Before MTA Board, GCS Workers Speak Truth to Power
Six courageous present and former employees of Global Contact Services (GCS), the MTA's call center operator for Access-A-Ride, came to the formal meeting of the MTA Board of Directors on February 25th to act out a four-minute presentation on just why GCS is an abusive employer. As Board Members and the press watched, the TWU Local 100 members (the union won a representation on the property, but GCS is refusing to negotiate) spoke of excessive firings, the practice of the company of outsourcing and off-shoring American jobs, unequal work distribution, lack of training, and unfair discipline. They outlined how workers at First Transit, the company that held the call center contract before GCS underbid them, were making $16 to $18 an hour. GCS took over and cut everyone's pay by $4 an hour, so that employees are now making $11 and $12 an hour, with the most senior worker now making just $12.61. The union has set up a website about GCS abuses at www.gcsstoptheabuse.com.