Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Offshoring, Welfare Rollbacks Meet Head-On in U.S. Senate Debate: Sen. Jon Corzine to Join Union Mem
Washington, D.C. – United States Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and other lawmakers will join hundreds of members of the Communications Workers of America and other supporters at a 10 a.m. rally on Tuesday, March 30, to urge that welfare benefit jobs remain in the United States, that child care funds be increased as parents receiving benefits are required to work longer hours and that welfare programs are protected at the state level.
The rally, located at Robert Taft Memorial Park at Louisiana and New Jersey Avenues, NW, Washington, D.C., will take place as the Senate prepares to vote to reauthorize the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Additionally, Sen. Corzine will introduce legislation that would prohibit states that get federal funds for welfare and food stamp jobs from sending those jobs outside the United States.
"The goal of our federal welfare programs is to help Americans get back on the path to self-sufficiency," Corzine said. "This includes helping them find good jobs. The idea that we are using taxpayer dollars to pay workers in foreign countries to provide services to the unemployed in our own country is unconscionable. It is simply unethical and this practice must be stopped."
CWA represents social service workers in states including New Jersey and Texas. Many states have contracts with private firms that have already sent call center jobs for welfare and food stamp work overseas. CWA is fighting to protect American jobs, as well as the rights and needs of welfare recipients.
"The sad irony is that the very workers who've spent their careers helping others in need are now at risk of needing assistance themselves," CWA President Morton Bahr said. "We're also deeply concerned about the security and confidentiality of welfare records as these jobs are moved offshore, and we're concerned about how well call-takers thousands of miles can answer questions and guide applicants and recipients through the benefits maze."
The reauthorization bill would require parents receiving assistance to work longer hours. Corzine and other Senate Democrats say they won't support the bill unless additional funds for child care are included.
Also critical to the Senate debate on the reauthorization bill are efforts to prevent the weakening of Congressional authority through the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) waiver process. Under the Personal Responsibility, Work and Family Promotion Act of 2003 (H.R. 4), federal funds authorized for specific TANF programs could be redirected at the state level. Because of grave budget problems, some states are already cutting social service benefits for the poor. "Allowing states to redirect federal welfare dollars away from TANF programs is contrary to the will of Congress, and will make life for vulnerable families that much more difficult," Bahr said.
The rally, located at Robert Taft Memorial Park at Louisiana and New Jersey Avenues, NW, Washington, D.C., will take place as the Senate prepares to vote to reauthorize the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Additionally, Sen. Corzine will introduce legislation that would prohibit states that get federal funds for welfare and food stamp jobs from sending those jobs outside the United States.
"The goal of our federal welfare programs is to help Americans get back on the path to self-sufficiency," Corzine said. "This includes helping them find good jobs. The idea that we are using taxpayer dollars to pay workers in foreign countries to provide services to the unemployed in our own country is unconscionable. It is simply unethical and this practice must be stopped."
CWA represents social service workers in states including New Jersey and Texas. Many states have contracts with private firms that have already sent call center jobs for welfare and food stamp work overseas. CWA is fighting to protect American jobs, as well as the rights and needs of welfare recipients.
"The sad irony is that the very workers who've spent their careers helping others in need are now at risk of needing assistance themselves," CWA President Morton Bahr said. "We're also deeply concerned about the security and confidentiality of welfare records as these jobs are moved offshore, and we're concerned about how well call-takers thousands of miles can answer questions and guide applicants and recipients through the benefits maze."
The reauthorization bill would require parents receiving assistance to work longer hours. Corzine and other Senate Democrats say they won't support the bill unless additional funds for child care are included.
Also critical to the Senate debate on the reauthorization bill are efforts to prevent the weakening of Congressional authority through the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) waiver process. Under the Personal Responsibility, Work and Family Promotion Act of 2003 (H.R. 4), federal funds authorized for specific TANF programs could be redirected at the state level. Because of grave budget problems, some states are already cutting social service benefits for the poor. "Allowing states to redirect federal welfare dollars away from TANF programs is contrary to the will of Congress, and will make life for vulnerable families that much more difficult," Bahr said.