Displaced Techies

Connect with other Boston region residents for political and/or legal action to recover our jobs and occupations.

email us:
contact at displacedtechies.com

Need to know the facts?

H-1B visa primer
L-1 visa primer
How-to search the DOL's LCA database

links

Techsunite
Zazona
Information Technology Professionals Association of America
CWA's Outsourcing Blog
T.O.R.A.W
NoSlaves.com
Lou Dobbs' List
F'ed Company
American Joblog
Rescue American Jobs
Metafilter
BoingBoing
Politech
Subterranean Homepage News
Big Blog Tool

HARRIS MILLER ALERT!!!

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Displaced Techies

allow american workers to participate in the global economy!

Sunday May 30, 2004

Buy American via displacedtechies

Union Jean Company is an apparel company that is organized under UFCW local 1099. They offer a wide range of products (jeans, fleece, shirts, etc).

Their purpose:

"We are a union organized distribution and manufacturing company involved in the marketing and sales of union made apparel. We have a manufacturing division that will produce union made denim novelties and promotional items. You will become confident that you can depend on us and you will always be able to take pride in wearing the AMERICAN/UNION made products that are available through The Union Jean and Apparel Co.

We supply only American/Union made products selected from America's best union manufacturers. We are members of the Buy American Campaign (BAC) and support the efforts and charter of this worthwhile and important group of Americans.

We believe in the USA, the health of our economy, our unions and all of the benefits derived from being and buying American."

Click thru and order something...help support made in America businesses and this site.

Buy from Union Jean Company
02:10 pm
Sunday May 30, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

Saturday May 29, 2004

Tell us what you really think

(snip)

Bill Archey, the Washington D.C.-based chief of AeA, the large national electronics-industry association, declared the following:

Countries such as India are getting what had been U.S.-based software jobs, said Archey, because "they do it cheaper, as well as better. We as Americans have a lot of difficulty dealing with that."

"Engineering (school) applications (in the U.S.) have declined by 23 percent over the last 20 years," he said. "Why? Because it's hard. Most kids don't want hard."

(/snip)

Thanks Bill. Let me re-phrase it for you. Why not just say "American workers suck - They're expensive, have less talent, and their kids are lazy". That's what you mean don't you?

What a bunch of crap. The operative word above is CHEAPER. As far as Bill Archey is concerned, CHEAPER=BETTER.

Cheaper does not mean better.

I would say that US workers are largely responsible for the growth and success the technology industries have had over the past 30 years. Now the same industry says we are just too expensive, less talented and lazy.

12:12 am
Saturday May 29, 2004
posted by rickrob
link

Friday May 28, 2004

Don't forget--Outsourcing is a Win-Win....(Blah Blah, Blah)

Just more blather in this article:

Outsourcing Is Win-win, India Inc Tells US Industry

I'm so sick of hearing "Outsourcing is a win-win"... I'm gonna puke. If you give someone a lump of coal and then tell them it's a diamond 500 times a day, does that make it a diamond? No. It's still a lump of coal.

“Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is in constant touch with the US industry and policy makers, working hard to present the entire issue of outsourcing in the correct perspective,”

Let's see-- what would the "correct perspective" be? Wait-- I know. "You give us your jobs because it's good for you and good for us." It's a Win-win!!! It's a Diamond!!!

It's not a Win-win for US workers that lose their jobs to outsourcing. It's still a lump of coal.

"Companies like Infosys and Wipro have announced that they would prefer local people in their overseas operations.”

I can hear it now. "Well, we would prefer local people, but we just can't find anyone with the qualifications we need. US workers just aren't interested in Math, Engineering and the sciences anymore"

"Currently, Infosys has 626 foreign nationals in its ranks representing 33 nationalities. “

What's that supposed to prove? Out of 25,000 employees? That's a whopping 2.5 percent.

“Infosys Consulting is looking at recruiting 500 professionals in the US over the next three years”

Well I guess that will fix everything for the 500,000 plus Tech/IT workers that can't find jobs.

Since it's well known that Infosys abuses our guest worker visa programs, who will get those 500 jobs and what kind of jobs will they be? My guess is they'll be consultants that will help your company outsource to Infosys. But hey -- at least they'll be "local".

