BREAKING...Affordable Care Act and Medicare call center workers strike for better pay and healthcare from Maximus

[Omaha Steve]

https://www.benefitnews.com/news/affordable-care-act-and-medicare-call-center-workers-strike-for-better-pay-and-healthcare-from-maximus

By Deanna Cuadra November 09, 2023, 12:18 p.m. EST 8 Min Read

For many employers, 2023 has been a year of reckoning, as over 450,000 workers across the country have gone on strike for better wages and working conditions — and a few hundred more are joining the fight.

Affordable Care Act and Medicare call center workers, contracted under Maximus, the federal government's largest call center contractor, are on strike today across six states, marking their sixth strike since March 2022. This strike comes a month before the open enrollment deadline for the Affordable Care Act marketplace, where Americans can purchase federally-backed coverage. Maximus' workers are calling for affordable healthcare, wages of at least $25 per hour — at least a $6 increase for most workers — protection from unfair layoffs and the ability to organize their union without employer intimidation.

For Katherine Charles, a single mom of two, this strike is well overdue. Charles has worked for Maximus for nearly a decade, helping Americans navigate the Affordable Care Act marketplace and gain access to coverage and care. And yet, she says she still cannot afford to take vacation time with her kids or see a doctor for what should be routine blood work.

"We're not asking to become rich. We are asking for an income that will help us support our families," says Charles, who is based in Tampa, Florida. "We are asking to be able to afford rent, to be able to afford groceries without going to the dollar store because we believe our families deserve better than that."

FULL story at link.