Release: Congress members to FCC: protect jobs in proposed T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger

WASHINGTON, DC – In a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Julius Genachowski, 62 members of Congress today told the FCC that the proposed joining of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS should include specific commitments to preserve and grow jobs here in the United States.

The letter builds on comments filed previously by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and a wide range of national public service organizations that include the NAACP, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Sierra Club, National Consumers League, Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Community Change, Jobs with Justice and USAction.

State and local officials -- including mayors in Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia -- also previously filed letters with the FCC urging substantive commitments to protect existing jobs, as well as expand opportunities in the United States.

If approved, the transaction would combine T-Mobile, with 30,000 employees and 33.2 million customers with MetroPCS, which directly employs 3,700 to service about 9.3 million customers. The FCC’s public interest analysis of the proposed deal includes consideration of the impact of the transaction on employment. In the AT&T/Bell South merger for example, the FCC cited the company’s commitment to return call center jobs to the U.S. as a significant merger-related benefit. Similarly, in the failed AT&T/T-Mobile merger, AT&T committed to return 5,000 call center jobs from overseas and no job loss for non-management employees.

Read the letter here.