Oh Yeah. Outsourcing is a Win-win... Infosys wins. Wipro wins. U.S. workers lose-- their jobs.

Barf.
11:37 pm
Friday May 28, 2004
posted by rickrob
link

Outsourcing is great, but don't spook the staff

"many companies hold their outsourcing plans close to their chests because they don't really know what those finished plans will look like, and they don't want to spook the staff and risk good people leaving.

Keeping outsourcing under wraps historically has been the way to go until you know what you're doing," Parikh said. "You might protect all your employees or find a way to get them all transitioned to the provider -- at least a substantial number of them."
08:09 pm

posted by gmminks
link

BPO as leverage for military protection?

I had never really thought about this....but apparently some in India believe that since the West outsources all of their back-office work to India, if Pakistan ever becomes a true military threat, the West would HAVE to step in and provide India with protection.

And we would, wouldn't we? If our entire infrastructure is being managed in India, and Pakistan decides to invade, we would have to go help out India to protect our infrastructure, right?

Oh yeah, but outsourcing is a win-win situation for everyone.

Right.

08:02 pm

posted by gmminks
link

What's wrong with being a geek?

After saying that in the long run outsourcing will benefit the US, Bill Archey, the Washington D.C.-based chief of AeA, the large national electronics-industry association, declared the following:

"Acknowledging "a fair amount of pain" from the loss of U.S. jobs shifted offshore, Archey warned that protectionist legislation to curb it could lead to harmful retaliatory tariffs against U.S. high-tech products. That, he said, would hurt the U.S. economy and its tech sector.

Countries such as India are getting what had been U.S.-based software jobs, said Archey, because "they do it cheaper, as well as better. We as Americans have a lot of difficulty dealing with that."

Archey said schools in China and India are now churning out technology-trained graduates, lamenting that there's no mass interest in math and science courses among U.S. teens to fill the next generation of jobs. He sees that gap being filled by growing numbers of tech-trained students in other countries.

"Engineering (school) applications (in the U.S.) have declined by 23 percent over the last 20 years," he said. "Why? Because it's hard. Most kids don't want hard."

Students wanting higher grade point averages take easy classes to get them, he said.

Beyond that, in his research paper, Archey reports, "Currently, all studies indicate that many of our brightest kids are turned off by careers in these fields and think that people who enter them are just geeks, nerds or dorks. High-tech workers need to change the attitude."

He said U.S. software programmers in particular need government help with retraining, and that U.S. schools need to boost math and science.

"The world is changing, folks," said Archey. "I'm not sure how much we're up to it."

What does this dude have against geeks nerds and dorks? I think he needs to change his attitude.
07:57 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Thursday May 27, 2004

Don't worry be happy

More Microsoft jobs going to India

"Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) is in the process of increasing its exposure to the business process outsourcing (BPO) work of GE"

But don't worry! Experts in India are telling us* that outsourcing is a win-win situation!
Of course by "us" I mean business political leaders, not the workers like us

08:05 pm
Thursday May 27, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

Anti-bush online game

This game is awesome

It is probably not for everyone. It has graphic violence, and sexual scenes, and lots of bad language, so be warned (sorry mom....please don't go look at this game!)

But....
it also has Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, He-Man, Howard Dean, Howard Stern, Jesus and others fighting Bush and his administration. It does a great job on discussing the issues, and just how bad our country has done under this president.

So, if you aren't easily offended....play this game it rocks!
09:35 am

posted by gmminks
link

Capt. America protesting illegal alien Superman

worth1000.com's topic today is superhero day jobs.

I liked this one:

"Further infuriating Captain America is the fact that his work is being out-sourced to that illegal alien named 'Superman'."
09:11 am

posted by gmminks
link

Roger Cox is a traitor

Gartner Strategic Sourcing Practice Managing Vice President Roger Cox told SearchCIO:

''Every company should consider it. It's global sourcing. We've become a global market. If they (US companies) do not, they could be damaging their local viability. Ultimately, it should lead to overall growth. A move to global sourcing is inevitable. It happened elsewhere; it's been happening for years.''

SearchCIO has a place for comments...

According to Gartner research, 5 per cent of the IT jobs have gone overseas and 25 per cent will be ''offshored'' by 2010.

what is a traitor?

