A bill being discussed in the United States Congress could put thousands of call centers around the world, including those in Costa Rica, in check.
The Consumer Protection and Call Center Worker Protection Act, which was reintroduced this week in the United States Congress, could cut hundreds of people out of work in Latin America, India and the Philippines.
The proposal seeks that companies are required to disclose the geographical location of their service or call centers and also give their customers the option of being redirected to a service center within the United States. With this, the client can refuse to receive customer service from a person who is not American or does not work in North American soil. This is a way to get back the jobs that companies have outsourced in foreign territory.
Moreover, US companies located in foreign territory could not enjoy federal subsidies or taxpayer-backed loans for up to five years.
A group of legislators brought the bill to Congress after 79 information technology workers at the University of California, San Francisco received their dismissal for moving call centers to India where services are cheaper.
Gene Greene, a Texas congressman and proponent of the initiative, insists that
US workers cannot negotiate better wages for fear of losing their jobs as [their employers] move it to cheaper centers.”
Greene further stated that service centers calls from outside the United States lead to Americans being scammed.