Asheville, NC – Two-dozen workers gathered in downtown Asheville for a rally on May 1 to celebrate International Workers Day. Community members and workers brought red flags and signs such as, “Thou shalt not steal. Stop wage theft now!” The Asheville May 1st Coalition organized the rally, bringing together organizers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Women Organizing to Resist and Defend, Veterans For Peace, Industrial Workers of the World, Asheville Homeless Network and Just Economics.

“We want to educate people not only about the history of May Day and organizing but about the current efforts groups here are working on to improve life in Asheville for the working class. Unfortunately, we still lack the basics in Asheville, like the right to organize our workplaces without fear of retribution,” said Bella Jackson, an event organizer. “We lack a minimum wage standard that meets basic needs and our public transit does not yet adequately get people to and from their jobs,” she added.

John Spitzberg, past president of the Asheville Veterans for Peace also spoke, “There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people while the 1% have all the good things of life. Between these two classes, a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class.” He urged activists to come to the National Veterans for Peace Convention being held July 23-24th in Asheville.

The next day, union supporters rallied again to picket outside a local Asheville newspaper, the Mountain Xpress. Workers and reporters are organizing with Communications Workers of America to form a union. They hope to improve their working conditions and protect their rights on the job. Picketers demanded the paper rehire senior news reporter David Forbes and photographer Max Cooper, who were both fired for union activity.

Reporter David Forbes, respected by workers for the coverage of the Sitel Union Organizing efforts commented in a blog managed by the workers, “Too often the belief in Asheville and elsewhere is that the people who make a city work are powerless, that we can lose our livelihoods due to asking basic questions or a boss’s bad mood. We often hear that’s ‘just the way it is’ and we shouldn’t hope for better. This is a lie. We have rights, and we have power. Things can change.”

Picketers held signs, “Xpress workers deserve better!” and “Xpress needs a union!” Organizers with the local IBEW also came out in solidarity, holding “Union yes!” signs.

The workers leaflet read, “Asheville weekly newspaper Mountain Xpress is supposed to serve the community and grassroots activism, but the actions of its top management show a determination to bust a union and ignore employees’ rights.”

Mountain Xpress is facing several unfair labor practice charges as a result of their retaliation against the workers trying to form a union.

#AshevilleNC #internationalWorkersDay #May1 #SITEL #MountainXPress

Asheville, NC – SITEL workers and community members came out on the afternoon of Sept. 5 for a lively picket, supporting SITEL workers’ right to organize. Picketers held signs opposing SITEL’s union busting practices. One read, “United we bargain – divided we beg.”

SITEL operates 29 call centers in the U.S., as well in 25 other countries. The corporation is notorious for low wages and poor working conditions. At the call center in Asheville, brave workers are taking a stand and organizing a union drive with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). “We face a corporation known for its rabid anti-union stance. SITEL is a global poverty broker that strategically opens sites based on a predatory business strategy of exploiting vulnerable labor populations for profit,” says Ken Ashworth, an employee at the facility.

What began as a struggle over grossly inadequate restroom facilities has developed into a yearlong struggle for respect, better benefits and good wages.

“My wife Shana has worked for SITEL for over three years now, and still only makes $9.50 an hour,” said Ed Williams. “It’s bad enough that we have to decide if we feed the family or pay for gas for her to get to work.” As a slap in the face, rather than increasing workers' wages so they do not have to make such hard choices, SITEL has an employee sponsored food panty for its workers. All the while the CEO receives bonuses of $750,000 a year.

“We organized the picket today because SITEL is trying everything it can to scare us from organizing,” says union organizer Sarah Buchner. “They have brought in ‘union avoidance consultants’ to hold captive audience meetings as a means to spread misinformation and create fear about the role of unions.”

Rebecca Smith and Pat O’mara, who identified themselves as ex-Teamsters, are ‘union avoidance consultants.’ SITEL is paying them over $3,000 a day to try to convince workers that a union will not help them and create divisions between the workers. They are lying to the workers, and they are bought and paid for by SITEL.

On Sept. 5, during the shift change from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., SITEL workers, together with dozens of friends, family and community supporters, held a picket outside the call the center to show the company that they knew exactly what unions are for – organizing and fighting back.

Not long after the picket assembled, SITEL management called the police, hoping they could scare the picketers into silence. In the face of this scare tactic with threats of arrest, the union supporters stood their ground. After a long discussion between leading workers, IBEW representatives, the city attorney and the police, the police finally admitted that the workers had the right to picket on the sidewalk off SITEL’s property and the demonstration continued. As cars passed they honked in support and drivers raised their fists in solidarity.

In August, SITEL settled several unfair labor practice claims, one regarding maintaining and enforcing an illegal social media policy. The full text of the settlement can be read here (http://organizesitelasheville.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/sitel-posts-settlement-notice-on-labor-charges/). Notice of this has been posted on bulletin boards at the Asheville location and on the company intranet nationwide.

