«This morning, three important and well-attended demonstrations by the workers of Telecontact Center are taking place simultaneously in the squares of Catanzaro, Caltanissetta and Rome, the company which has been part of the Tim Group for over 20 years and which in recent weeks has been the subject of a branch transfer procedure to the newco called DNA, made up of a total of 3,380 workers, of which 1,591 come from Telecontact and 1,789 from the group Distribuzione Italia, one of the largest outsourcing contact centers in Italy.” This was communicated by the national secretary of Ugl Telecommunications, Stefano Conti.
«The anger and dismay of Telecontact Center workers at the exit from the Tim Group – Conti underlines – is the natural response of those who have always represented the first company interface with customers, operating with professionalism and a sense of belonging, remembering that the majority are workers with part-time contracts. Ugl Telecommunications will continue to fight for the integrity of the Tim Group and in support of the struggles of the workers of Telecontact, having as its primary aim that of safeguarding the employment perimeter which involves thousands of families, without, however, forgetting the concerns that surround the operators of the Distribution Group who will have to merge into this new company”.
In Calabria around 450 workers were involved
Strike and sit-in protest by workers of the Telecontact call center, who took to the streets this morning in the center of Catanzaro to say no to the sale of the company by Tim to another company: the operation concerns over 1600 workers throughout Italy and around 450 workers in Calabria, in the Catanzaro headquarters, worried about their future work. Promoting today’s mobilization are the CGIL, CISL, UIL and UGL unions with the relevant categories of the telecommunications sector. Over 400 people participated in the sit-in, which started from Piazza Matteotti and ended in Piazza Prefettura. «It is unacceptable – say the unions – that a company 100% controlled by Tim and which has been providing a fundamental customer care service for the former state monopolist for 25 years, is given to a company with a negligible share capital (only 10 thousand euros), with the concrete fear of professional and salary dequalification, and potential disguised delocalisation. Tim’s choice to outsource the call centre, taking it out of the group’s perimeter in an operation that makes no industrial sense, risks – explain the unions – compromising the quality of services and, above all, creates a real social bomb in an area with high employment depression like Calabria”. The unions’ objective is to make the Calabrian Telecontact dispute a national dispute.