The Tribune

• Says ‘more local talent’ for contact centre

• Unions pledge to ‘fight’ if posts go overseas

• Workers ‘training Pakistanis’ to replace them

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday asserted it “has not outsourced any Bahamian jobs” from its customer service contact centre amid staff and union fears these posts are being lost to Pakistan.

The communications provider, which is 49 percent owned by the Bahamian government, responded to Tribune Business inquiries by stating it plans to expand the contact centre locally through the recruitment of “more Bahamian talent” having already increased the unit’s workforce last year.

However, the presidents of both BTC trade unions yesterday told this newspaper they have been informed by their members and other employees that Bahamians are being asked to train the Pakistani workers who will take over their jobs. Describing themselves as “very concerned” by the situation, each pledged to “fight this” and “do what we have to do to protect our members and the Bahamian public”.

Sherry Benjamin, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union’s (BCPOU) president, questioned why BTC and its controlling shareholders, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) and Liberty Latin America, would decide to outsource contact centre functions and jobs overseas instead of to a Bahamian third-party contractor.

Cheaper labour will likely be the primary reason why a country such as Pakistan is chosen. Meanwhile, Kenny Knowles, the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union’s (BCPMU) president, said the outsourcing of local jobs is “something we will not accept because BTC is a Bahamian brand”. He reserved further judgment, though, until the union meets with BTC chief executive, Sameer Bhatti, this Friday to discuss the issue.

BTC, in its statement late yesterday, said: “The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has not outsourced the job of any Bahamian employed in its contact centre On the contrary, BTC has consistently onboarded new colleagues and last year increased its contact centre complement to meet the growing demands of our customers.

“The contact centre remains an integral part of the BTC business, and the company is focused on onboarding even more local talent to provide best-in-class customer care. We also have plans to onboard young, Bahamian talent through our graduate programme. BTC is currently working on several digital projects and initiatives to modernise its customer care platforms to make them more accessible to customers at their convenience.”

However, Ms Benjamin blasted: “They are supposed to be outsourcing a portion of the jobs that are done by our contact centre. They are supposed to be outsourcing that, or have outsourced it, to a vendor that is based in Pakistan. When I learned about it I made contact with the chief executive and asked him to rethink that plan, but it doesn’t seem as if that’s something he wishes to do.

“They appear to be proceeding with their plans to do that, so we have to proceed with our plan to do what we have to do to protect our members and the Bahamian public. Right now, all I can say is that we are on top of the situation and going to handle it as best we can to protect our members and the contact centre at BTC.”

Questioning why BTC was seeking to outsource jobs to a foreign vendor rather than a Bahamian, Ms Benjamin said she had also been “told by members” that the Pakistanis they are training to take over these roles “are being given Bahamian names” to mask their identities - an allegation that not be confirmed prior to press time.

Providing further details on her talks with Mr Bhatti, the BCPOU chief added: “He said there will be no loss of jobs based on what they’re doing. He said right now it’s just a What’s App function dealing with customer complaints. However, I’m told that the Pakistani team are getting access to our system that has nothing to do with complaints made via What’s App. They’re obviously doing some technical work.”

Ms Benjamin said the union had been told that What’s App will be “the first point of contact” for BTC customer complaints, and that any issues the Pakistani team is unable to resolve will be advanced to contact centre staff in The Bahamas. “The access being given is not required by tier one persons,” she added, referring to those who would be handling What’s App complaints.

“The access being given is more technical, and some of our people locally do not have that access or it will be in ‘read only’. Those people are gaining read and write access.” Ms Benjamin also alleged that BTC was using “junior staff” to train the Pakistanis even though they were not expected to fulfill this role.

“I’m on compassionate leave and I’m fighting this, so you know I’m very concerned,” she told Tribune Business. “My members are concerned, and if they are concerned then I am concerned. Very concerned. I can tell you that, from top to bottom, concerns are being expressed across the company..”

Ms Benjamin estimated that BTC’s contact centre has around 50-60 employees, but added that many of them are contract workers who have been with the company for three-five years without being made permanent. “They can find ways to hire vendors outside the company instead of using that money to pay local staff members what is due to them and make them permanent, and then they can go to the bank and live their lives with some surety,” she said.

“A lot of the staff members are getting sick with hypertension and stress. They’re getting stress from customers because when services are out and they feel they are not being repaired in a timely manner, they take it out on the contact centre staff who are the first point of contact. They’re getting stress from the customer and stress from the job, so there’s no peace.”

Mr Knowles, the management union president, confirmed that his union had also been informed of the Pakistan outsourcing plan. “We’re very concerned about that. Very concerned about that for obvious reasons. That’s Bahamian jobs, employees,” he told Tribune Business. “That’s something we will not accept because BTC is a Bahamian brand.

“The company that purchased it had a purchase agreement to turn it around and make it a profitable area, and to make sure employees benefited and it delivered services to the Bahamian people. We’ve written to the chief executive for an urgent meeting. I’m waiting to get details from the chief executive. A meeting has been set for Friday, and after that meeting we will be in a better position to get a clear understanding of what their position is and what they’re trying to do.

“Our employees are indicating they’re being made to train Pakistanis to do their jobs, which makes no sense. I want to hear from the chief executive, and once we hear from him we will be in a better position to determine what the union is going to do.”