Mayor’s Action Center employees unionize

INDIANAPOLIS — The employees who man the phones at the Mayor’s Action Center, fielding roughly 4,000 calls a week, have unionized.

Teamsters Local Union No. 135 welcomed the call center employees into their union earlier this month, following the Indianapolis City-County Council’s unanimous 25-0 vote in support of the Mayor’s Action Center workers organizing as Teamsters.

“We are proud to welcome these hardworking public servants into the Teamsters,” posted Teamsters Local Union No. 135. “Their victory is a powerful step forward, and now the work begins to secure a strong contract that delivers the recognition, pay, and protections they deserve.”

Employees at the Mayor’s Action Center are on the frontline for roughly 450 city agencies and receive the brunt of citizens’ anger as they field calls on anything from potholes and missed trash pick-ups to utility disconnections and animal abuse.

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, the dozen or so call center workers earned roughly $18 an hour and had been fighting for better pay and benefits.