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Federal Bill Keeps Call Centers Jobs in the US

By Meenakshi Shankar, TMCnet Contributor

Offshore outsourcing has always been sparking its own debate. There has been significant attention on the negative impact of such moves. Apart from problems related to languages and accents, there are more serious problems than that. With millions of Americans still out of work and underemployed, and local economies continuing to struggle, some state legislators are keen to keep jobs at home.

The federal bill introduced by Rep. Tim Bishop “U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act” is clearly an attempt to provide incentives to bring call centers jobs that have been outsourced back onto U.S. shores. But, the bill appears to be doing something else too. Few lawmakers on Capitol Hill and around the country are continuing efforts to push through legislation that would help keep call centers in the United States and penalize American companies that outsource jobs to places like India and the Philippines.

In a recent post, Rep. Tim Bishop appeared to acknowledge it would be an uphill battle to get the legislation passed in Congress.

Expressing his belief in the clearance of the legislation, Bishop said, “I just remain hopeful that with our economy struggling to recover as it is people will recognize that outsourcing is a significant drag on our economy and particularly when you are dealing with call centers.”

Call centers represent about 3 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to the Communications Workers of America, the union that supports Bishop's bill. Introduced by Bishop and Rep. Dave McKinley, the "U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act" would require the U.S. Department of Labor to track firms that move call-center jobs overseas. Such firms would be ineligible for any indirect federal loans or loan guarantees for five years. The legislation also would require overseas call-center employees to reveal their location to U.S. consumers and give them the right to be transferred to a call center in this country.

Bishop said the U.S. has lost at least 500,000 call center jobs over the last four years as those positions were moved offshore. Many Republicans are not fond of such bills. Arizona State Representative Ruben Gallego said a call-center bill he introduced didn't even get heard. Also, several powerful organizations think Bishop's legislation is not good for the American economy.

"Passage of this legislation would increase costs and regulatory burdens for companies and would weaken customer service support for American consumers," according to a letter submitted by several organizations, including the Consumer Electronics Association (News - Alert), Telecommunications Industry Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.