07:01 am

posted by gmminks
link

It's not because people answering the phones are in India

Joseph Crowley, co-chairman of the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans, says Indian Americans believe the reason people are upset when folks in India answer the phone is that Americans are racist.

"In the past, he said, when the jobs were going to Ireland and Israel, it did not get so much attention "but now that there are Indians answering the phone, they feel a great deal of concern about how they are perceived and how India is perceived, and they feel that it is unfair."

No, what is unfair is that people are losing their jobs with no prospects for another job, and most of these jobs are going to India for the sole reason of wage differential. The difference now is that there is no way to compete with labor in India, because the cost of labor in that country is so low.

Rep. Crowley should be ashamed that he is fanning the flames of racism with this issue. This issue is not about race. It is about workers being exploited in both countries for the good of a few greedy men and women.

06:35 am

posted by gmminks
link

Infosys doing more work in the US

According to sify.com, Infosys is setting up centers to do onshore work in the US. In fact, the company expects that 20% of its workforce will be based in the US or Eurpope in 5 years.

"Infosys's BPO arm, Progeon, is also bidding for complete outsourcing contracts where it will take over entire departments of American companies, even if all jobs cannot be transferred to India."

This all sounds great, right? The Indian company is now creating jobs in the US. But who will the company hire?

It is well-documented that Infosys abuses the temporary visa programs, and that as a result of these abuses they gain a competitive advatage in the software services sector.

As an aside, any company hiring Infosys had better keep the old slogan "Buyer Beware" in mind. Their employees in general lack experience, and Infosys does not seem to do alot to train them (search for infosys.com in google groups to see what I mean).

What about Progeon, the division of Infosys that is planning to take over entire departments of American companies? Will they be creating jobs for the Americans that they displace? Well, the evidence points to no. If you look up Progeon in the LCA database, since 2002 the company has received permission to bring in 315 temporary immigrants on H-1B visas. Many of the LCAs were for "Transition Managers", so my guess is that they transition Americans out of their jobs, right here in America.

Don't that just give ya a warm fuzzy feelin?
05:58 am

posted by gmminks
link

Wednesday May 26, 2004

While we're talking about On-shore alternatives...

MPC Computers (formerly Micron PC) is keeping jobs in the US. They were recently on Lou Dobbs 'Made in America' Segment. If you need a new computer, please consider supporting this company.

Here's what they had to say on their site:

At MPC Computers, we keep it close to home. At a time when most companies are choosing to outsource to other countries, we're keeping our staff right here. We think it's an important way to show our commitment to you—by providing world-class PC products, by gaining an understanding of your business, and by valuing your time through efficient, U.S.-based service and support.

www.buympc.com/index.html

10:20 pm
Wednesday May 26, 2004
posted by rickrob
link

Onshore Alternative

Do you want to patronize businesses that do not exploit cheap offshore labor?

Then check out www.onshorealternatives.com
10:09 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Complain About Illegal Hiring Practices

According to The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices' newsletter:

"4. May I express a preference for H-1B candidates?
No. While you are certainly free to sponsor candidates for positions with your company, including H-1B visa holders, you may not express a preference for
H-1B candidates or other individuals requiring sponsorship or employment visas. Employment opportunities should be made available equally to all individuals who are authorized to work in the United States. To do otherwise, may violate federal anti-discrimination law.

Call and report unfair hiring practices:
Toll Free Information Number and Worker Hotline: 1-800-255-7688

Also on that site (concerning LCAs for H1B visas):

"G)(i) In the case of an application described in subparagraph
(E)(ii), subject to clause (ii), the employer, prior to filing the
application--
(I) has taken good faith steps to recruit, in the United
States using procedures that meet industry-wide standards and
offering compensation that is at least as great as that required
to be offered to H-1B nonimmigrants under subparagraph (A),
United States workers for the job for which the nonimmigrant or
nonimmigrants is or are sought; and
(II) has offered the job to any United States worker who
applies and is equally or better qualified for the job for which
the nonimmigrant or nonimmigrants is or are sought.

The one thing I like seeing on that site is the saying "You have a right to work". That's right, all you people who say that as Americans we are so arrogant thinking we have a right to a job. We do have that right. That is why people want to come to America, to be able to work and live as they choose. We do have the right to work!

