"Press 1 For America" Bi-Partisan Call Center Bill Introduced in Congress

Call Center Bill Would Require Customer Service Reps To Identify Their Location -- And Offer Consumers The Chance To Be Transferred To A U.S. Call Center

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Communications Workers of America (CWA) today hailed the introduction of the bi-partisan “U.S. Call Center and Worker Protection Act of 2013” (H.R. 2909), legislation that lets consumers choose to use a U.S. based call center and would end taxpayer subsidies for corporations that send U.S. jobs off-shore.

The “Press 1 For America” section of the legislation requires call center employees to identify the country from which they are taking the call, and if outside the United States, offer the consumer the opportunity to be transferred back to a facility located in the U.S.  Further, the bill also requires that a list of companies that send jobs off shore be made available to the public. An additional provision allows firms that return jobs to the United States from overseas to be taken off that list, and companies that send U.S. jobs offshore would be barred from receiving federal loans, grants or subsidies for three years.

“Companies that choose to outsource American call center jobs overseas should forfeit their eligibility for federal financial assistance – it’s that simple,” said co-sponsor Rep. Tim Bishop (NY-1). “I am proud to stand with a bipartisan coalition to say that companies deserve support if they invest in good, American jobs, but companies who turn their back on American workers deserve nothing from American taxpayers.”

The bill is also sponsored by Democrats  Mike Michaud (ME-2) and Gene Green (TX-29), along with Republicans David McKinley (WVA-1), Michael Grimm (NY-11) and Chris Gibson (NY-19).

“My number one priority in Congress is West Virginia jobs, and this bill could help save thousands of them,” said Rep. McKinley. “We cannot and should not mandate that companies keep all their call centers here in America – but we sure as the dickens don’t have to help them finance the off-shoring of American jobs by providing them with federal funds.”

In the last Congress, a similar bill had more than 130 bi-partisan co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, though majority leadership declined to allow a vote on the measure.

“This makes it clear that consumers should have choice to create U.S. jobs in call centers, and there should be no more handouts from taxpayers for those who choose not to keep good jobs here at home,” said CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins. 

Collins noted that in 2012, T-Mobile USA closed seven call centers in six states, affecting 3,300 working Americans and their communities, while at the same time increasing the number of service calls going to facilities in Central America and the Philippines. 

State legislative efforts also have been building over the past year with bills being introduced in Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, New York and New Jersey, among other states.