U.S. Call-Center Jobs May Be Exported Under Pacific Trade Pact
Source: Bloomberg
American call-center jobs may be one casualty of a pending Pacific trade deal that would allow U.S. federal contract work to be shifted to Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
Opponents of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership are seizing on the provision as an example of how the pact may help U.S. companies with overseas operations to cut costs when vying for their own government's work, and hurt U.S. workers in the process.
"If you can pay workers $2 an hour, it's a really easy way to achieve cost savings at the expense of American jobs," said Dan Mauer, a legislative representative for the Communications Workers of America, a labor union with about 700,000 U.S. members.
The trade measure exposes sensitivities about jobs and the economy in a presidential election year. Outsider candidates -- especially Republican Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side -- are appealing to populist anti-establishment voters, saying they'll stand up for workers who risk losing their jobs because of trade agreements. Democratic contender Hillary Clinton also opposes the TPP.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-trade-jobs-87ba3748-cbf4-11e5-b9ab-26591104bb19-20160205-story.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
