West Asheville Yoga & Double Dragon Alliance present on US Tour from China
Master Wang Ming Bo Tuina Fri. 8/17 7-9pm 13 Push Hands Sat 8/18 1-7pm Sun 8/19 10-4pm Learn from a true Chinese master! Register online at
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Director, ip h s r e b M e M ’s 8 nD local 23 a y h p r ion Drive. U n M U h g it in W o g t e n e o M e s h t r e sitel Work ), to DiscUss e l b a t F o D a e h t Josh rhoDes (a
FREE introductory talk & slideshow Aug 8 • 7-8pm
3 Wednesday Evenings, August 15, 22, & 29 • 7-9pm Week 1 - Erotic Potential of Power Week 2 - Turn-ons, Turn-offs and Creating Safety Week 3 - Emerging and Engaging Investment for the Series: Individuals - $75 or $125 for two (save $25!) Pre-registration required by August 12th Classes will be held at VaVaVooom, 57 Broadway St, Asheville. Get the books at Malaprops, accessories from VaVaVooom and training by Asheville Tantra. More info at AshevilleTantra.com and VaVaVooom.com
the city’s unemployment rate is below the state average, the average local wage is almost $100 a week below the statewide figure, according to quarterly census data. But some Sitel employees say they have trouble making ends meet; the company invites employees to contribute to an ad hoc food pantry on-site. “Sitel doesn't put a dime into that pantry,” asserts employee deborah Cook, who's participating in the union drive. “Employees donate to it, but you can't take food from it: You have to eat it in the lunch room. Morale is awful.” The company’s Nashville, Tenn.-based media office did not respond to repeated requests for comment concerning wages and working conditions. A number of employees with families say health insurance eats up nearly half their wages, due to sharply rising rates and plan changes. “I have never seen a company run like this,” Brian lane declares. “I'm here to work; I have a wife and children to support, and these people are sitting here making money hand
14 AUGUST 1 - AUGUST 7, 2012 • mountainx.com
over fist off the sweat of my back.” An injury forced Lane, a former electrician, to change jobs. Gathering with fellow employees after work, he brandishes a form from a Hendersonville food pantry. “That's where I have to go if I want to feed my family,” says Lane. “No matter how hard we work, the sword of Damocles is over our heads.” Three former Sitel employees, who left voluntarily and have no connection with the union or the organizing drive, confirmed the rate of pay, the informal food pantry and the bathroom situation. None of these workers, who declined to be identified, recalled being pressured by management not to talk about a union, but all had resigned for other reasons several months before the drive began. Although Sitel also operates in countries with far higher union-membership rates than the U.S., it’s unclear how many of its call centers are unionized. In a 2011 interview with Nearshore Americas, a trade blog covering Latin American outsourcing, don Berryman, president of Sitel's Americas operation, said unions are "a concern" in deciding whether to establish or shut down operations in a given country. "The things that would cause us to leave include unfavorable changes in the tax structure, changes in labor relations in terms of how we pay employees or how they are represented in terms
of labor unions," Berryman is quoted as saying. In a 2010 interview with Nearshore, Mel vance, Sitel's senior vice president for Central America, said the company does engage in collective bargaining with unions at some facilities. "We sit down with them and discuss what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it," he explained, adding that at other locations, Sitel has avoided unions by ensuring good working conditions and listening to employees' concerns.
neW alliances Despite its low profile, organized labor has deep roots here; local 238 dates back 110 years. Union workers staff the region’s post offices and Asheville Transit and operate Blue Ridge Paper Products in Canton. “Most people don't even realize unions are here,” notes Josh Rhodes, who handles membership development for Local 238. Seated with other union heads in the IBEW hall, he continues, “All of us sitting here have worked union our entire lives. We know the difference; we feel everyone has the right to it. As a