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MAXIMUS CALL CENTER WORKERS IN MISSISSIPPI CONTINUE STRIKING FOR BETTER WAGES
AND BENEFITS

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A group of Maximus call center workers in Hattiesburg went on strike Wednesday,
March 23, 2022. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
By SARA DINATALE - MISSISSIPPI TODAY
Tue,05/24/22-1:34PM, 310 Reads 7,136 Statewide

Frances Poole says she is still rationing medication from 2019 after doctors
raced to save her life by removing her colon.

Last time she attempted to have the pills refilled at the pharmacy, she said the
bill was $70. She should also be having regular checkups with a specialist.

> “I just cannot afford that,” said Poole, 55.

Poole has spent the last seven years at Maximus Federal in Hattiesburg, a call
center contracted by the federal government. All workday, she answers questions
about the Obamacare marketplace. Often, she says, the health benefits she’s
helping callers with are better than what she has through Maximus.

That’s why she’s become one of the call center’s most vocal employees, working
alongside the Communications Workers of America and its local Hattiesburg
chapter to organize Maximus workers. She attended their first strike in March
and was back on the picket line for a two-day strike on Monday and Tuesday.



In addition to offering assistance with the Affordable Care Act marketplace,
call center workers also handle Medicare inquiries. There are about 10,000
Maximus workers across 11 call centers. Workers in a Louisiana call center also
went on strike this week.

Workers say they’ve seen no response from Maximus – the nation’s largest federal
contractor – since their first strike in March. Their biggest complaints
continue to be benefits and wages. The changes the company made earlier this
year to improve pay and health care aren’t enough, according to workers.

Maximus lowered the health care deductibles from $4,500 to $2,500 after employee
pressure began in 2021.

> “But who has $2,500?” Poole said.

Call center workers make about $15 an hour, leaving most of the Hattiesburg
workers with wages between $31,000 to $35,000 a year before taxes. That latest
hike came just ahead of a presidential order in January that all federal
contract workers be paid $15 an hour.



Most of the Hattiesburg workers were making between $9 and $11 before the
pandemic.

On Tuesday morning – while dozens of workers, activists and CWA members marched
to deliver the second-day strike notice – Maximus leaders held a virtual
investors call.

Maximus CEO Bruce Caswell called the company’s “people its advantage.”

> “Our commitment to make Maximus an employer of choice is not a new goal,”
> Caswell told investors, as he touted flexibility the company offers with
> work-from-home options and the recent cuts to health care costs.

In its second quarter report that came out earlier this month, Maximus reported
a revenue increase of 22.7% to $1.18 billion compared to last year. The company
expects revenue for the latest fiscal year to range between $4.5 to $4.7
billion.



With the costs of essentials like gas and food on the rise, Poole and her
coworkers say it has been all the more difficult to stretch each paycheck
enough. Their wages, workers say, have never kept up with inflation making it
near impossible to build up any sort of meaningful savings.

> “What man or woman or family can survive at $9.05 an hour?” Jaimie Brown, 49,
> said, referring to his long-held former wage as a Maximus worker. “Seven years
> I’d been doing this. What makes me not a professional? Why can’t you pay me as
> a professional?”

Brown said he was regularly assisting insurance brokers do their jobs.

He is a single parent of a 7-year-old son. Many of his former coworkers are
single mothers; most are Black.

Brown’s employment ended with Maximus in March. He filed a complaint against the
National Labor Relations Review Board with the help of the CWA, the union
Maximus employees are working with. The CWA said in a statement that they’re
holding Maxiums accountable for discouraging workers from forming a union.



Brown declined to comment on the specifics of the complaint and his separation
from the company. Maximus said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but
that it respects workers rights to organize.

Brown has lived in Mississippi for almost two decades. He was raised in New
York, where unions are more common. Organizers and experts across Mississippi
have said one of the biggest hurdles organizers face in the South is educating
workers on their rights.

> “There’s going to be some ups and downs,” Brown said. “You got to take the
> bumps with it in order for improvement. It takes a fight … but there will be
> no benefits unless we all stand up to do this.”

In a statement, Maximus said it “routinely meets with its employees to address
various concerns and issues.” It also says it has an employee hotline where
workers can submit issues anonymously.

CWA said nearly 100 workers went on strike this week in Mississippi.



> “It can all go around,” Brown said, referring to forming a union. “Everyone
> could win.”

-- Article credit to Sara DiNatale of Mississippi Today --

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TODAY'S WEATHER

GREENWOOD, 38930, MS

Realtime Radar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



CURRENT TEMP

88°F
Mostly Cloudy

 * Chance of Rain: 20%
 * Max Temp: 92°F
 * Min Temp: 69°F
 * Temp Trend: Falling
 * Feels Like: 96°F
 * Humidity: 76%
 * Sunrise: 5:50 AM
 * Sunset: 8:08 PM

 * Wind Speed: 10 mph
 * Wind Direction: SSW
 * Wind Gust: 18 mph
 * Sky Cover: 8%
 * Visibility: 10 mi
 * Dew Point: 69°F
 * Moon Rise: 11:58 AM
 * Moon Set: 1:01 AM

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Mostly cloudy. High near
92, with temperatures falling to around 88 in the afternoon. South southwest
wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is
20%.

Hourly Forecast

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Based on data from National Weather Service and OpenWeather.




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