JP Morgan Chase keeps Albion jobs

ALBION, N.Y. (WIVB) - JP Morgan Chase will keep 850 people on the job at the former Washington Mutual on Route 31 in Albion.

Chase does plan to lay off some 9,200 workers at other former WaMu operations across the nation, after taking over the failed bank for $1.9 Billion in late September.

Seattle-based Washington Mutual was founded in 1889, and began operating the Albion call center in 2001. It was the  largest bank to fail in national history.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer pressed JP Morgan Chase to preserve the Albion jobs, which play an important role in the upstate New York economy.

"I spoke to the highest officials at JP Morgan Chase over the weekend and I am glad that they heeded my call to keep the center open, he said.  "I will do everything I can, working with the local community and the state, to fight hard for the long term viability of the call center."