El Paso City Council members cite virus risk, push for tougher enforcement on call centers

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso City Council members on Tuesday expressed concern that the city's numerous call center operations are, in the words of Mayor pro-tempore Peter Svarzbein, "places that can easily spread coronavirus" in the community and called for more aggressive enforcement of the city's "work safe" orders.

There are about 35 such call centers, employing 17,500 workers in El Paso - and as the city's economic development head acknowledged, many are still operating under the claim of providing essential services.

Svarzbein said it seemed "call centers are flaunting the rules" and "need increased enforcement" to ensure the operations "take this seriously."

He cited local media accounts, including a recent ABC-7 report, that raised questions about call centers staying open during the pandemic. ABC-7 examined a confirmed virus case that prompted a shutdown for less than a day of the Maximus call center near the El Paso International Airport.

ABC-7 also showed images in the Apr. 3 report from GC Services and Alorica call centers that appeared to show improper social distancing at their facilities along with sharing numerous worker complaints.

In addition, city Rep. Henry Rivera - who requested Tuesday's council discussion - cited a new case this week involving an infected worker that prompted a shutdown of a state health call center.

While Rivera's agenda item called for "discussion, action and an update from the City Manager on what City of El Paso staff has implemented to enforce CDC Guidelines and City Emergency Orders for local call centers," much of the presentation to council actually didn't deal specifically with call centers.

City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said thousands of businesses had been visited by city enforcement staff, who issued over 60 warnings, but just eight citations for "work safe" order violations. The citations carry a possible $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

When asked by council members specifically about call center data on enforcement efforts, Gonzalez responded simply: "I'll have to get back to you."

However, Gonzalez said he was aware of allegations raised by Rivera about some call center supervisors who try to hide employees when city inspectors show up.

“Some concerns that we’ve received have come from employees themselves, at these call centers. That they say, yes, that the city has talked to them, or city has reached out and shared the guidelines, and then, whenever we’re not looking, the they’re being forced to work in unsafe conditions and too close to one another. And we’re closely monitoring them," Gonzalez said.

He added, "We have advised those businesses if we have any (city) agreements with any of them, those agreements will be pulled."

Gonzalez, when questioned about why there weren't more citations issued given the number of complaints voiced to council members, replied that the city remained focused on encouraging "voluntary compliance" with the "work safe" orders.

Svarzbein strongly advocated for more aggressive efforts, particularly as it relates to call centers.

"We need increased enforcement" to ensure social distancing compliance, he said, suggesting "weekly surprise checks"on businesses.

(Editor's note: The call center discussion was item 17.1 on the council agenda and occurred toward the end of their meeting, watch you can watch in whole or part in the video player below.)