Call Center Union: "Call Center Workers Virtually Unprotected Against Risk of Mass Infection"

The Korea Building in Sindorim-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, where a cluster infection of COVID-19 occurred among call center employees. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] As a cluster of COVID-19 cases occurred at the Ace Insurance call center in Guro-gu, Seoul, the call center labor union has urged for countermeasures.

The Call Center Branch of the Service General Labor Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Service Federation issued a statement on the 10th, saying, "Due to the nature of their work, call center workers must continuously speak in a confined space with as few as dozens to over 100 people, making 'social distancing' impossible," and explained, "Since equipment must be installed, working from home is difficult, and to have accurate conversations with customers, workers cannot wear masks while working."

The call center union emphasized, "Most call center tasks are outsourced, so call center workers are not affiliated with the primary contractor, and thus the primary contractor shows no interest in the health and working conditions of call center workers," adding, "Call center companies cannot take active and preemptive measures to protect workers' health because they must avoid disruptions to operations."

They continued, "If workers feel unwell upon waking up, they are not allowed to apply for a day off on the same day, so they come to work first and leave early if symptoms worsen," and stated, "While public institution call centers may implement preemptive measures, private company call centers are truly blind spots."

The call center union demanded ▲local governments conduct daily disinfection of all call centers ▲call center companies provide alcohol for disinfecting desks, keyboards, and phones ▲call center companies immediately enforce self-quarantine and pay leave allowances if workers report abnormal symptoms ▲primary contractors provide dental masks, personal sanitizers, actively enforce quarantine measures, and bear additional wage costs.

According to the call center union, it is estimated that 300,000 people work in call centers nationwide, with both the number of businesses and workers increasing.

On the same day, the National Office and Financial Labor Union Federation and the National Office and Financial Service Labor Union, both affiliated with the KCTU, also issued statements urging the protection of call center workers' health rights.

Both organizations stated, "The responsibility of employers who fail to prepare thorough preemptive disinfection measures and protect workers' health and safety is never light," and criticized, "Ace Insurance, as the primary contractor, outsources for convenience and bears no risk."

They added, "Ace Insurance must share joint responsibility with the subcontractor for the cluster infection," and argued, "The government should also shift its policy to establish measures to protect vulnerable workers and allocate emergency disaster livelihood support funds to provide direct living expenses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.