By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,

FAIRHAVEN — The AT&T Service Center on Bridge Street will close April 21, laying off 185 workers and sending their jobs to El Paso, Texas, company officials told employees yesterday morning. Joan Gallagher, the center's manager, made the announcement shortly after 11:30 a.m., leaving in shock the employees who ratified a new three-year contract just before Christmas, several workers said last night. "The carpet got pulled out from under us," said Lisa Xavier, 41, of Fall River, who has worked for AT&T since 1986, and at the Fairhaven facility since 1997 as a customer representative. "People were shocked. It was so unexpected. People were crying." AT&T, which merged with SBC in November, with SBC retaining the AT&T name, cast the closing in a different light yesterday afternoon. "Telecommunications is an increasingly competitive environment," said Walt Sharp, a spokesman for AT&T in New York. "AT&T has been reducing the number of its employees every quarter for the last four years. The merger realized certain savings. We believe, despite these job cuts, that we are creating a stronger company in the long term." Mr. Sharp hailed "the follow-the-work option these workers have in their contract." That option means all laid-off workers in Fairhaven can move to El Paso to reclaim their jobs. When Beverly Spear of New Bedford, who said she is in her mid-50s, got up yesterday morning, she felt thankful — just like every day — for having a good job as senior office clerk, making about $19 an hour with good benefits. "I stood there and heard they were closing and I was like totally shocked," she said last night. "I have been crying ever since. I don't know what my future is. I'm in my 50s, but I'm not ready for the boneyard. "It is not as easy for someone my age to get a job, like it is for someone in their 30s or 40s. I'm a nervous wreck." The upset caused by the announcement paralyzed the work force, forcing the facility to close early yesterday as employees filed out after the bad news and went home, said Linda Teoli, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1051. "They told us they were closing because the call volume is down," Ms. Teoli said. "The irony is that the calls are down because the company, instead of sending the calls here, is transferring the calls to outsource centers in India and Pakistan, where the people are making $40 a week." Ms. Xavier said she is typical of most of the soon-to-be-laid-off employees: "I make a good union wage and I have good benefits. I make $20.45 an hour and I'm worth every penny of it." Is going to Texas an option for Ms. Xavier and other employees? "That's ridiculous. No more than three or four people can do that," she said. "We have families here, our children are in school. We can't uproot them. Besides, do you know how many people depend on child care with family members? There are a lot of single mothers here. And how many trailing spouses could find jobs in El Paso?" 
 
Ms. Teoli plans to attempt to change AT&T's mind about the closing. "I'm getting Representative Barney Frank and Senators Kennedy and Kerry involved," she said regarding the town's congressional representatives. "We'll try to put some political pressure on them to change their minds. I've seen that work in other places where businesses do this." Pickets are planned for the next several weeks in anticipation of the April shutdown, she said. The employees are all eligible for severance packages, and those with at least five years of employment have vested pensions, Ms. Teoli said. "Most of the people here have worked for AT&T for nine years," Ms. Teoli said. "They are making a little more than $700 a week before taxes and the majority will receive 16 weeks' pay for their time." She cautioned that while a fat total of $11,200 — 16 weeks pay — sounds attractive, employees should realize that if they take the payout in a lump sum, they will lose 40 percent of that in taxes. This is the second time since 1997, when the AT&T center opened in Fairhaven (induced to locate in town by tax financing incentives), that large numbers of employees have been jettisoned. On Nov. 19, 2004, the company cut 140 workers, almost half the work force at the time. The company justified the layoffs by asserting that it had abandoned its pursuit of residential customers. The company had promised to create and maintain 1,200 jobs in 1997 in exchange for tax breaks. The town also gave the company permission to pave over acres of nearby farmland to accommodate a parking lot for employees. "The company came in promising gold to get that big tax break and then they take off," Ms. Teoli said last night. In 2002, voters at a special Town Meeting revoked the tax agreement with AT&T after the company failed to employ the required number of people. Under the five-year agreement from 1997-2002, AT&T was saving 40 percent in taxes annually, or about $150,000 over the period. Paul Downey of Sakonnet Properties bought the building and land in 2004. After the sale, the company leased space from Mr. Downey. "You know, this just leaves a bad taste in your mouth," Ms. Teoli said. "You have six or seven years of bad decisions by CEOs and the workers suffer. Isn't that always the way?"