CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis G. Trainor Commends New Call Center Worker Protections in New York State

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 7, 2024
Contact: Rebecca Miller, CWA District 1 Legislative Director | rmiller@cwa-union.org

CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis G. Trainor Commends New Call Center Worker Protections in New York State

NYS Legislature Passes Responsible Contracting for State-Contracted Call Centers to protect call center workers from job loss when contracts change hands 

NEW YORK – In response to the passage of Responsible Contracting for State-Contracted Call Centers (S.6328 Ramos / A.8939 Bronson) by the New York State Assembly and Senate today, Dennis G. Trainor, Vice President of Communications Workers of America District 1, which represents over 300 State-contracted call center workers, issued the following statement:

“This is a huge win for working families in New York. Call center jobs, while vital to the functioning of our State, are among some of the most vulnerable to outsourcing and mass displacement. When call center jobs are rebid to other companies, shipped to other cities in the state, or even out of the state altogether, it’s a massive blow not just to the impacted workers and their families, but to our communities as a whole. 

That’s exactly what’s happening as we speak to nearly three hundred of my members. These workers at the State-contracted E-ZPass Customer Service Center on Staten Island, NY are facing layoffs after the MTA rebid the contract to a new company and did not ensure any retention protections for these workers. This should never be allowed to happen again.

When it comes to worker protections and good union jobs, there is no state in this country stronger than New York. But the State of New York, as an employer, must be a leader in this. Working for the State should mean long term stability - not a risk of losing your job whenever a contract changes hands.

I thank the NYS Senate and Assembly for showing overwhelmingly that the State must protect its own workforce from layoffs and outsourcing, and passing this bill!”

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CWA District 1 represents 145,000 workers across New York, New Jersey, New England, and eastern Canada, including 65,000 in New York State. CWA members work in telecommunications, healthcare, higher education, manufacturing, broadcast and cable television, commercial printing and newspapers, state, local, and country government.