Employers such as Reliable Associates who practice discriminatory hiring practices need to be stopped for the good of all people. They deny American citizens, and folks here as permanant residents, the opportunity to work. They make competition with them almost impossible for other small consulting firms here in the US. And what sort of opportunity do think any foreigner who chooses to work for them will really ever have in this country?

Employers such as Reliable Associates are no better than the African slave traders in the 1700s. According to the PBS website Africans in American, "European traders such as Nicolas Owen waited at these forts for slaves; African traders transported slaves from the interior of Africa.".

All bodyshops like Reliable Associates are doing is peddling human flesh for the big corporations. They look at the workers that they bring in on temporary visas much in the same way that British slavers looked at the Africans crammed into ships as cargo, as objects of profit.

01:04 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Stop advertising for H1b positions

until there is 100% American employment. This is just getting stupid and I want to know why our leaders cannot stop it.

For you employers stupid enough to advertise for H1B employees, please take note of the purpose of the H-1B visa, from the Dept. of Labor webpage:

An employer seeking to employ a foreign worker temporarily in a specialty occupation uses the H-1B program. Specialty occupations require theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge along with at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. Examples include architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, medicine and health, education, and business specialties, etc.

We realize that zazona.com/ShameH1B/H1BLegal.htm">there are no real protections for American workers from being replaced by an H1B visa holder, or for not being able to even compete for open positions for that matter. But by advertising entry level IT jobs for H1B visas when the IT unemployment rate in the US is so high, you are definitely breaking the spirit of the law. I would go further in saying that by advertising for only H1B visa holders, you are breaking the law by engaging in discriminatory hiring practices (no American citizens hold these visas, in the US it is illegal to refuse to hire based on national origin).

Whoever posted this job on Craig's list should be investigated:

IT Positions - OPT, H1, H4 OK

Reply to: job-32099600@craigslist.org
Date: 2004-05-25, 3:56PM EDT

We are a Consulting Company and are currently accepting applications for various IT consulting positions. Freshers and OPT are welcome to apply.

We welcome all H1 TRANSFERS/OPT and job seekers for Immediate H1B sponsorship recent BS/MS/MBA graduates and H4/B1/V1/L1/L2 candidates are also invited.

We are currently processing from this April for 2004/2005 H1B quota. We are also sponsoring Green Cards.

H1B Processing and Necessary Assistance for 7th yr extension.

Reliable Associates is willing to work 90% and 10% split on billing rate.

100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. IF ANYTIME YOU ARE Not satisfied WITH our placement efforts YOU CAN LEAVE THE COMPANY without any contractual obligations.
WE ARE HELPING SEVERAL RECENT BS/MS/MBA GRADUATES. WE ARE SPONSORING H1B IMMEDIATELY.

*Our 90% program is only open to US based H1 holders with current pay slips.

Send your resume along with the detailed contact info, visa status and hourly rate.

Job location is Tri State

05:25 am

posted by gmminks
link

Call Center workers in India get a union

UNI is set to target back office workers in Bangalore and Hyberdad.

The union is concerned about working conditions in the call centers, "including high turnover rates of up to 50%, pressures on staff of night and shift working, targeting and work quotas, difficult customers and the extra pressures of having to conceal their identities to pretend to be American for American customers or British for British customers."

04:57 am

posted by gmminks
link

Tuesday May 25, 2004

Florida Fair Trade

Someone sent me a link to Florida Fair Trade. There are some great articles up about how our states are losing soveriegnty to the multi-national agreements that the president is signing.

The site is great because they call Jeb Bush to task for outsourcing the state government. For example, Convergys does all of the state's HR work now (a $280B contract). State officials claim this a great deal because the jobs must stay in Florida..but guess what? Convergys has 1330 H1B visa holders working for them in Florida alone! So big deal that 1330 jobs were created, no Floridians were ever considered for these positions. How many state workers were fired in order to provide these jobs to temporary foreign workers?

Shame on you Jeb Bush. You are just a carpetbagger, you will never ever be a true Floridian. And those of us who are will never forgive you for what you have done to our state.
03:06 am
Tuesday May 25, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

Tennessee enacts anti-outsourcing law

According to the Navhind Times "the new law asks state procurement officials to prefer only US-based employees relating to data-entry and call-centre services."

