End Tax Subsidies to Businesses that Outsource Jobs!

Maine AFL-CIO and Communications Workers of America Local 1400 are strongly supporting legislation aimed at preventing outsourcing and protecting good Maine jobs. LD 201, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Dunphy (D-Old Town), would make any employers who outsource call centers ineligible for state grants, loans or tax breaks for five years and they would require them to pay back any state tax benefits they previously received. The measure would also make information about corporate offshoring of call centers available to the public, which would give consumers the right to choose whether to support companies that outsource Maine jobs.In addition, it would prohibit state agencies from outsourcing call center work.

In recent years, several companies have closed down or downsized call centers, putting scores of Maine employees out of work and harming families and communities. At the same time, many of those same companies have opened call center operations in Asia and Latin America, where work is cheap and conditions are poor. The Labor and Housing Committee is expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks. Contact your legislators and tell them to support LD 201!