LAST UPDATE | 7 Aug 2024

A NUMBER OF WORKERS, believed to be in the low dozens, at outsourcing company Abtran have voted in favour of industrial action, after a ballot was circulated last month.

However, due to Abtran’s staffing policies, the Independent Workers Union, which represents the workers, said that a small number of employees can have a significant impact on operations.

“Abtran are essentially min-maxing their staffing levels. They’ll have the minimum amount of staff on to maximise profits and productivity,” said Jamie Murphy, the IWU’s General Secretary.

Abtran’s contracts – a number of which come from the state – work on a service level agreement. This means that Abtran promises their client to provide a minimum level of service over a given period. For example, maintaining an average hold time of five minutes.

“Because of the nature of their agreements, a small number of workers engaged in a work stoppage can wield a lot of power,” says Murphy.

Abtran operates two call centres, one in Cork and another in Sligo. A number of their contracts come from state agencies, including Electric Ireland, the National Drivers License Service, and eFlow.

The workers voted in favour by over 90%.

Workers launched a pay claim with the company back in May, requesting a wage increase to €15 per hour and the return of 15 minute ‘wellness breaks’. Last month, the union announced that its members were balloting for industrial action.

So far, Abtran has said that it will not be recognising or engaging with the union.

This morning The Journal was able to reveal that the company has been refusing to allow union representatives into disciplinary hearings, which the IWU said was a breach of the Workplace Relations Commission’s Code of Practice on Disciplinaries.

Speaking about the ballot result, Murphy said that “the workers have clear demands, and these have been made explicit to the company over the last number of months through various items of correspondence.”

“The workers want to be heard and treated with respect and dignity in their place of work. They have decided that industrial action is the way to achieve this, and the IWU is committed to standing behind them every step of the way,” he said.

The IWU currently represents several dozen employees across Abtran’s 1,600 strong workforce, and have seen considerable growth in the last month.

A spokesperson for Abtran said “We are aware of recent activities by the IWU who have engaged in an unwarranted campaign to target our company and our workforce in order to advance their own objectives.

“The process that IWU claims was conducted is based on a context that they themselves have contrived and is outside recognised frameworks for employee representation within our company. The selectively presented information they have formulated does not reflect broader workforce interests.

“Our understanding is that the level of engagement and the outcome they have presented are entirely overstated,” they said.