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Consumers have a right to know which country a call center representative is in, and that knowledge can save American jobs, improve customer service and protect against identify theft, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach told a House subcommittee this week.



Testifying in support of the bipartisan Call Center Consumer's Right to Know Act (H.R. 1776), Rechenbach noted the millions of American manufacturing jobs lost to offshoring and the dire economic forecasts that up to 14 million service sector jobs could ultimately go to other countries.



He said U.S. consumers, frustrated by distant call center representatives who may be poorly trained or simply have little experience, frequently complain to CWA's 150,000 customer service representatives at telecom companies, airlines and other businesses.



Americans are also "quite naturally worried about security issues and giving up personal financial and medical information to call center workers located in other parts of the world," Rechenbach said. "These customers also care about creating and keeping good middle-class jobs in America. And they have a right to know who they are dealing with when they pick up the phone for assistance."



Rechenbach offered ways to improve on the bill, introduced by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Penn.), suggesting that it be amended to allow consumers to request that they be transferred to a U.S.-based call center, and requiring that the government do a better job tracking the offshoring of jobs.



Recently, through collective bargaining, he noted: "CWA and AT&T reached an agreement to bring back from offshore 5,000 call center jobs. This was a win-win. However, with the low coverage of collective bargaining, we should not expect that returning work from offshore and eliminating subcontracting foreshadows a new trend for American workers. Too much of U.S. management is caught on the treadmill of lowering wage rates and consequently lowering quality, through outsourcing."

Rechenbach cited trade policies that have made matters worse: "According to the United States Trade Representative, the American Government provided more than $650 million in trade related assistance to signatories of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) between 2003 and 2007. We understand that some of this money went to education programs which taught English to future call center workers in Central America. The result has been the exodus of call center jobs."

He concluded by telling committee members: “This bill is really about giving American families a chance to be better consumers. Let them make the choice as to whether or not they want to spend their dollars with a company that helps sustain American communities with good paying jobs or whether they want to look the other way on that notion. When I go to buy a shirt I can clearly see a label telling me where it was made. I can make a choice -- do I want to buy a shirt made in the USA or am I okay buying one made in a foreign land? Quality, price and land of origin should and can be part of the choice in dealing with service-based industries as well.”