"You're Fired!" The Abuses of "Skilled" Worker Visa Programs

[Ferd Berfel]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35066-you-re-fired-the-abuses-of-skilled-worker-visa-programs

Stuart Zwicke lasted eight years in the information technology department at Molina Healthcare of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, where he watched everyone on his original team let go.

"I did not apply to Molina," he says. "They reached out to me because of my job skills and technical skills. They brought me in to design and build their data center, the heartbeat of the entire company here in New Mexico."

The data center was miles from the company's main headquarters in Long Beach, California, and Zwicke and two others were the only ones working there. Instead of bringing in permanent help, he said, the company would rotate in groups of workers for a week or so at a time, to be trained at the center.

(SNIP)

To Otto, who also represents workers at Disney who were laid off and then required to train their replacements, the process of replacing American workers with H-1B temporary hires through companies like Cognizant is part of the further commodification of labor.

"Disney just doesn't care about people, that's the bottom line, which is funny for Disney because that's the business they're in," Otto says. "Everybody they replaced was highly skilled, highly productive, and highly regarded because each one of them had performance evaluations for several years running that said they were exceptional."

-----------------------And Then This:

COMPUTERWORLD: Here's where Clinton and Rubio stand on the H-1B visa issue
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2909983/it-outsourcing/heres-where-clinton-and-rubio-stand-on-the-h-1b-visa-issue.html

The two latest contenders to enter the presidential campaign sweepstakes -- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Hillary Clinton, the onetime Democratic senator from New York and former secretary of state for President Barack Obama -- both support increasing the H-1B visa cap.....

(snip)

Clinton, too, supports an increase in the cap. In a 2007 talk, she made her position clear, saying: "I also want to reaffirm my commitment to the H-1B visa program and to increase the current cap. Foreign skilled workers contribute greatly to our U.S. technological development."

[tazkcmo]

1. Yep

"Clinton, too, supports an increase in the cap. In a 2007 talk, she made her position clear, saying: "I also want to reaffirm my commitment to the H-1B visa program and to increase the current cap. Foreign skilled workers contribute greatly to our U.S. technological development."

But that's o.k., she's a progressive that get's things done. You may not like those things and they may not be progressive, but she gets 'em done!

[Baobab]

11. Google 'Disciplines on Domestic Regulation'

Don't argue, just do it.

And you will learn about a 20 year long tale of negotiations which are almost completed.

[FreakinDJ]

2. You'll never hear about "Means Testing" for H1B visas

We not allow H1B visa applicants if the Unemployment rate for a particular job category is above 50% of the State Unemployment rate or even the National Unemployment Rate

Current IT Unemployment Rates



State

Overall Unemployment Rate

IT Unemployment Rate


Alabama 6.2 3.5
Alaska 6.6 3.8
Arizona 6.3 3.6
Arkansas 5.4 3.1
California 6.1 3.5
Colorado 4.2 2.4
Connecticut 4.2 3.0
Delaware 4.9 2.8
Florida 5.3 3.0
Georgia 5.6 3.4
Hawaii 3.5 2.0
Idaho 4.2 2.4
Illinois 5.6 3.2
Indiana 4.6 2.6
Iowa 3.7 2.1
Kansas 4.6 2.6
Kentucky 5.2 3.0
Louisiana 6.0 3.4
Maine 4.5 2.6
Maryland 5.1 2.9
Massachusetts 4.7 2.7
Michigan 5.1 2.9
Minnesota 4.0 2.3
Mississippi 6.3 3.6
Missouri 5.6 3.2
Montana 4.1 2.3
Nebraska 2.8 1.6
Nevada 6.8 3.9
New Hampshire 3.6 2.0
New Jersey 5.7 3.2
New Mexico 6.7 3.8
New York 5.2 3.0
North Carolina 5.9 3.4
North Dakota 2.9 1.6
Ohio 4.7 2.7
Oklahoma 4.6 2.6
Oregon 6.1 3.5
Pennsylvania 5.4 3.1
Rhode Island 5.6 3.2
South Carolina 6.0 3.4
South Dakota 3.7 2.1
Tennessee 5.7 3.2
Texas 4.1 2.3
Utah 3.7 2.1
Vermont 3.6 2.0
Virginia 4.5 2.6
Washington 5.3 3.0
West Virginia 7.6 4.3
Wisconsin 4.5 2.6
Wyoming 4.0 2.3

