Brown Announces Trade Adjustment Assistance For Approximately 80 Call Center Workers At Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that approximately 80 workers at Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company, LLC in Norwood and Lebanon are eligible to apply for worker adjustment assistance.  Certification was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“The loss of a job can be a devastating experience,” Brown said.  “Ohioans who work hard and play by the rules should not be left to struggle when they lose their job through no fault of their own. These resources will help ensure that displaced workers from Cincinnati Bell have the financial support and training opportunities to get a fresh start.”

Displaced workers involved in Call Center Services are qualified to apply for assistance.

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is a federal program that provides aid to workers who lose their jobs or whose work hours and wages are reduced as a result of increased imports. The program extends benefits including training for employment in another job or career, income support, job search allowances, and relocation allowances. Qualified workers may quickly return to employment through a combination of these services.

Brown has been a leader in Senate efforts to protect the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. Last May, Brown led forty-one U.S. Senators in urging President Barack Obama not to submit any free trade agreements to Congress—including pending agreements for Colombia, Panama, and South Korea—until Congress agrees to extend a long-term extension of TAA, including 2009 bipartisan reforms that allowed additional trade-affected workers to qualify for assistance. Thanks to Brown’s efforts, an extension of TAA was passed in September 2011 and extends the program until 2013.

Brown is a cosponsor of the United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2012, which could help keep jobs in the U.S. by requiring companies to notify consumers that their calls are being transferred abroad. According to a Communications Workers of America (CWA) analysis of May 2011 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, 198,450 Ohioans were employed in call center occupations such as Switchboard Operators, Telephone Operators, Bill Collectors, and Customer Service Representatives. The CWA also estimated that Ohio saw a net loss of 2,330 call center jobs between 2008 and 2011.

Specifically, the United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2012 would:

·         Require companies to disclose to callers when their calls are transferred abroad;

·         Make businesses that move call center jobs overseas ineligible for federal grants or loans;

·         Direct the Department of Labor to make a public list of such companies— employers would remain on list for three years after each relocation; and

·         Require agencies, including Department of Defense, to give preference to U.S. employers that do not appear on the list. 

 

###