"Employers eager for new foreign worker program"

[applegrove]

Employers eager for new foreign worker program

By Sam Hananel at AP

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMMIGRATION_FOREIGN_WORKERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-10-03-03-27

"SNIP................................................

But employers that struggle to fill those jobs - washing dishes, cleaning hotels, caring for the elderly - could soon get help now that business groups and labor unions have agreed on a plan to allow thousands of new low-skilled foreign workers into the workforce.

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The average salary for nursing assistants is $9.50 an hour, while licensed practical nurses with at least two years of college training can earn about $16.50 an hour. But the company says it has little room to increase wages to attract workers because most of the patients they care for receive fixed Medicaid or Medicare payments.

The new W visa program would admit 20,000 low-skilled foreign workers starting in 2015 and could gradually grow up to a cap of 200,000 after five years. The number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and other data.
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"It's not perfect, but it's probably as good as it can reasonably be to make both sides happy in a way that protects the interests of U.S. workers while also bringing workers in when employers truly need them, not just when they say they need them," said Daniel Costa, immigration policy analyst at the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

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[applegrove]

1. I was initially afraid when I read the headline. Because there will be a glut of low skilled workers

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2013, 11:24 PM - Edit history (1)

but if nobody is taking those jobs, and unions are involved in the planning of such a policy, well it is worth a try. I said last week the USA was behind in labour/government/business partnerships compared with healthy economies like Singapore or Germany. I work in eldercare. My mom has Parkinson's my dad alzheimer's. I am dependant on well trained health care aides. They are immigrants for the most part. I could not survive without them. But if the immigrants to the USA are not doing these jobs, who will? Workforce participation in the USA is at its' lowest level in years. These people are a necessity. And it is tough, tough work. And the number of people getting dementia is growing. And it is not the type of job where you can solve problems. Things just get harder and harder and then you lose your patient and have to find another job, where it gets harder and harder. I worked at a cancer centre. They estimated that they needed 80% more beds in the years to come. That is how much our population is ageing. How many more people are going to be very sick. Not jobs the average American or new American immigrant wants to do.