Call center agents sue employer

CEBU, Philippines - Terminated call center agents of a Cebu-based business process outsourcing filed charges against  their former employer for alleged illegal closure, non-payment of salaries and non-remittance of  their mandated benefits.

About 23 out of the more than 200 terminated employees of Cordia-Philippines, one of the locators at Asiatown I.T. Park, lodged a complaint before the National Labor Relations Commission yesterday.

The group is seeking assistance from the militant-labor partylist, Partido ng Manggagawa.

PM-Cebu spokesperson Dennis Derige, who assisted the group, said the management has at least P15 million to P20 million in payables to the terminated employees.

Cordia Phils., according to Derige, closed down sometime in 2011 and filed for a voluntary insolvency, which is still pending in court.

Ijay Alingasa, one of the complainants, said that the company reported it has P1.6 million in assets left.

Alingasa and Derige said that the company opened again in a new business name, Geils Communications, in Mandaue City.The FREEMAN tried to contact an official of the company, but no one responded.

Cordia-Philippines is a US company engaged in voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and internet phone services.

PM is calling for a stricter regulation in the BPO industry.  It is also calling on all candidates running for legislative positions to include the perennial labor problems in their platform for future legislative measures.

Derige said the case of Cordia Phils. is a result of the lack of regulations from appropriate government agencies such the Department of Labor and Employment.

“Our Filipino workers are increasingly becoming prey to this corporate greed and maneuvers using our own law to shield them from their obligation upon their employees,” Derige said.

Earlier, the country’s biggest labor federation, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Congress of the Philippines announced it will look into the possibility of making the BPO industry into a labor organization.

ALU-TUCP said that the BPO industry has around 300,000 workers nationwide and expected to increase at 600,000 in 2016. — /MBG (FREEMAN)