US Companies that only a few years ago pocketed millions in taxpayer dollars to establish local call centers are now off-shoring these call center jobs, leaving those communities devastated once again with job losses and lost financial investments. Call centers are a major economic force in the United States, representing about three percent of the U.S. workforce.
Watch this video to hear directly from call center workers who explain why call center jobs are so important to their families and their communities. For more information, contact CWA's Legislative Director, Shane Larson at 202-434-1100 or slarson@cwa-union.org.
The United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 3596/S. 3402) would protect US consumers and helps level the playing field against companies that off-shore their call center operations overseas.
The Bill supports US workers and consumers in three ways, by:
- Denying taxpayer cash to off-shorers: by creating a bad actor list that would stop companies that ship jobs abroad from getting Federal loans and grants and send them to the back of the line for government contracts.
- Giving consumers the right to know: requires call center agents to tell you where they are talking to you from.
- Giving consumers the right to transfer to a US operator: so that when you don't want a foreign call center, you have the right to be transferred to a US-based operator.