Federal Call Center Workers Fighting for Justice at Maximus
Employees of federal contractor Maximus provide assistance, support, and information to millions of Americans on a broad range of issues, including accessing health coverage through Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. These workers, who are predominantly Black and Latina women in the deep South, are organizing their union to win good jobs with living wages, affordable healthcare and fair treatment.
Call Center Workers, CWA
Ten thousand contracted federal call center workers at Maximus are organizing with CWA to fight back against low wages, unaffordable healthcare and racial inequity. Many of these workers handle Medicare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) calls under a $6.6 billion contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They work at 12 locations, largely in right-to-work states in the South. These workers are predominantly Black and Latina women.
In November 2023, Maximus workers staged the largest federal call center strike in history, when 700 workers across seven states went on a one-day strike to demand living wages and better working conditions, and to protest the company’s unfair labor practices. Maximus has responded to workers’ organizing with illegal fear and intimidation tactics in an effort to silence workers and prevent them from achieving a better future for their families.
Unacceptable Working Conditions
The SOC has worked closely with Call Center Workers United-CWA to spotlight the unacceptable working conditions at the federal call centers run by Maximus. Frontline workers at Maximus struggle to provide the bare necessities for their families due to their low pay. In a survey conducted by the SOC with CWA, more than 8 in 10 Maximus workers in households with children reported that their household uses one or more safety net programs to make ends meet. Even though workers spend their days helping millions of Americans access affordable health coverage, they don’t have affordable coverage for themselves and their families because of the high deductibles and high costs in Maximus’ health plan. The SOC/CWA survey found that 9 out of 10 respondents have medical debt and have avoided or postponed medical treatment due to concerns about cost.
Racial Inequity
SOC joined CWA and the NAACP to release a report exposing significant racial inequities at Maximus. The report showed that Black and Latina women made up almost 50% of the company’s frontline workforce, but only 5% of its executives. White men, on the other hand, make up only 9% of frontline workers, but account for nearly 50% of Maximus executives. The report found that workers interviewed at Maximus’ CMS call centers felt they have no clear paths to career advancement, keeping their careers stagnant in the lowest-paid roles.
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