The law actually gives businesses incentives not to outsource state contracting jobs to call centers and data centers overseas.

But will the law help? Bush will sign CAFTA on May 28, and states may be bound to all US trade agreements, making many laws designed to level the playing field for US workers null and void.

02:51 am

posted by gmminks
link

Harris Miller alert

After a study put put by CSO magazine about how corporations are not paying enough attention to Harris Miller is saying "he hopes studies like this will convince executives of the dangers of shortchanging their electronic defenses"

What do you suppose he is up to?

I have to ask that question because that same article mentions that the Business Roundtable "blasted the software industry for developing products that are vulnerable to hackers and other security threats, leaving the corporations to pay the costs after suffering attacks".

So what is this all about? What does Harris Miller have up his sleeve?

If you go to the CSO website, they promise soon to tackle the question of outsourcing physical security.

02:38 am

posted by gmminks
link

Sunday May 23, 2004

The truth about reporters

Ok, we already knew this (I think). How do reporters get their angles?
According to Dave Copeland, they go to ProfNet

Mr. Copeland is going to post queries to ProfNet in his blog, to see how the whole reporting thing really works in the US.

I got this from my favorite reporter's blog
05:36 pm
Sunday May 23, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

The election in India

I am the first to admit I know very little about the politics in India. I only know what I read in the news, and really how try can that be? So the following article is offered with that warning.

India had their national elections, and the incumbent lost. In a shocker, the poor people in the country voted his ass out.

He ran on the "India Shining" slogan. That slogan basically meant, look, everyone wants to send work to India because we are so awesome.

The people who make $2 a day, the families of the farmers who are drinking pesticide because they cannot pay off their loans every year, did not agree with the India Shining slogan.

So who in India is really benefiting from the outsourcing of US jobs? I still have my money on the companies that outsource and the companies that provide cheap labor for them.

04:52 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Logical Flaws

This professor's arguments on outsourcing are rife with logical flaws.

Just because a person shops at a business that outsources does not mean that person cannot be "grief-stricken" on how businesses in the US calluously discard higher priced labor in the US.

Businesses go out of their ways not to let their consumers know when they have outsourced their operations. Don't believe me? Call up Sallie Mae and ask where they are located. They are not allowed to tell you. Call up your credit card company and ask. They won't tell you. Why is it wrong for us to be "grief-stricken" if we have no idea where businesses are actually doing business?

And while I am on that topic, where are the poor supposed to shop if not Walmart? What do you do if you are one of the 30 million workers who make less than $8.70 an hour? (statistic pulled from The Betrayal of Work)What if the only place you can afford to shop is Walmart? Is it ok for these Americans to feel "grief-striken"?

To the students in this class...pay close attention to the credentials of speakers who are brought in to teach the class.

Robert Reich has made a career of endorsing the erroneous dogma of "skills mismatch" which leads folks to believe that as long as you train people for the next best thing to come along, there will be plenty of jobs.
While he was the Secretary of Labor for Clinton he insisted:

"Integrated, expanding global markets create many more opportunities than they close off. And the skills needed for these high-skill, high-wage jobs can be learned"

(from The Betrayal of Work

Raj Malhotra, CEO and president of Spryance. He claims that there are not enough people to do medical transcription work. He makes his bread and butter doing this transcription work, and guess where he is doing the most hiring nowadays? (Think that as a patient you are going to be told when your medical records are sent offshore?)

So if we send all of this work offshore to cheaper labor markets, do we even really need to go through the hassel of training people for these "high-skill, high-wage jobs" Mr. Reich?

Malhotra declared during his presentation that "Home in Bombay is no different than home in Boston". This is exactly what is wrong with outsourcing. Someone doing work for a company on the other side of the globe has no responsibilty to the community he is working for. Home in Bombay is different than home in Boston.

04:33 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Sunday May 16, 2004

Everyone Needs to Write or Contact Your Senators this Week.

There is significant Senate action taking place this upcoming week on the Outsourcing /H-1B / L-1 / Amnesty issues. A number of bills are coming up for votes or review.

