Collective agreement on telemarketing receives mixed response

The social partners concluded the fourth collective agreement covering telemarketing services in December 2007. Among the elements included in the agreement are a pay increase and new professional classification and career progression measures. Nevertheless, trade unions are dissatisfied with aspects of the agreement, in particular its inability to help stem the significant rise in company relocation and resulting job losses in Spain’s telemarketing companies.

On 5 December 2007, after almost a year of difficult negotiations, the Fourth Contact Centre Sectoral Agreement was finally concluded by the Financial and Administrative Service Federation of the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Federación de Servicios Financieros y Administrativos de Comisiones Obreras, Comfia-CC.OO), the Service Federation of the General Workers’ Confederation (Federación Estatal de Servicios de la Unión General de Trabajadores, FES-UGT) and the Spanish Association of Contact Centres (Asociación de Contact Center Española, ACE-Fecemd). The agreement represents 90% of companies in telemarketing services.

Rise in company relocation

The negotiations for the renewal of the agreement, which covers approximately 70,000 employees within the services sector, illustrated the difficulties involved in reaching consensus over strategies for tackling the problem of company relocation in Spain’s telemarketing industry. According to the trade unions, up to 30% of all employment in this economic activity could disappear in two years due to the termination of employment contracts and transfer of centres to other countries – mainly to Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile and Colombia.

Main provisions of agreement

The main provisions of the agreement are as follows:

• a pay increase amounting to 0.25% higher than the Retail Price Index (RPI) and including a pay revision clause;

• professional classification and career progression measures:

  • the agreement establishes two new occupational categories: that of the trainer and of the quality agent, both of which are entitled to receive pay equal to that of the team leader. These positions are allocated to employees performing functions which were not recognised by their previous occupational classification. About 90% of the total workforce in telemarketing are employed in lower-level occupational positions, whereas only 7% of the total workforce hold managerial positions

  • the signatories of the agreement have also committed themselves to recruiting an independent consultancy for the purpose of defining the future occupational structure and the career progression system to be implemented in the telemarketing industry;

• measures aimed at equal opportunities and work-life balance – the agreement provides for improvements in parental leave and maternity protection. It also considers the possibility of implementing equality plans at company level, as provided for under the Equality Law (ES0704019I). About 70% of total employment in telemarketing is accounted for by women;

• a clear-cut procedure for the conversion of temporary employment into open-ended contracts, although the level of permanent employment among operations staff will be maintained at the same level of 30%.

Trade union opposition

An important objective for the trade unions involved in negotiating the collective agreement included the establishment of a system of occupational classification and pay levels suited to the functions of those working in telemarketing. Another priority concerned measures aimed at fostering the stability and qualification of the workforce.

Despite the agreement’s benefits, the General Confederation of Labour (Confederación General del Trabajo, CGT), which accounts for almost 10% of total representativeness in telemarketing services, emphasised the shortcomings of the agreement and refused to sign it. Firstly, CGT argues that the pay increase set in the agreement is the lowest ever since collective wage bargaining began in telemarketing services. Moreover, in relation to conditions of recruitment and dismissal – one of the most problematic issues during the negotiations – the agreement has failed to provide for any increase in the proportion of permanent employment, placing no limitations on the use of temporary employment contracts nor on restrictions for dismissals.

On 21 December 2007, CGT together with other trade unions called for a 24-hour strike to express their dissatisfaction with the content of the telemarketing collective agreement and to highlight the massive job losses that have occurred due to the relocation and subcontracting policies of the main companies operating in the telemarketing industry.

Juan Arasanz Díaz, QUIT, University Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB)