American call center workers ready to get back to work

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(Washington, DC) This week, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) released a video featuring American call center workers sharing their personal stories and experiences with off-shoring – a practice that has devastated the domestic call center industry to the tune of 500,000 jobs lost since 2006. Entitled “Why Wouldn’t You,” CWA’s new video features call center workers from across the country sharing their stories about the impact of losing their jobs and the effect on their lives and families.

The video is the latest effort by CWA to ensure that the political focus doesn’t obscure the stories of the real people affected by off-shoring, especially in the call center industry. It reinforces the need for new legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate in August by Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), that will revitalize the U.S. call center and customer service industry.

The “United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act,” S.3401, compliments the House of Representatives bill introduced by Representatives Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Dave McKinley (R-WV) earlier this year. The legislation would make companies that off-shore call center jobs ineligible for taxpayer-funded grants and loans, and offer U.S. consumers the opportunity to be connected to a U.S. based center. Unfortunately, the House legislation stalled over the summer when Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives blocked consideration of the bill.

“American workers have been hit hard by the loss of hundreds of thousands of good customer service jobs. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Legislation in the House and Senate is a good first step to reversing the offshoring of quality jobs,” said Candice Johnson, CWA Communications Director.

Writing on Daily Kos, Laura Clawson cites the new CWA video and the larger legislative campaign on the issue. The upcoming elections are an opportunity “to have a shot at having policies that are good for workers and consumers, not giant corporations. We talk about policies that are impossible under our current Congress to lay the groundwork both to elect that better Congress and to have its members arrive ready to do the right thing.”

In August, CWA released nationwide polling that found broad support for legislation to address concerns about the security and job losses associated with shipping call center jobs overseas. The poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners, found that voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support anti-offshoring proposals. Among the findings, 78% of voters nationwide have a negative impression of overseas call centers and 53% of voters are less likely to vote for their representative if voters learn that he or she voted against call center legislation in Congress. –http://www.longislandexchange.com/press/2012/09/14/american-call-center-workers-ready-to-get-back-to-work