Frank Mathews, the Administrative Director of the Communication Workers of America District 4, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the recent updates with the Maximus Call Center and their employees fighting for a contract.
During Mathews’ appearance on the show in November, he discussed the strike at Maximus, the federal government’s largest call center contractor. During that strike, District 4 had to file a Unfair Labor Practices with the National Labor Relations Board over the employers' threat to participating workers. Unfortunately, the strike has not made a difference in the negotiations between Maximus and workers, Mathews said.
To combat Maximus’ anti-union behavior, the employees delivered petitions to Xavier Becerra, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary. The goal of the petitions was to outline Maximus’ wrongdoings and, with President Joe Biden's assistance, make the employer abide by the Good Jobs Principles. The U.S. Department of Labor describes these principles as a coordinated effort to provide employers, workers, federal agencies, state and local governments and other advocates with a roadmap to advance the goal of quality jobs for all workers.
Mathews then discussed the issues with employee turnover at Maximus. There were several hundred workers laid off in 2023 with little to no notice, and with no contract in place there were no protections for workers. Mathews explained that the layoffs were not due to short-term contracts expiring, which he believed was not an issue with workers who were aware of the situation. He went on to tell the stories of workers who had been hired and let go multiple times and workers not being able to pay their bills due to low compensation.
Listen to the show above to hear more on the Maximus situation.