MCI Dann: Workers trained others

MCI insists the local layoffs are unrelated to its outsourcing initiatives.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
NILES -- A state lawmaker said he has confirmed that MCI has been sending some of its Niles call-center workers to Manila in the Philippines -- not for a vacation, but to train workers at a new call center there.
State Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd, said MCI officials talked about the new Manila facility when he visited the Niles call center about two months ago.
MCI announced plans last week to close the Niles center, idling about 700 workers.
Dann said MCI's full-time government relations representative in Columbus confirmed that Niles workers helped to train their Philippine counterparts and that workers in the Manila call center are earning $1.60 an hour.
"The irony of it is that people who are earning $1.60 an hour, people who can't even afford a phone, are trying to explain long-distance service to MCI customers," Dann said.
The state legislator said he can't prove that the Manila call center replaced the Niles center. Even if it did, MCI did nothing illegal.
"Clearly that's their business strategy, and that's none of Ohio's business. Only they know their reasons for moving," he said.
"But they shouldn't be taking Ohio's development money. Right now, it's perfectly legal to take the money and run."
MCI spokeswoman Stefanie Scott insisted that the company's decision to close its centers in Niles, Denver and Phoenix "are not specifically related to any outsourcing initiatives."
She said she could not say whether MCI is using its Niles workers to train workers at new centers overseas or how many call centers the company has in other countries, but she defended MCI's right to operate outside the United States.
"MCI is committed to reducing customer service costs while maintaining the highest quality service it can provide," Scott said. "The company will consider all options and may hire workers outside the United States, when and where it makes sense."
State money
Dann said MCI used about $1.7 million in state dollars when it opened its Niles center in a former Kmart building on Youngstown-Warren Road in 1999.
It spent about $1 million on training and used a $700,000 grant to help pay for renovations to the building.
Dann said he's still hoping to persuade MCI to maintain its center in Niles, arguing that it has been a top-performing office for the company. If that fails, he said, he'll be part of an effort to attract a new business to the Niles facility.
Amendment
The state senator said he's also working on an amendment to state law which would eliminate job creation tax credits for any business that moves 75 or more jobs out of Ohio.
He's proposing the amendment be added to a senate bill which would extend job creation tax credits to banks and insurance companies.
Dann has also formed a bipartisan study group on outsourcing.
"If we were to do a personal ad for our state, we would say we're looking for a long-term committed relationship," he said.
"We shouldn't be wasting our tax dollars to companies that aren't willing to make a long-term commitment to our state."
vinarsky@vindy.com