(This is from the CWA newsletter)
CWA Local 1298 members took to the State Capitol in Hartford on March
7th to support AT&T call center workers in Meriden, CT who were recently told that their jobs were being moved to Tennessee and Georgia.The members were joined for a press conference by longtime former Director of UAW Region 9-A and newly-elected State Senator Julie Kushner. They spoke out about the need for legislation to protect call center workers before even more of our members lose their jobs.
"There's a very big impact that's going on with these employees, and we pretty much have to figure out what we want to do by April 5th," said Dawn Wright, a Meriden call center worker who is making the difficult decision to move to Tennessee in order to keep her job. "Families don't want to have to leave Connecticut. We like Connecticut."
Local 1298 President Dave Weidlich also testified on March 7th at the Connecticut Joint Committee on Labor and Public Employees about the deep impact that losing these jobs will have on the community, and why we need the Act Concerning Call Centers and Notice of Closure in Connecticut.
"AT&T raked in $20 billion with the 2017 tax cut," he testified. "They have cut 12,000 jobs across the country. Call center jobs are good, solid, middle class jobs. One call center closing can devastate an entire community."