come to the aid of Leadamorphosis workers and resolve their grievances. DOLE should hold Leadamorphosis management accountable for its violations including illegal shutdown and runaway shop. Also the bond put up by Leadamorphosis must be disbursed ASAP to defray the unpaid salaries of its workers,” asserted Rosie Hong, an officer of the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW). ICCAW is an industry-wide association of BPO workers and has a chapter among Leadamorphosis employees.

Leadamporphosis workers only received 30% of their wages due for December 15 to 31, 2013 while none of the mandatory deductions for the last quarter of last year have been remitted. Leadamorphosis also did not submit any required notices with DOLE for bankruptcy, insolvency, redundancy or closure.

The DOLE required BPO companies to put up cash bonds equivalent to one month of salaries and benefits of its total workforce. The regulation was set up after the experience of the hasty shutdown of the Cebu City-based BPO company Direct Access that left some 600 employees with unpaid wages, commissions, overtime pay and separation benefits.

Marnick Unabia, one of the Leadamorphosis workers, explained that “We will hold a vigil outside Leadmorphosis until management dialogues with us in good faith and resolve our grievances. In particular we ask CEO and owner Paul Steven Flannery and vice president Kirk Nethercott to explain the true situation of the company.”

Hong also appealed to the Call Center Association of the Philippines and the BPO Association of the Philippines to exert moral suasion on Leadamorphosis management to heed the demands of their workers.

Leadamarphosis handles voice and non-voice outbound calls for US clients. The company was formerly called Vector whose corporate officers still comprise Leadamorphosis. In June of 2013 it merged with another BPO company called Sasnet which handled non-voice marketing for home security gadgets.

Cebu BPO workers hold vigil to stop runaway shop

Press Release

January 11, 2014

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

Workers of a BPO company in Cebu are now holding a vigil outside their office in a bid to stop management from carting away company equipment and assets. “We are victims of illegal closure and runaway shop. But we will fight against our employer’s attempt to take away our livelihood,” asserted Marnick Unabia, one of the affected BPO workers.

Some 40 Leadamorphosis employees starting camping out yesterday at the Dakay Building along Escario St. in Cebu City after some 20 computer units were taken out of the 6^th floor office of the company. The BPO workers vowed to sustain the stakeout until management dialogues with them in good faith. Workers presume more than a hundred computers and the server are still at the company offices.

In the early morning of January 8, Leadamorphosis management announced to its 120-strong workforce that it will shutdown temporarily due earthquake-induced structural damage. The workers though checked with city hall officials and found no truth to the claim that Dakay Building is unsafe.

“Leadamorphosis also did not submit any required notices at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for bankruptcy, insolvency, redundancy or closure,” reported Unabia. He and other Leadamporphosis workers also did not receive their last paycheck covering the period Dec 15 to 31, 2013 and the mandatory deductions for the last quarter of last year have not been remitted.

Rosie Hong, an officer of the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW), called on the DOLE and the BPO industry employers association to facilitate the resolution of the grievances of Leadamorphosis employees. ICCAW is an industry-wide association of BPO workers and has a chapter among Leadamorphosis employees.

Unabia declared that “We call on Leadamorphosis CEO and owner Paul Steven Flannery and vice president Kirk Nethercott to face us and tell us the real score about the company. No more lies and maneuvers. You owe your employees who have served you for several years the truth.”

Leadamarphosis handles voice and non-voice outbound calls for US clients. The company was formerly called Vector whose corporate officers still comprise Leadamorphosis. In June of 2013 it merged with another BPO company called Sasnet which handled non-voice marketing for home security gadgets.