Some of the bills need immediate action. We need to contact our Senators, Congressmen and the committee members for these bills-- and tell them we oppose these bills and tell them how they affect us.

MA Residents need to call Senator Kennedy, who co-sponsors both of the following bills

We have done this before-- but we have to keep saying it to them over and over. It's up to common citizens like us to make enough noise for the leaders to hear the other side of this issue.

The following information was compiled from a number of sites :

Rescue American Jobs: www.rescueamericanjobs.org

Numbers USA: www.numbersusa.com

The Federation for American Immigration reform: www.fairus.org

The Coalition for the Future American Worker: www.americanworker.org

Professor Norm Matloff

First Bill:

The Agricultural Job, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003 (AgJOBS)

(Or, Another source of cheap labor for agribusiness)

Bill # S.1645

Original Sponsor: Larry Craig (R-ID)

Cosponsor Total: 63
(last sponsor added 05/13/2004)

37 Democrats
26 Republicans

H.R. 3142

Sponsor: Chris Cannon (R–UT) ( This guy's gotta go...)

Cosponsors: 106

S. 1645 and H.R 3142 would provide an amnesty for illegal aliens engaged in farm work and their spouses and children. The amnesty will cover an estimated 860,000 illegal alien workers, plus their families, for a total of around three million.

Illegal alien workers seeking to qualify for amnesty under S. 1645\H.R. 3142 would be entitled only to minimum wage, despite the fact that all other nonimmigrants who come to the U.S. to work are guaranteed either the prevailing wage or the higher adverse effect wage. This will undercut the wages the market otherwise would set for American and legally resident workers for these jobs and ensure that we repeatedly will be faced with an agricultural "labor shortage."

This amnesty is open-ended and is structured such that fraud in the application process will likely be even more rampant than was the case in the Special Agricultural Worker amnesty that was enacted as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). Nothing in this bill will prevent agribusiness interests from hiring new illegal aliens to replace those amnestied under this bill.

Illegal alien applicants for amnesty would be eligible for taxpayer-funded attorneys and legal services through the Legal Services Corporation to file their amnesty claims and contest denials. This provision would create an economic bonanza for immigration attorneys at our expense.

Supporters of the bill are hoping passage of this legislation now will lay the groundwork for broader amnesties later this year and next year after the elections. In both the House and Senate, supporters are circulating letters touting endorsement of the legislation by over 400 national and local organizations. In addition, phone banks have been set up for calls to Senate offices to give the impression of wide support by the public.

Send a fax to your Senators saying you oppose this bill-- tell them amnesties don't work.

here:

http://www.NumbersUSA.com/fax

or here:

http://capwiz.com/fair/issues/alert/?alertid=5765431&type=CU

Second Bill:

S.1635 – The Chambliss L-1 Visa Reform Act

This bill would address only one aspect of L-1,and would leave open such huge loopholes that it would still be"business as usual" even for that aspect if the bill were to pass.

That "one aspect" concerns what is termed _secondary employers_. The example often cited is that in which Tata brought in some programmers from India under the L-1 visa, and then "rented" them to Siemens in Florida. Here Siemens became the secondary employer.

The issue of secondary employers is not overly important, since (a) Siemens could bring in its own workers from its Indian subsidiary (Siemens Information Systems Ltd.), thus sidestepping the entire issue, and (b) no matter how the law were phrased to disallow L-1s working for secondary employers, it always could be circumvented.

Chambliss is apparently not willing to make any substantive changes to his bill, because he wants to pass a NON-bill that allows "business as usual," while giving the appearance that L-1 has been reformed. That is the most dangerous kind of bill, worse than no bill at all, as it means that Congress would not return to this subject, and American programmers and engineers are left with nothing.

The Chambliss L-1 Reform bill is already weak and inadequate, but it could get much worse.

This bill was scheduled for a markup last week, but consideration was postponed for the third week in a row. One of the reasons -- apart from an absence of a quorum -- is the behind the scenes negotiations taking place.

The H-1B modifications are expected to include exemptions for Master’s and Doctoral students from the 65,000 cap.

The H-2B modifications could include increasing the cap or providing relief from the cap for the remainder of the summer.

If these compromises take place, S.1635 will do much more harm than good.

