Surinamese call center employees are reportedly regularly pressured to sign documents unknowingly agreeing to their dismissal. This is reported by the Surinamese trade union BVAW. The union also advocates for a living wage with a gross hourly wage of six euros. 

 

Over the past year, more than 100 employees have informed the union that their employment contract was terminated by mutual agreement, after which they encountered various practical problems. This is according to the Surinamese trade union Bond voor alle Werkenden (BVAW). Ziptone know.

“We suspect that this is merely the tip of the iceberg,” says BVAW Chairman Jerrel Mac Intosh. “A large proportion of the employees involved are not union members and are insufficiently familiar with their employment rights. As a result, they often do not know the legal consequences of signing an agreement to terminate by mutual consent. This lack of awareness can lead to employees agreeing to a termination without fully understanding which rights and legal protections they are giving up.”

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“Children” signing resignation letters

The reason for the questions to BVAW is an interview that Mac Intosh gave on the Surinamese radio station LIM FM. In it, Mac Intosh speaks of “children” working in call centers, sometimes fresh out of high school. These employees reportedly sign resignation letters by mutual consent – ​​whereas dismissal requires permission from the so-called Dismissal Commission (see box at the end of this article). According to Mac Intosh, employees know their rights, but are afraid to stand up for them.

Irregularities in dismissal cases have been on the radar in Suriname for some time. A year ago, André Misiekaba, the Surinamese Minister of Public Health, Welfare and Labor, addressed the public meeting of the National Assembly as part of budget discussions. The minister reported at the time that both large and small outsourced contact centers dealt with irregularities in, among other things, dismissal cases.

Trade Union BVAW, active for over a yearBy its own account, it is committed to work schedules that are healthy and responsible, to early morning shifts that remain within reasonable limits, to employee input on policy and schedules, and to employers who adhere to clear agreements. The membership fee for BVAW union membership is 1% of the monthly salary. This is considerably higher than the membership fee for an FNV or CNV.

Demotion for staff members

Another practice that Mac Intosh discusses in the radio interview concerns staff members who would be demoted to “call agents” during reorganizations.

The union is aware of two examples of this, Mac Intosh explains to ZiptoneAt one company, it involved five employees with temporary contracts. Four did not accept an offer; in the case of one employee, the BVAW referred the matter to the Dismissal Commission, where the employee was vindicated and continued payment until the end of the contract followed.

At a second contact center, it concerned seven staff members who could transfer to the position of call agent due to a reorganization. Those who did not wish to do so continued to receive their salaries for some time and a severance payment of approximately 1.500 euros, according to the union. The union noted that the employer initially did not allow the union to act as a negotiating partner for the staff members in question.

The Association of Facility Contact Centers in Suriname (VCCS) states that it considers it important that situations involving employees and affiliated organizations are handled carefully and through the appropriate channels. “Because every situation has its own context, it is not appropriate for us as a trade association to comment on individual cases.”

Living wage: 6 euros per hour

Mac Intosh speaks of “exploitation” because Surinamese contact center employees do the same work—with the same pressure and targets—as employees in the Netherlands and Belgium, whereas in the Netherlands, employees reportedly earn eighteen euros per hour. Mac Intosh refers to the hourly wage at the contact centers, which ranges between just over 2 and just over 3 euros per hour. While this is admittedly more than the Surinamese minimum wage of SRD 61 (1 euro is currently SRD 43), the union considers the difference too large and argues that this does not constitute a living wage.

There are employers who offer extra benefits on top of the hourly wage, such as supplementary health insurance for children, contributions towards school or study costs, or travel expenses.

Mac Intosh says to Ziptone that a living hourly wage for a call center employee amounts to at least €6,00, which for full-time employment comes down to approximately €960 gross per month. “In our opinion, that is a reasonable starting point for employees who deliver services daily for international clients and often work under high pressure.” BVAW considers it positive that some employers offer additional employment conditions, but this must never be used “as a substitute for a fair and living wage”.

Mac Intosh adds that such benefits do not always fully benefit all employees and their families. “There are employers where only two children can be insured.”

Discussions about a collective labor agreement

In the radio interview, the union president refers to the conversations that were held with VCCS, in which groundwork was laid for follow-up talks regarding a possible collective labor agreement. For a collective labor agreement, the union must have 51% representation within an organization. According to BWAV's estimates, there are currently about 8.000 Surinamese contact center employees; the union president does not have exact figures available for the number of union members, but mentions 750.

Surinamese dismissal law – According to Surinamese dismissal law, an employer may not unilaterally terminate an employment relationship without a dismissal permit, unless there is mutual consent. In certain cases, a dismissal permit is not required: for example, dismissal during the probationary period or the termination by operation of law of a first fixed-term employment contract; subsequent temporary contracts must, however, be terminated. A dismissal permit is also not required upon the expiration of a fixed-term employment contract, for a temporary employment agency contract with a temporary employment clause, or for dissolution for serious reasons by the subdistrict court. Summary dismissal is also possible without a permit, but in such cases, the Head of the Labour Inspectorate reviews the dismissal retrospectively: the employer must report it within four working days, and the termination remains suspended until there is no objection.

In all other cases, the permit is applied for by the employer and granted by or on behalf of the Minister of Labour. The body that assesses the applications on behalf of the Minister is the Dismissal Commission; it therefore does not carry out the dismissal itself, but merely grants permission to terminate the employment. Pursuant to the Dismissal Decree 2021, the commission is composed of representatives of employers, employees, and the government. Every application is accompanied by the right to be heard from both the employer and the employee. The Dismissal Commission is legally obliged to make a decision within 30 days of receipt of the application at the latest. Unlike under the old Dismissal Permit Act, exceeding this period no longer automatically leads to a granted permit.

The arrangement with the Dismissal Commission seems cumbersome and relatively one-sided, but the employee who loses their job is left to fend for themselves financially: Suriname has no general unemployment benefit, nor a statutory severance payment like the Dutch transition payment.

(Ziptone/Erik Bouwer)

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