Call center workers for some of the world’s biggest tech companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Netflix are accusing their employer of retaliating against union organisers, constantly surveilling staff and even refusing bathroom breaks.

In the US or Europe, if you call for technical or customer support from a big tech company, you may be speaking with a worker at one of Teleperformance’s call centers in Greece.

Teleperformance, the largest call center operator in the world, employs about 12,000 workers in Greece, serving more than 140 markets around the world in 43 different languages and dialects. The company has seven multi-language hubs in Greece – in Athens, Chania, and Thessaloniki.

Workers who have been pushing for a collective labor agreement with Teleperformance in Greece say the company has recently retaliated with targeted layoffs of union leaders.

They say wages have remained unchanged since 2010, when Greece was hit by austerity measures by creditors, despite high inflation in recent years and increases to the cost of living.

Nikos Spyrelis, a call center worker at Teleperformance and president of Setep, the trade union representing Teleperformance workers in Greece, explained that the union effort began in early 2024 in response to the lack of any pay raises for years and increasing production pressure that workers are put under.

“They have dozens of productivity indicators that they are judging you by, and depending on the project, you have to answer a number of calls. If you want to go to the bathroom, there are many instances where they don’t allow you to go to the bathroom,” said Spyrelis. “If you are sick or absent for any reason whatsoever, this is counted as being counterproductive and a reason to renew or not to renew an employee’s contract.”

He explained the workers are employed on short-term contracts, and during work hours are constantly surveilled, recorded and sent messages to ramp up production because the company receives bonuses from clients depending on how many calls they intake.

“You might be working for years on end and if you’re not productive for two months, three months, you’re treated like you just started,” said Spyrelis.

Around half of the call center workers are from outside Greece and face issues with having their pay deducted for housing and utilities.

“It’s a societal issue they’ve created,” said Giorgos Krasadakis, a call center worker at Teleperformance in Chania, Greece, and president of the local Setep branch representing workers.

“The normal salary [per month] would be around €1,329 ($1,376) , but with housing it’s €1,029 ($1,065) , and on top of that they charge electricity at four times what a local company would charge,” said Krasadakis. “This is a tool they use to put more pressure on them, because if they fire someone, or if they don’t renew their contract, on the first day, they can just say, OK, you have to be homeless now.”

He also claimed the workers aren’t allowed to receive visitors at their apartments, where they are surveilled by security.

“They have security passing by the apartments two to three times a day to make sure they don’t have visitors,” added Krasadakis.

Migrant workers have reported facing harassment, bullying and intense productivity pressures at Teleperformance in Greece.

“Stress becomes a part of your life,” Rania, a migrant worker at Teleperformance, told Rest of World in 2021. “You’re at risk even when you have a six-month contract, because you can be fired in the middle of that contract. Nothing is granted, nothing is guaranteed.”

The union has been pushing for permanent employment contracts, higher wages, job security measures for workers on visas and a decrease in working hours. But they say Teleperformance has opposed the unionization effort from the offset.

“They showed their intentions from the beginning. They will do anything to not sign the collective labor agreement,” added Spyrelis. “They are trying to inflict the blow to the union, to silence us and to avoid us defending our colleagues in general and signing the contract with the wages and our fair demands.”

The union has held 10 strikes, with the most recent in December 2024, to push Teleperformance to sign a collective labor agreement with the union, which claimed the company has engaged in retaliatory layoffs aimed at union leaders and supporters.

They said Teleperformance argued in court in Greece that they were not a communications company, claiming the union was not applicable to their sector.

Ghassen Ben Jannet, a Teleperformance worker in Greece from Tunisia and vice-president of the union, told Le Monde last month he was one of the targeted union leaders who were terminated.

“My superior justified this decision because of my behavior. But I have been working for Teleperformance since 2018, I have never had a series of absences, my clients and superiors have always given me positive feedback,” he told Le Monde, adding he felt the company is trying to pressure other workers from backing off on the union demand.

Teleperformance did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.

Netflix, Google and Apple also did not respond to requests for comment.