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AlmavivA on 060606: Rome calling?

AlmavivA on 060606: Rome calling?

07-10-2014

AlmavivA Contact has managed the Rome City Council contact centre 060606 since 2008. It has done so professionally and as a service to citizens

07/10/2014

 

AlmavivA Contact has managed the Rome City Council contact centre 060606 since 2008. It has done so professionally and as a service to citizens. Over 2,000 people work in the AlmavivA Contact operating centre in Rome, all of whom have a permanent contract. Around 300 of these people have, for years, worked to provide the 060606 service: 80% are women, averaging 44 years old, responsible for over 100 family members.

In view of the fact that the contract is to expire, the City Administration, making use of a Consip S.p.A. Framework Agreement, has issued a public tender to assign the service for the next 2 years. The successful tender will be the most economically advantageous.

On this basis, despite presenting the best offer in terms of quality and service, AlmavivA Contact would come second in the list with an offering price – at an 11.88% discount on the tender guide price – in line with those of the other participants, but not able to compete with the potential winning tenderer – at a 30.55% discount.

The offer put forward by the potential winning bidder would not even cover 80% of the labour costs of our service staff, based purely on the application of the minimums foreseen by the relative CCNL [Italian collective labour agreement] and on appropriate recognition of experience and years of service (without taking into account logistics expenses, utilities, investment in technology, etc.)

The call for tender provides no territorial obligations, hence it remains to be seen whether the 060606 service will continue to be run from the capital (on the basis of what contract?) or in other regions (with incentives?), but what should be emphasised are the undeniable consequences for AlmavivA Contact's work in Rome.

If even the Administration of Italy's capital city is not willing to recognise the fair labour costs of people like our operators in Rome – with significant experience, permanent contracts, 80% women, average age of 44 – why should private clients?

If the public institutions themselves were to 'rubber stamp' the essential irrelevance of the quality of the service provided, the necessary skills and professionalism, establishing price as the only factor that matters, how can we begin to hope for virtuous market evolution, based on merit and responsibility?

This is what we have been doing in recent years, marked by the mad rush towards lower rates, and, first, by unregulated delocalisation and, then, delocalisation against the regulations: supporting our CRM work in Italy – and in Rome – by stabilising thousands of workers, seeing capital injections by shareholders, investing in innovation and performing excellently on the international markets, hoping that things might change.

Our commitment alone is, however, not enough and we cannot wait forever. We will, therefore, wait for the Rome City Council to let us know whether there is still space for our customer care in the city that saw our creation in 1983. The workers of Rome, who are today striking against this situation, must know that we have no intention of abandoning them.