LanguageLine Workers Take Their Fight to Capitol Hill

Last week, workers for LanguageLine Solutions (LLS) met in Washington, D.C., to speak with their representatives as they push to form a union. They asked members of the congressional Labor Caucus and several representatives they met with to sign onto a letter to LLS’s parent company, Teleperformance, asking the company to remain neutral during organizing. As a subsidiary of Teleperformance, LLS is party to the Teleperformance-UNI Global Agreement on Social Responsibility, which affords workers the right to organize a union free of management interference and intimidation. The company has been refusing to implement all the provisions of the agreement in the United States like they do in other countries.

Workers cite low wages, lack of breaks between calls, unaffordable healthcare, and unpredictable scheduling as reasons for forming their union. Interpreters are often tasked with delivering complicated and technical information, contributing to a high-stress environment and a need to recover between calls.

The workers remain focused and hopeful that Teleperformance will adhere to the international agreements they have signed and treat their U.S. workforce fairly.

 
LanguageLine Solutions workers Karolina Yermak (left), Sara Ramirez (second from right), and Yves Valerus (right) visited Capitol Hill, where they met with members of the Labor Caucus and several representatives, including Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-Texas).

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.