NC workers file complaint against call center

ASHEVILLE, NC (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board is investigating a complaint by workers at an Asheville call center that they were warned they could be fired for talking about forming a union.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that about 60 workers at the Sitel call center signed a petition in November complaining about conditions at the facility, and discussing the possibility of joining a union.

They say company officials responded this month by threatening to fire them or carry out other reprisals.

John Murphy, a Franklin-based spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, says the union has been working with the call center employees. He says federal law protects workers’ rights to discuss joining a union.

Calls to the company were not immediately returned.

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