US call-centre jobs may be exported under TPP

Washington

AMERICAN call-centre jobs may be one casualty of a pending Pacific trade deal that would allow US federal contract work to be shifted to Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.

Opponents of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership are seizing on the provision as an example of how the pact may help US companies with overseas operations to cut costs when vying for their own government's work, and hurt US workers in the process.

"If you can pay workers US$2 an hour, it's a really easy way to achieve cost savings at the expense of American jobs," said Dan Mauer, a legislative representative for the Communications Workers of America, a labour union with about 700,000 US members.

The trade measure exposes sensitivities about jobs and the economy in a presidential election year. Outsider candidates - especially Republican Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side - are appealing to populist, anti-establishment voters, saying they'll stand up for workers who risk losing their jobs because of trade agreements. Democratic contender Hillary Clinton …