North Shore call centre workers strike at OCIS

Unite Union
12.00pm Friday 6 March 2009

North Shore call centre workers strike at OCIS

A dozen call centre workers on the North Shore walked off the job last night at the research company Oceania Customer Interaction Services (OCIS). Around a dozen mostly teenaged workers took part in the strike action, downing headphones and walking out of telephone briefings with the companies clients signalling dissatisfaction at their pay rate of $12.50.

The company undertakes research for large government departments and city councils such as Wellington City Council, the Ministry of Tourism and New Zealand Post. Previously owned by AC Nielson the call centre was outsourced a year ago to OCIS, a trans-national corporation which operates call centres in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

Teenaged union delegates Kyran Stoltenkamp and Paul Bell-Butler, who led the strike, were threatened by managers saying they would call the police after strikers went to the lunchroom to eat pizza and play table tennis.

Paul said, “We weren’t scared because what we are doing is showing trans-national corporations that North Shore teenagers are not apathetic. We are proud to be members of the Unite Union and part of the Calling for Change campaign. This dispute is about more than a couple of dollars an hour. It’s about young workers standing up to global corporations and demanding respect.”

Kyran said, “Interviewers with as much experience as us will be getting more than $15 an hour at Colmar Brunton in a month’s time as part of their union agreement. We are going to keep striking and protesting until we win $15 an hour at OCIS. We don’t mind going and visiting the offices of our clients and then they can meet the workers who put in late nights in front of computers so they can get their research.”

Unite Union National Director Mike Treen said, “OCIS makes hundreds of dollars in taxpayer money for every survey these workers complete while the workers are paid next to minimum wage. Shadowy offshore corporations like OCIS are raking in our taxpayer dollars and paying people peanuts. Workers at this call centre haven’t had a pay rise for two years.”

Union members at the call centre will hold a meeting outside their call centre on Monday to discuss the next steps in their campaign for a living wage.

The Unite Union is bargaining for collective agreements for better wages and conditions at seven research companies in Auckland as part of the Calling for Change campaign. Australian market researchers earn $22 an hour as part of their collective agreement.

ENDS

© Scoop Media