#AshevilleNC #unionBusting #classStruggleUnionism #IBEW #SITEL

Fight Back! interviewed Sarah Buchner, a call center worker at SITEL Corporation in Asheville, North Carolina. The New South is notorious for low-wages and big corporations calling all the shots, but brave new leaders like Buchner are arising to organize unions. Their yearlong struggle for respect, better benefits and good wages is gaining power and impacting the local area.

Fight Back!: Tell us about SITEL and your job.

Sarah Buchner: SITEL outsources calls for Fortune 500 companies, with 29 call centers in the U.S. and many more overseas in 25 countries. In Asheville, SITEL handles calls for two major U.S. banks and a health insurance company. I take phone calls for the health insurance client, helping small employers and consumers with their billing. We are evaluated on a number of things, such as following a script and how quickly and accurately calls are documented. We are under a lot of pressure and constantly monitored.

Fight Back!: Please describe the conditions, wages, and benefits.

Buchner: The turnover rate at SITEL is outrageous. It doesn’t have to be, but people leave for better jobs. That is the basic reason we want a union, to have good jobs. Politicians championed SITEL as a major job creator in 2010 with 600 workers, but numbers are down. There are lots of empty seats in our work area now.

Workers start at $8.00 an hour and top out at $9.50. At six months we are offered healthcare plans that are costly, with a high deductable. At $9.50, it takes four hours of work to cover the co-pay for one doctor visit. Many just can’t afford it. SITEL also offers a 401K-retirement account. I recently received a letter from the company explaining, “this chart assumes a $30,000 annual salary.” This is a slap in the face. Working full time, I make about two thirds of that. I’m not even on the chart.

The Friday in between paychecks is dubbed “Broke Friday.” Many workers are on food stamps because SITEL refuses to pay a living wage. SITEL’s solution to this is a “food pantry” that they encourage us to donate to as a resource for our co-workers.

Fight Back!: What sparked the struggle to unionize in Asheville?

Buchner: Things started in July of 2011 with a management memo announcing the switching around of the men and women’s bathrooms, to construct more men’s. The restrooms are on each end of a very long building with cubicles to seat hundreds of workers between them. On the left side, women were reduced from eight stalls down to one stall and two urinals. This situation dragged on for months, and many women, some with disabilities, were losing their 15-minute breaks because of the long distance to use the other bathroom. They got upset enough to start a petition. One worker contacted the IBEW union Local 238 and they filed an unfair labor practice against SITEL. Management then threatened to fire employees for standing up to them and voicing legitimate concerns.

SITEL immediately hired a union-busting law firm from South Carolina, Ogletree Deakins. Management began holding small anti-union meetings with all employees, giving them an unsigned memo. Part of it reads, “There is nothing that a union could deliver that can't be obtained by open and frank discussion between the Company and our employees. We have a real open door policy that works. My door and all management doors are always open.” Still people begged management to fix the bathroom situation and were ignored, until May of 2012. Almost a year! So we learned the only way for workers to achieve dignity and respect is to organize and take a seat at the table with one voice. SITEL knows this, and is doing everything in its power to spread misinformation and fear.

Fight Back!: What are the demands of the workers?

Buchner: Our demands are for higher wages, better benefits, and dignity and respect. We deserve to be treated as individuals with different abilities and needs. Instead management views us as a number on spreadsheet, reprimanding us about our call statistics and for spending too much time trying to help our callers. We have very little opportunity to advance and be recognized for our dedication to the work we do. With the bathrooms, SITEL management was not taking us seriously until we came together to stand up for our rights, which is exactly what unionizing allows employees to do.

Fight Back!: What are the latest developments in this campaign?

Buchner: Management is increasingly hostile, removing union literature from people’s desks. A new policy limits workers to five personal items. This includes books, magazines, and photos of families and friends, even children’s artwork. It is worse in other areas, where not even magazines are allowed.

Sometimes we feel like verbal punching bags. We take stressful calls from customers who are unhappy about a fee or a rate increase and having these little comforts on our desks can make a big difference. Employees are growing angrier, realizing that SITEL does not have our best interests at heart. The IBEW union has filed several unfair labor practice claims against SITEL and there will be hearings in August. One alleges SITEL maintains and enforces an illegal social media policy.

Fight Back!: North Carolina has few unions – how does this impact your organizing?

Buchner: We are in the South. I’ve had dozens of conversations with people who do not know what a union is, but that is changing. Some even thought unionizing was illegal in North Carolina. I grew up here and did not learn about unions until I attended college. It is something that was glossed over in high school and the perception of unions boils down to what people hear in the corporate media. It is a real challenge to combat this, but more and more of our coworkers join the union drive and have a positive outlook. It is exciting! They are realizing that alone they must accept the current working conditions and wages, but united we can have a voice to rival even a giant company like SITEL. There is power in a union!

For more info: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Organize-Sitel-Asheville/155407664576975

#AshevilleNC #SITEL #callCenters #unionOrganizing #IBEW238 #InternationalBrotherhoodOfElectricalWorkers #NorthCarolina