Press Releases

Verizon Wireless and Time Warner Cable have publicly snubbed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by implementing a portion of their proposed joint marketing deal even though the DOJ and FCC are still reviewing the transaction, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said today. In December, 2011, Verizon Wireless and the nation?s largest cable companies (Time Warner, Comcast, Cox, and Bright House Networks) announced a deal in which Verizon Wireless will purchase $3.9 billion in wireless spectrum from the cable companies and at the same time enter into joint marketing agreements to promote, market, and sell each other?s products and services. The U.S. Department of Justice and the FCC are currently reviewing this transaction.

Another day, another revelation of fraudulent activity targeting U.S. consumers coming from overseas call centers, the Communications Workers of America said today. The latest news, similar to a February announcement, is that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uncovered a scam operating out of Indian call centers that preyed on American consumers.

The Communications Workers of America today stated their strong support for the continuing efforts by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) to shed light on the ongoing crises of rampant consumer identity theft in foreign call centers, as their bi-partisan legislative effort to remedy this serious problem gains more support. The letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk states in part: In an increasingly global economy, countless call centers are relocating from the United States to foreign shores. Conservative estimates place call center job losses in the United States at over 500,000 in the countries like India, the Philippines, and China. In the Philippines, the outsources industry is expected to pull in $13 billion and provide 650,00 jobs in 2012; India employs roughly 330,000 call center workers and earns about $6 billion per year through the BPO industry. While some corporations may see inflated profit margins due to outsourcing practices, such profits come at the expense of the safety and security of sensitive American consumer data.

As momentum builds on behalf of bi-partisan legislation to strengthen the domestic call center industry ? cutting down on fraudulent activity centered in overseas call centers in the process ? the Communications Workers of America (CWA) today announces an effort to thank Members from both parties who back this legislation.

Negotiations and discussions continued today in bargaining between CWA and four AT&T units: AT&T East, AT&T Midwest, AT&T Legacy and AT&T West. Stay tuned to this space for more developments.