Abtran workers were asked a number of questions about their terms and conditions. Approximately 10% of all workers filled the survey in (exl. Management and team leaders).

Here are some of the responses:

If you could change one thing about your place of work, what would it be?

Out of 150 respondents, over half indicated that higher pay was what they would like to see changed.

Other issues that were mentioned included: management, annual leave, no company sick pay policy and lack of recognition for hard work.

A question asked about the Christmas bonus showed that…

Most workers got 50 euro One4All vouchers this Christmas (2023) and the overwhelming majority indicated they were dissatisfied with that low amount.

Some compared that to the 1000 One4All vouchers they received the Christmas before last and wondered why the company did not use the tax free voucher system more generously. Further discussion of the voucher system revealed that the company has the right under the Small Benefits Scheme to give every employee up to 1000.

When asked if Abtran should provide a more comprehensive sick pay scheme on top of the 5 day statutory scheme…

94% of respondents said yes.

When asked if workers were satisfied with their overall pay and benefits package from Abtran…

92% of respondents said no

When asked about changes to terms and conditions that workers were unhappy with…

Respondents shared some of the following:

‘Yes I was advised on a Thursday afternoon that my hours would be changing from 8-4 to 9-5 the following Monday, I had to change around so many plans due to the lack of communication’

“yes, when cutting contracts from 40 to 37.5 hours they tried changing my part time 20 hr contract to 18.75 hours. Had to fight for weeks to get it sorted”

“Ye my paid breaks were taken off me with no notice or consent to change contract”

“Yes, constantly being pushed to upskill and learn more within the account, and take on more tasks as well do mylearning training while the pay is the same. Essentially being told to do more work for the same money. I would like to stay exactly where I am without having to upskill within the account as my pay isnt moving up. On top of that as someone with a chronic illness the sick leave was reduced from 3 spells in 6 months to 12 months which is ridiculous.”

“They removed Welfare Breaks which was 15 minutes allocated to each worker that they could use throughout the day at their own discrection. This was excellent for stress relief or after a hard call. Suddenly they just removed it and nothing was offered in compensation.”

“with the change in minimum wage from january 1st 2024, weekly hours went from being 40 hours per week to 37.5 with no choice in the decision. Min wage was announced in sep 2023, so from then until late December i was under the impression i would at the very least be payed 40hours x 12.70euro per hour as this was the new required minimum, instead i was changed to 37.5hours per week on 13.30 per hour which is actually less, this was also passed on as some form of pay rise.”

When asked if workers felt their voice was heard in Abtran…

75% of respondents stated no

When asked if workers thought their voice would be better heard if they approached Abtran as a union?

87% of respondents stated yes

Finally, here are some of the comments left by other workers on the ‘any other comments’ question:

‘Sick of the exploitation of the workers. I am getting paid minimum wage and commuting in at 200€ a month only to be told I missed out on the pay increase by a month. We as workers are treated like garbage and made to work targets while not being paid a living wage.’

‘The pay to work ratio is completely off, we are continuously told to do mandatory training that benefits us in no way, we get extra training to move up in the company and take on more tasks while the money remains the same. It makes people not want to upskill or move up to other areas within the account because there is no pay increase. With a role change there should be some sort of pay increase as you are increasing your knowledge and taking on more tasks. The once a year performance meeting is not effective as for someone who joins just 5 months before it has to wait until next year to qualify, by then they would have been in the company for a year and a half. When the performance meeting goes ahead and were entitled to an increase it doesnt come into effect for months. On top of that old contacts of 40h were cut to 37.5, decreasing breaks as well as paid breaks with no increase in wage. Meanwhile the workload rises as we are constantly pushed to learn new things and take on additional roles for the same money. We feel used and worthless working for this company, the turnover numbers are high for a reason. If the company actually cared to keep people on and help them succeed within the company they would pay fairly. There are workers in the company for over 10+ years and are on less than 14 an hour. Coffee shop workers make more money serving coffee. There is absolutely no future in abtran for agents for the time being and there wont be unless this issue is resolved. The only people who benefit are the ones at the top, the rest is disregarded completely. People stop trying if the job doesnt seem worth it, therefore morale, work ethic and the overall enthusiast of wanting to do well decreases completely because its not worth the pay. The work will always be reflected by how valued the worker feels, and it wont be with this pay. Also the Christmas bonus was a 50 euro one for all card who was actually never topped up in the first place. Even coffee shops provide a christmas bonus of 150+ euro. On top of everything there is a magnifying glass on everything we do and the micromanaging is ridiculous.’

‘Helping employees getting acomidation in the city would be great for people who are willing to move there to work for the company long therm. and even people who are living in cork that are looking for places to rent.’

‘The pay should definitely be higher. The long working hours should also be changed, most companies work until 6 and even within our company most departments close way before 8. sick days without the requirement to submit a doctors note should be more than 3 days, as some people don’t have medical cards to pay the fees to book an appointment with their doctors.’

See Abtran Pay Claim Here: https://www.union.ie/abtran_workers_launch_historic_payclaim/