Airtel continues suffering as standoff at Spanco persists

By Standard Reporter

The industrial unrest at Spanco Ltd, the firm providing call centre services to Airtel Kenya, remained unresolved.

This is after the Spanco management refused to strike a return to work formulae with Communication Workers Union (CWU) officials.

“The management has refused to meet the union and has instead resorted to intimidating workers into signing a new contract. We are issuing a notice that workers will conduct demonstrations until their demands are met,” said Benson Okwaro, secretary general of CWU.

The two-day work stoppage by 200 call centre workers continues to hurt Airtel’s customer care services, with most of its subscribers unable to access the outsourced customer care department.

Workers at Spanco are demanding for the management to recognise their right to join a union, a salary review, and employment on a permanent basis of those on contract, leave and shift allowances, and a back-to-work formulae that will not victimise the   striking workers.

While a call centre attendant is paid Sh15,000 per month, workers here are demanding this to be increased to Sh40,000 per month. This is in line with what similar workers earn in other companies. A letter that workers at Spanco have refused to sign requires then to undertake not to participate in any illegal activity to cripple operations at the firm and that all grievances should be addressed through relevant channels.

Meanwhile, Airtel has distanced itself from Spanco strike, claiming it had outsourced its call centre services to them.

In yet another letter, Spanco termed the standoff illegal and said there would be a deduction in salary for all those refraining from work.