Service Partners Pty Ltd has reached an agreement with the Australian Services Union in the form of a Federal Certified Agreement to cover its employees who work in a contract call centre in Sydney. This branch is the Call Centre Union and has members in other call centres across Sydney. When Cathy McKenzie speaks, it s with quiet determination. And determination is something she has in spades. Cathy, a proud member of the ASU, recently became State Rail s first woman train controller, breaking through one of the toughest barriers to women in the NSW Public Sector.
Call centres are a diverse and growing industry especially in New South Wales.
The industry has taken off and grown at an incredible rate since the mid-1990s. The tasks undertaken by call centre workers have also changed radically with new technologies and new types of work. Some of this has been good - new call centres have improved telephone and computer equipment and interesting work. However, there has also been a big downside. Technology has increased employers' control over employees and created a dangerous focus on statistics.