[Baobab]

5. Trade in Services Agreement- almost completed in Geneva, is likely to

vastly expand the use of L1 visas, which have NO economic means test or wage parity requirements as far as I know. (Gogle 'disciplines on domestic regulation' )

Nursing, teaching and IT likely will be completely changed. This is the dark side of the Clinton Administration their setting up of GATS which is stalled, but it has led to our horrible health care situation and I am sure that the huge expansion of L1 workers will be proposed as the "solution" to what is basically an unnecessary fake crisis. It would be cheaper to give everybody health care for free and that likely would save enough. No bills - single payer which means no insurance.

[Baobab]

12. The phrase to google is GATS 'necessity tests'

or disciplines on domestic regulations, or 'no more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service'

[LiberalEsto]

3. Putting America out of work

If the U.S. exported large numbers of its skilled tech workers to take away jobs in the countries that send us H-1B workers, there would be riots in those countries.

[Baobab]

7. Have you seen this story? US winning case against India on solar panels.. Read between the lines.

One of the cover stories is exactly that, that US educational, solar firms are hoping to 'invade' developed countries.. But the real deal is about the lowering of US wages by means of these deals which are all connected to the mother of them all, the Clinton-era WTO GATS.

http://www.iatp.org/blog/201602/obama-undermines-climate-efforts-in-solar-trade-dispute

So electing HRC likely will seen as an endorsement by the American people of the use of WTO to help us solve our "labor shortages" in healthcare, IT, teaching, etc.

There is lots of information on GATS and the TiSA on policyalternatives.ca under Trade.

Also, look at the Indian web for info about how GATS has been used to dismantle their right to education...

[Kang Colby]

4. Why do people get worked up about H1-Bs?

Very rarely do I see any similar concern for construction workers and farm laborers.

That's just a rhetorical question. I think the H1-B program should be all but discontinued.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Well, personally, the H1-B program might spell poverty and homelessness for my family

if, Goddess forbid, my husband lost his job because of it.

It has meant job losses to many of his friends and colleagues.

[Baobab]

9. He might get a few months work out of training his replacements

if he signs an agreement to be silent about it.

BTW, its not H1B visa, its L1 visas, trade deal related visas that are likely to be involved.

You may want to read something like Jane Kelsey's book "Serving whose interests" which gives an overview of trade in services agreements generally.

Do the allegedly "high" wages of Americans, Europeans, Australians create a crisis that only the overly strong medicine of neoliberal shock treatment in the form of secret deals - forcing open the markets and open to make them sink to global norms can solve?

No, we could solve them in other ways, by improving education and making healthcare free, but that would violate trade agreements like the WTO services deal, which seems intended to future-proof the future policy to make any kind of flexibility impossible.

Yes, GATS is the real reason our health care is broken.

[Baobab]

8. L1 visas - trade deal visas- are the ones you mean.

H1B visas have limits on numbers and pay much more - many times more.. I don't even know if L1 contractors have to be paid the host countries minimum wage.

Imagine the lure of getting an engineer or skilled nurse's services for $10, $15 or even less an hour BURDENED RATE.

As a subcontractor or sub sub-contractor !

Plus, in fields like energy and construction I have been told, the use of subcontractors "if done right" shields the main firm from liability completely.

In short, its a very distressing thing to be allowing and all the major parties are deep in this scheme and hiding it from the nation.

[Ferd Berfel]

10. Clinton wants to raise the limits

"..."I also want to reaffirm my commitment to the H-1B visa program and to increase the current cap...."


Interestingly Genentec (Clinton Donor) is named in this one:

PERM Fake Job Ads defraud Americans to secure green cards for H-1b workers

Immigration attorneys from Cohen & Grigsby explains how they assist employers in running classified ads with the goal of NOT finding any qualified applicants, and the steps they go through to disqualify even the most qualified Americans in order to secure green cards for H-1b workers. See what Bush and Congress
----------------------

THis one back when Lou Dobbs was still a human being.

Corporate America finds new ways NOT to hire Americans

The Federal Government has nearly 80 different work-related visas for foreign workers. Yet Congress and the White House insist that we need even more "guest workers".