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REUTERS
BellSouth to close Paducah call center

BellSouth to close Paducah call center

9 September 2006

(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - A national directory assistance center in Paducah will close in November, a move BellSouth officials blame on the continued growth of cellular phone usage.

BellSouth officials said there has been a 20 percent decline in call assistance and a 25-to-30 percent drop in landline customers.

The move means 61 people earning $7 to $10 an hour will lose their jobs.

BellSouth Regional Manager Sim Davenport said 45 workers in installation/repair, construction and central-office technical functions will continue to work in the building and that another 40 field workers in five cities around western Kentucky won't be affected.

"We're responding to market conditions and not a Paducah problem," he said. "It's always difficult to cut employees, but its part of doing business if you want to stay in business."

Communications Workers of America Local 3315 President John Fleming, a former BellSouth worker, said the layoffs will hurt western Kentucky economically.

"This is going to hurt the Paducah economy and tax base," he said. "I guess we'll start trying to call upon our legislators and the public to put pressure on them to keep the center open."

BellSouth, which serves a nine-state area, has shut down nine such centers since January. The Paducah center is among three now scheduled to close by years end, Davenport said. The work is being merged with larger centers such as one at BellSouth state headquarters in Owensboro. It will be the firm's sole call center in Kentucky.

Davenport said the closure is part of an overall reorganization of the operator services division to be more efficient and competitive.

Davenport said the closures are unrelated to BellSouth's merger with fellow communications giant AT&T, announced in March. Planning for the changes began in 2005, and the decision to close several call centers was announced to workers in December, he said.

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Information from: The Paducah Sun, http://www.paducahsun.com


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