Connecticut CWAers Fight to Save Call Center Jobs

Two years ago, AT&T moved 100 call center jobs out of Meriden, Conn., presenting workers with an impossible decision: uproot their lives and move to Georgia or Tennessee, or lose their jobs.

CWA Local 1298 members are fighting to prevent it from happening again. On February 9, CWA Local 1298 leadership testified before the Connecticut Labor and Public Employees Committee to advocate for An Act Concerning Call Centers and Notice of Closure (H.B.6383) which would stop companies from sending jobs out of state by requiring companies that intend to relocate 30% or more of their annual call volume out of Connecticut to notify the Labor Commissioner; ending grants, loans, and tax benefits for companies that move at least 30% of calls out of state; and requiring all state agencies to ensure that all business-related call center work is performed by companies located in Connecticut.

"One call center closing can devastate an entire community," CWA Local 1298's Jim Case testified. "The core of this bill is simple: no State taxpayer money should be used for companies that ship our jobs out of the state."