Workers at largest contracted Medicare, ACA call center plan to strike on Nov. 9
Workers at the company’s call centers in six states are calling for more affordable health care, a living wage of at least $25 an hour and the ability to organize their union free from intimidation.
Call centers are a critical link for consumers seeking health coverage. With the enrollment period in full swing, hundreds of workers at Maximus, the largest federally contracted call center, are scheduled to go on strike on Nov. 9.
Workers at the company’s call centers in Mississippi, Virginia, Louisiana, Arizona, Kentucky and Florida are calling for more affordable health care, a living wage of at least $25 an hour and the ability to organize their union free from intimidation. Nine in 10 surveyed workers report having medical debt or having to forgo or postpone medical treatment because of cost concerns, and the same percentage report earning significantly less than the living wage needed to sustain a household with children in the areas where they live and work.
“Federal call center workers at Maximus have been organizing with Communication Workers of America to fight for living wages, affordable health care, fair treatment and a voice on the job,” CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said. ”President Biden has made clear that he expects federal contractors like Maximus to provide good jobs. This survey proves that Maximus is offering nothing but bad jobs to the Black and Brown women who are the backbone of its federal call centers. Workers who help millions of Americans access health care but can’t afford to support their own families or go to the doctor, while the CEO and shareholders make hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Maximus works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under a nine-year, $6.6 billion federal contract. These customer service agents predominantly are Black and Latina women at 12 call centers, mostly located in the South.
Related: ‘Patients before profits’: Why Walgreens (and CVS) pharmacists are walking off the job
Maximus workers said they have no choice but to go on strike during the open enrollment period, because their calls for livable wages and better working conditions go unanswered by the company. CWA, which has been organizing the workers, is calling for HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to investigate Maximus, pointing to how the company falls short of the Biden administration’s commitments to advancing racial equity and supporting workers to organize unions, including in the federal workforce.
“Enough is enough,” Cummings said. “These workers don’t want to strike, disrupting services for millions of Americans, but they’ve been left with no other choice. CWA is ready to support these workers until they win justice.”