As the bill currently stands, it has only has the minor reforms mentioned above even though L-1 visa abuse is a major factor in American job loss.

The three key pieces that must be added to this bill are annual limits/caps, random compliance audits, and enforcement provisions.

You can take action on this bill here: There's a toll-free number to call the Senate.

http://www.rescueamericanjobs.org/news/alerts/20040506.html?alertid=2868636

Call the Committee members and demand they withdraw support of the Chambliss S.1635 L-1 Reform bill unless the following provisions are added:

Subject the L-1 visa program to an annual limit/cap

Require companies to attest, under penalty of perjury, their compliance with L-1 visa laws

Authorize random compliance audits of L-1 employers

Set term limits of no more than two years for L-1 visas

Prohibit blanket petitions for L-1 visa holders

Increase L-1 visa processing fees

Require an LCA (Labor Condition Application) in the L-1 visa application process

Restrict L-1 visas to management and executive positions only - remove the "specialized knowledge" clause

Require companies to pay prevailing wages to L-1 visa holders

Prohibit third-party contractors from employing L-1 visa holders

Require L-1 visa holders to work within the sponsor's primary operating premises

Urge your senators to oppose S. 1635, or any other legislation that includes provisions that explode the cap on H-1B and H-2B guestworkers. Tell them you don’t like their job-giveaways. Let them know you want real reforms in the H-1B and L-1 Visa programs.

Go here for contact information.

http://capwiz.com/fair/dbq/officials

Better yet, here's the numbers:

Hatch (R-UT)
Grassley (R-IA)
Spector (R-PA)

Phone: 202-224-5251
Phone: 202-224-3744
Phone: 202-224-4254

De Wine (R-OH)
Sessions (R-AL)
Graham (R-SC)

Phone: 202-224-2315
Phone: 202-224-4124
Phone: 202-224-5972

Chambliss (R-GA)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Leahy (D-VT)

Phone: 202-224-9521
Phone: 202-224-2934
Phone: 202-224-4242

Biden (D-DE)
Kohl (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)

Phone: 202-224-5042
Phone: 202-224-5653
Phone: 202-224-3841

Schumer (D-NY)
Durbin (D-IL)
Kennedy (D-MA)

Phone: 202-224-6542
Phone: 202-224-2152
Phone: 202-224-4543

Kyl (R-AZ)
Craig (R-ID)

Phone: 202-224-4521
Phone: 202-224-2752

Feingold (D-WI)
Edwards (D-NC)

Phone: 202-224-5323
Phone: 202-224-3154

11:23 pm
Sunday May 16, 2004
posted by rickrob
link

Monday May 10, 2004

Harris Miller attacks e-voting critics (true to ITAA's MO)

Remember that the people of BlackBoxVoting released transcripts of a conference call between electronic voting machine officials and Harris Miller?

Miller was hawking his lobbying wares to the industry leaders. (If you want to see how Miller sells his evil snake oil, check out this proposal...note the fees for his services are $100K -$125K plus dues!)

During the conference call, Miller made the following points:

Efforts must be made to get academics "on our side".

Working with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is desirable, however, if NIST mandated an oversite committee chaired by David Dill (a respected industry critic), ITAA assumed no one would want to play.

MicroVote asked what would happen if a non-member got into trouble over some issue such as security, would the Blue Ribbon Task Force remain mute or would it turn into “a loose star chamber where you have commenting vendors commenting on another vendor’s situation?”

Harris (ITAA): Normally we would not comment on a non-members situation, it wouldn’t be appropriate. “Unless the industry came to the conclusion that it was negatively impacting the entire industry.” In which case we say we can’t comment on company “x” and we reiterate our standards and code of ethics that our coalition adheres to.

Any group who gets in trouble would hopefully join us to get out of trouble.

Chet from AccuPoll: “Absolutely lobbying is an essential element for this industry.”

Harris (ITAA): “We were too subtle by half. Our #4 goal, “develop liaisons with key constituencies” is a nice word for lobbying. We just didn’t want a document floating around saying the election industry is in trouble, so they decided to put together a lobbying campaign.”

