Call centre sweatshop uncovered

Unite Union has described Surveytalk call centres in Auckland, New Zealand, as the new sweatshops, and now employees have taken a stand, 3news reports.

Twenty-seven market research interviewers at the Surveytalk call centre in Auckland walked off the job last week, angry at their Australian bosses' continued refusal to improve pay rates and health and safety, or to allow workers to take annual leave.

The Unite Union represents about 400 research workers who are negotiating with research bosses to win union contracts with improved conditions, rates of pay and healthy workplaces at nine of New Zealand's major market research companies.

Convergys, an international call centre giant, said it must fill 300 vacancies in the UK before the end of the year, according to The Scotsman.

Convergys won a multimillion-pound contract with a telecoms firm and is recruiting for the positions at its base in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The US firm is looking for staff in customer services, technical support and sales, and will offer competitive wages.

Ivinex has introduced its Small Business CRM software service for business management, according to PRLog.

Ivinex transforms business management software for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), helping them retain, expand and service their clients.

The CRM service enables SMEs to select which software options - like sales management, customer service, project management, campaign management, bug tracking, partner portal - will best meet their business management needs on Ivinex's enterprise-class platform.