On the other hand, FIET admits, the growing use of call centres in other sectors is a source of new jobs. Jobs which can regenerate regions that have been brought to their knees by mass unemployment. Trade unions therefore need to develop a strategy that aims both at protecting existing jobs where they are under threat, and at organising workers in the new call centres. It does not appear to be an impossible mission. The call centres are the modern version of mass production, usually fertile ground for the trade unions.
Centres often employ several hundred operators in vast premises reminiscent of assembly lines.
Furthermore, many enterprises that decide to set up call centres already have a unionised workforce, covered by collective agreements that could extend to their telephone operators. The sometimes deplorable working conditions in the call centres should also encourage employees to turn to the unions. The first signs of occupational health problems are beginning to emerge. The trade unions aren't always given red-carpet treatment, however. Some employers play on the rapid turnover of staff, linked to the stress of the job and the lack of career prospects to discourage unionisation.