BY MARCHEL P. ESPINA
The family of a call center supervisor, who reportedly succumbed to coronavirus disease on August 9, said they have not yet received the result of her swab test.
In a virtual presser yesterday organized by the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN), the mother appealed to the public to stop spreading fake information about her daughter.
She said it is not yet confirmed that her daughter tested positive for the virus because the result of her swab test has not yet been released. Her swab was taken at a hospital in Cadiz City.
She added that they were also swabbed but until now, they do not know the results.
She said that they have been calling health authorities but they are not answering.
Moreover, she said her daughter died on the day she was transferred to a government hospital in Bacolod City.
She also complained that the doctors failed to get their consent when they decided to intubate her daughter.
“Maybe that is the reason why she died,” the grieving mother claimed.
COMPLAINT
At the online press conference, an aunt of a call center trainee also said they are planning to file a complaint before the Department of Labor and Employment against the employer of her niece for alleged non-payment of her remaining training salary.
She said her niece started her six-week training in Bacolod on June 29.
On August 6, upon her recommendation, her niece underwent a rapid test and was reactive. Three days later, she had a cough. Her swab was taken on August 11.
She added they were informed yesterday that her niece tested negative, but they have yet to see a copy of the swab result from the City Health Office.
Also, she expressed disappointment that it seemed like her niece was blamed for being reactive in the rapid test as all of her teammates were sent home to undergo quarantine.
She said she talked to the manager of the trainees and was told that her niece is not an employee of the company because she was only a trainee, so there will be no monetary assistance from the company.
It was also stipulated in their training contract that they can only get their remaining salary once they complete the six-week training, she said.
She said her niece is entitled to get paid as she worked for it.
Meanwhile, the BIEN said business process outsourcing workers have become “ventilators in the country’s ailing economy that is gasping for breath.”
The group has been calling on the government to conduct free mass testing, tracing, and treatment for Covid-19.*
