No pay, no work
Furious over non-payment of their December salary, workers at LionTel Info Solutions stopped work on Wednesday
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, January 23, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009012320090123183637609d23e6a8e)
UNITED WE STAND: LionTel workers protesting outside their company office on C G Road on WednesdayAround 90 employees of the Ahmedabad centre of the UK-based LionTel Info Solutions Private Limited, walked out of their office on C G Road on Wednesd
ay after the management failed to pay them their December salary. Irate workers told the higher-ups in the company that they will resume duty only after their salaries are deposited in their bank accounts.LionTel Info Solutions, a UK-owned offshore multimedia contact centre based in Ahmedabad, is operational since the last three years. The workers, who were miffed with the attitude of the BPO management, who kept dilly-dallying the pay date, blew their top when the BPO officials told them they would receive combined salaries for December and January by February 5.The employees usually get their salaries by the 7th of every month. A Liontel employee told Ahmedabad Mirror, “When we approached the officials on January 8, they were told our salaries would be disbursed by January 10. They kept postponing the date, but on January 21, when we did not get the money, we approached the management seeking an explanation. This time, they told us we will receive two months’ salaries together on February 5. That was the last straw. We just can’t take this humiliation any more.”The call centre executives, most of whom are in their 20s, said they had to pay their hostel bills and meet food and petrol expenses. A few of them, who have taken personal loans, said they were unable to pay the instalments due to non-payment of their salary.The BPO management said they were willing to give an assurance in writing that the salaries will be given on February 5. However, the workers were having none of it. “They say funds have not been transferred from England and therefore issuing payments was difficult. How can we buy that argument? The technology is so advanced. If they want to pay us, they can do so easily,” said an employee.Annoyed with the apathy on part of the officials, the staffers retorted they would resume work only after they were paid their due. On their part, LionTel management said all was well within the company, and it was just a minor misunderstanding.Said Vaidesh Engineer, business development officer of LionTel, “This problem has nothing to do with recession or any such thing. In fact, we recently started our new centre in Pune. We are facing such a situation for the first time. It is because in the UK, it was a holiday-season till January 5. We got our collections from the clients quite late. We have already paid salary to staff at our Pune and Vadodara centres. Ahmedabad will take some time because transfer of funds from the UK requires time.”
LionTel Info Solutions is operational in city for three yearsAsked why doesn’t the management think of an alternative solution to pay the employees, he said, “The management has decided to delay payment instead of seeking credits from elsewhere. But what I can say is from next month on things will be regular.”Engineer again called back, urging us not to go ahead with the story. He said, “This is business, and delays do take place. There are no problems whatsoever in the company.”Saumil, a Human Sesource department executive from Liontel, also got in touch with AM. He said, “It is incorrect to say that 90 of our employees have stopped work. The problem was with around 20 people, and that too has been resolved.”
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, January 23, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009012320090123183637609d23e6a8e)
UNITED WE STAND: LionTel workers protesting outside their company office on C G Road on WednesdayAround 90 employees of the Ahmedabad centre of the UK-based LionTel Info Solutions Private Limited, walked out of their office on C G Road on Wednesd
ay after the management failed to pay them their December salary. Irate workers told the higher-ups in the company that they will resume duty only after their salaries are deposited in their bank accounts.LionTel Info Solutions, a UK-owned offshore multimedia contact centre based in Ahmedabad, is operational since the last three years. The workers, who were miffed with the attitude of the BPO management, who kept dilly-dallying the pay date, blew their top when the BPO officials told them they would receive combined salaries for December and January by February 5.The employees usually get their salaries by the 7th of every month. A Liontel employee told Ahmedabad Mirror, “When we approached the officials on January 8, they were told our salaries would be disbursed by January 10. They kept postponing the date, but on January 21, when we did not get the money, we approached the management seeking an explanation. This time, they told us we will receive two months’ salaries together on February 5. That was the last straw. We just can’t take this humiliation any more.”The call centre executives, most of whom are in their 20s, said they had to pay their hostel bills and meet food and petrol expenses. A few of them, who have taken personal loans, said they were unable to pay the instalments due to non-payment of their salary.The BPO management said they were willing to give an assurance in writing that the salaries will be given on February 5. However, the workers were having none of it. “They say funds have not been transferred from England and therefore issuing payments was difficult. How can we buy that argument? The technology is so advanced. If they want to pay us, they can do so easily,” said an employee.Annoyed with the apathy on part of the officials, the staffers retorted they would resume work only after they were paid their due. On their part, LionTel management said all was well within the company, and it was just a minor misunderstanding.Said Vaidesh Engineer, business development officer of LionTel, “This problem has nothing to do with recession or any such thing. In fact, we recently started our new centre in Pune. We are facing such a situation for the first time. It is because in the UK, it was a holiday-season till January 5. We got our collections from the clients quite late. We have already paid salary to staff at our Pune and Vadodara centres. Ahmedabad will take some time because transfer of funds from the UK requires time.”LionTel Info Solutions is operational in city for three yearsAsked why doesn’t the management think of an alternative solution to pay the employees, he said, “The management has decided to delay payment instead of seeking credits from elsewhere. But what I can say is from next month on things will be regular.”Engineer again called back, urging us not to go ahead with the story. He said, “This is business, and delays do take place. There are no problems whatsoever in the company.”Saumil, a Human Sesource department executive from Liontel, also got in touch with AM. He said, “It is incorrect to say that 90 of our employees have stopped work. The problem was with around 20 people, and that too has been resolved.”
