Westbank Louisiana News

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy announced that the Biden-Harris administration will continue its contract with Maximus, ensuring the preservation of a call center in Bogalusa, Louisiana, which employs 650 workers. This decision follows Cassidy's oversight after the administration initially planned to rebid the Maximus contract to enforce unionization among call-center employees.

Senator Cassidy stated, "The Maximus contract should never have ended in the first place. Clearly, the Biden-Harris administration wanted to rebid this contract to force unionization on call-center employees even if they chose not to join a union." He added that canceling the contract would have jeopardized hundreds of jobs in Louisiana and impacted Americans relying on Medicare and health insurance assistance through these centers.

Maximus has managed 1-800-MEDICARE and Affordable Care Act call centers for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since 2013. In 2022, it was awarded a new nine-year contract but faced termination by the administration two years into this agreement. The decision included new requirements such as a "labor harmony agreement," compelling contractors to comply with union demands regardless of employee preference for representation.

These actions followed unsuccessful attempts by labor unions to organize Maximus employees at these centers.

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