Bi-partisan bill to save U.S. call center jobs introduced in House and Senate

https://www.cwa-union.org/news/bi-partisan-bill-save-us-call-center-jobs-introduced-in-house-and-senate

Today, the “U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act” was introduced in both the House and Senate, to protect workers and consumers and to curb the off-shoring of American jobs.

The legislation requires that U.S. callers be told the location of the call center to which they are speaking, offer callers the opportunity to be connected to a U.S.-based center if preferred, and makes U.S. companies that off-shore their call center jobs ineligible for certain federal grants and taxpayer-funded loans.

The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) with cosponsors Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and in the House by Reps. David McKinley (R-WV) and Gene Green (D-TX).

Congressman Green joined a CWA media teleconference to talk about the bi-partisan bill. The media call also announced a new CWA report, “Why Shipping Call Center Jobs Overseas Hurts Us Back Home.”

“We must do everything we can to protect American jobs and consumers and to ensure that Americans have access to good jobs that provide decent wages and benefits,” said Rep. Green. “This bipartisan bill will help stem the tide of American jobs being shipped overseas. Along with fellow sponsor Rep. David McKinley, we are committed to working with our Democratic and Republican colleagues and the Trump Administration to move this legislation forward and to protect American workers and consumers.”

“This call center legislation is just common sense,” said Jennifer Szpara, a consumer consultant with Verizon in Pittsburgh, PA, and a member of Local 13500 who has been with the company for 17 years. “It would help keep good call center jobs here in the U.S. It would give customers who are connected to an overseas call center the right to be transferred back to the U.S. And it would mean that companies that do send good jobs overseas wouldn’t be rewarded with taxpayer-funded grants and loans. It’s a win for customers, workers, our communities, and our employer.”

The CWA report highlights examples of why the continued trend of off-shoring call center jobs is bad for American workers and harmful to the security of U.S. consumers’ sensitive information.

“The off-shoring of call center jobs is a trend that is bad for American workers and communities and, as this new report shows, harmful to the security of U.S. consumers’ sensitive information,” said CWA Legislative Director Shane Larson. “At a time when voices across the political spectrum are emphasizing the dangers of off-shoring and the importance of prioritizing American workers, there should be strong support for bipartisan legislation like the new ‘U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act.'”

CWAers are mobilizing to keep good call center jobs in the U.S., and are signing this petition calling on Congress to take action.