The more than 100 workers who schedule medical appointments and refer messages and medication questions to physicians, beat back the employer’s proposed takeaways, and retained important benefits, including the free family health insurance plan they secured in their previous contract.
“I’m proud of what we got. Everything was fought for,” said Shantel Nieves, a scheduler who was part of the bargaining committee. “They were trying to do some big takeaways. They wanted to implement (discipline) write-ups for more than a year. We kept the free HMO and a lot of what we have now.”
The contract, which expires on June 30, 2027:
- Guarantees a minimum 7.5 percent wage increase with additional raises for lower paid workers.
- Preserves the ban on subcontracting.
- Increases education reimbursements up to $3,500.
- Requires USC to respond to grievances within 14 days.
Nieves, who has worked at the call center for nearly four years, acknowledged that negotiations with USC were challenging. Workers rejected USC’s original contract proposal, but ratified a revised offer after the university increased the ratification bonus by $400 to $3,800.
“The bonus is going to take us a good way,” Shantel said. “That can go into savings for a rainy day.”
She said that the bargaining committee never stopped fighting on behalf of their coworkers, always considering the bigger picture and ensuring no one was left behind.
“It was a very good experience learning how to play the game,” she said. “It taught us all what we’re not going to do the next time around so we can get more benefits.”
