AT&T said Wednesday that it will repatriate 5,000 wireless call center jobs to the United States if its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA is approved.

The announcement was made hours before the U.S. Justice Department filed an antitrust suit to block the merger.

"AT&T's elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market," the Justice Department said.

AT&T responded by saying the merger will hurt consumers and it will fight the suit. The company then promised to bring back the 5,000 call center jobs and added that it will not lay off any AT&T or T-Mobile call center employee. AT&T also promised to invest $8 billion in its U.S. infrastructure, saying that could create 96,000 new jobs.

"At a time when many Americans are struggling and our economy faces significant challenges, we're pleased that the T-Mobile merger allows us to bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States and significantly increase our investment here," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO. "This merger and today's commitment are good for our employees, our customers and our country."

AT&T announced its plans to acquire T-Mobile USA earlier this year. If approved, AT&T will pay $39 billion to merge with T-Mobile. If the merger pushes through the combined company will be the biggest telecom company and can dwarf other competitors with about 130 million subscribers around the U.S.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka defended the merger Wednesday, saying it will create more jobs in the struggling economy.

"These jobs will provide quality wages and benefits and good working conditions for U.S. workers--exactly what's needed to help turn around our struggling economy," Trumka said. "Instead of sitting on more than $2 trillion in assets and sending jobs overseas while millions of Americans are out of work, working people are looking for U.S. employers to follow AT&T's lead. If more employers took this kind of action, we could begin to move our economy forward and strengthen the middle class."