GOV. CUOMO SIGNS HISTORIC LEGISLATION TO STOP CALL CENTER COMPANIES FROM SHIPPING JOBS OVERSEAS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 2, 2020
Contact: Hae-Lin Choi, CWA District 1 New York State Political Director  
hchoi@cwa-union.org  |  212-344-2515

GOV. CUOMO SIGNS HISTORIC LEGISLATION TO STOP CALL CENTER COMPANIES FROM SHIPPING JOBS OVERSEAS

LEGISLATION ENDS STATE TAX BREAKS, LOANS, GRANTS FOR EMPLOYERS THAT OFFSHORE CALL CENTER JOBS

NEW YORK - The Communication Workers of America, District 1, applauds Governor Andrew Cuomo for signing the New York State Call Center Jobs Act (S1826 / A567) into law. The new legislation will protect New York call center jobs by denying grants, loans, and tax breaks to companies that move jobs out of the country. Following years of being stalled in Albany, the bill passed the Assembly 130 to 18 on June 19th and the State Senate on March 12th in a bipartisan 58-3 vote.

The New York State Call Center Jobs Act will cover call center employers with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent workers. Any call center company that has taken loans, grants or tax breaks from New York State will forfeit those benefits if they move 30% of their jobs overseas. In addition, the Commissioner of Labor will establish and publicize a list of companies that engage in this behavior, and these companies will be negatively affected in any bid for future state call center work. 

“We applaud the Governor for taking action today to protect New York’s call center workers,” said Dennis Trainor, Vice President CWA District 1. “And we also want to give a special thanks to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stuart Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and to our committed sponsors who fought for this bill, Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, and Senator Tim Kennedy for coming together to protect working families and communities across New York.  Since 2006, New York has lost over 40,000 call center jobs. It is long past time New York stopped rewarding companies that send call center jobs overseas with taxpayer dollars.”

“As technology advances, more and more call centers are sending jobs overseas, leaving employees scrambling to find work to support themselves and their families,” said Governor Cuomo.‎ “This legislation will protect New York’s call center workers by putting in place serious financial disincentives for employers who move jobs out of New York.”

"With final agreement on the New York Call Center Jobs Act, New York State is making it clear that we expect results when expending state dollars on economic benefits," said Senator Tim Kennedy (D/WF-Buffalo). "As the lead sponsor of this bill for years, I've been proud to stand with CWA leadership and our brothers and sisters in labor to ensure New York taxpayers are not left footing the bill when corporations outsource jobs overseas after exploiting state contracts and incentives. I want to thank my colleagues in government for their diligent work to secure this agreement, and I am pleased to see this legislation signed into law."

“New York call center employers have been sending good, middle-class jobs out of our country,” said Assemblymember B. Linda Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan). “But that ends today. As the proud sponsor of this legislation since 2013, I am elated that this new law will keep jobs local and repair communities all over the state. It’s time we help hardworking New Yorkers who have been hurt by these corporate incentives that encourage companies to ship jobs out of our country. Finally, call center workers will be protected in New York. Working with CWA to protect New Yorkers' jobs has been a pleasure."

“Today is a great day,” said Brittni Everett, a call center worker from Albany. “Call center employees like me will no longer live in fear of our jobs being shipped overseas. The voices of New York workers drowned out those of the big corporations who have prioritized profits over people. I am so proud of our elected officials for standing up for call center workers who just want to be able to rely on their good, middle-class jobs. As a single mother, I know the importance of this legislation first hand and I know how it will personally affect me and my child. Finally, I know my job is safe and stable. This is a huge victory.”

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The Communications Workers of America represents 700,000 working men and women in telecommunications, customer service, healthcare, media, airlines, public service and manufacturing. District One represents 65,000 members in New York State.