Anti-Outsourcing Bill Stirs Fears In India, Philippines
1/9/12
WASHINGTON -- A bill that would punish American companies for sending their customer call centers overseas has caused an uproar in India and the Philippines, where politicians and corporations fear lost business due to the U.S. bill's protectionist measures.
The legislation, pushed by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, would make companies that outsource their call center work ineligible for guaranteed federal loans and grants for a period of five years. The bill, entitled "U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act," would also require those companies to report themselves in advance to the Labor Department, which would maintain a public list of the companies who outsource.
Home to the largest call center industries in the world, India and the Philippines would stand to lose the most if such a law succeeded in deterring American corporations from taking their customer operations out of the U.S. in order to save on labor costs.
Last week, a Filipino parliamentarian publicly urged President Benigno Aquino III to dispatch "a strong lobby team" in Washington to stop the bill in its tracks, warning that it would "kill" the industry in the Philippines. Similarly, India's ambassador to the United States has suggested that country also plans to lobby hard on the bill.
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/anti-outsourcing-bill-uproar-india-philippines_n_1193958.html
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