Harris boasts:
“My background is I worked on Capitol Hill for ten years and ran a lobbying firm for ten years, before I took over here in ’95. A third of my staff has direct public policy experience working on Capitol Hill. We are the most quoted IT trade association in Washington, etc, etc. I can give you all the bona fides if you want them.

I just don’t like to put it in writing because if this thing winds up in the press somewhere, inadvertently, I don’t want the story saying the e-voting industry is in trouble and decided to hire a lobbying firm to take care of their problem for them".

Emmett (Freeman?) Accenture: “In terms of the task force responding to media inquiry, does the task force handle that role, where someone becomes a spokesman for the group? If so, who does it?”

Harris: “The answer is ITAA, it usually goes out over my name, but we could add other companies if you wish. Let’s assume we wanted to respond to some attack... assume another academic came out and said something against one particular company and the task force wanted to respond. The task force would put out a statement, ‘Harris Miller, on behalf of ITAA, says this is BS’... we would also invite other members of the task force to put in comments if they want... normally the first person to put in a comment would be the chairman and other companies would have a chance to comment, blah, blah.. and be included in the press release.”

Emmett: “So, that’s the kind of protocol you have to deal with public debate.”

Harris: “Similarly, when we get press calls and the press says ‘Joe Academic says your industry’s full of crap and doesn’t know what it is doing.’ What do you say Harris? The reporters always want to know what are the companies saying?.. And there can be two scenarios there: The companies may want to hide behind me, they don’t want to say anything... frequently that happens in a trade association, you don’t want to talk about the issues as individual companies. We have that issue right now with the Buy America Act, for example in congress. No company wants to act like it’s against Buy America -- even though they’re all against it – so I take all the heat for them.

That last point...that Miller would take all the heat if an academic stood up and said that the evoting industry is full of crap...is just what Miller is doing now.

Aviel Rubin is a Computer Science professor at John Hopkins, whose education and work experience centers around computer security. He has grave doubts as to the security of the electronic voting machines. He put his money where his mouth is and volunteered as an election judge for the primaries to observe the machines in action. He testified before Federal Election Assistance Commission on May 5, 2004.

So, what does Harris Miller say about this qualified outspoken critic of the industry that is paying ITAA $100K -$150K plus dues to protect their image?

""A few critics have tried to play to the fears of many Americans by spreading myths, misinformation and conspiracy theories, but frankly, the facts are irrefutable," said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, in a written statement. "Electronic voting systems work, and work well."

Read everything you can about this issue, particulary how Harris Miller and the ITAA are framing the argument. Miller did this with the Florida agricultural industry, our industry, now the e-voting industry.

We are all being sold out for $100k. Plus dues.
05:30 am
Monday May 10, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

Sunday May 9, 2004

"US companies gain, professionals lose jobs"

Outsourcing is only good, blah blah blah
08:19 pm
Sunday May 9, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

Why corporations love cheap labor

"The reason everyone talks about outsourcing is cheap labor," says Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a nongovernmental organization that tracks the spread of toxic chemicals across the globe. "But there are certain things that go hand in hand with cheap labor that no one wants to talk about. They include the lack of government occupational safety regulation, lack of tort law to redress a grievance, lack of labor unions. All of these things are part and parcel of outsourcing. You're not just taking advantage of cheap labor, you're taking advantage of marginalized and vulnerable populations, and the fact that you can poison people without ever having to face the music."

via via metafilter

10:26 am

posted by gmminks
link

Saturday May 8, 2004

Blame new Knowledge

Clinton's labor secretary says if we want to blame something for the job loss, it should be knowledge. In an article in the sun news he says:

"Blame new knowledge. Knowledge created the electronic gadgets and software that can now do almost any routine task."

So, it's you older IT workers faults for inventing this stuff. You should all be ashamed to be fussing about jobs going overseas, age discrimination, exploitation of immigrant workers, the lack of saving passed onto the consumer by sending work offshore, the lack of privacy protection when consumer information is shipped offshore, because you caused it all by being so damned innovative!

btw, if you can't tell, the above is sarcasm....what I really think is that these "liberal hippy douches" (you know what I mean if you watch SouthPark) as bad as the conservative Republican religious freaks.

It's our fault for inventing the technology? get real!
09:30 am
Saturday May 8, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

make sure to catch Dilbert this week

It's about offshore call centers:

just in case that doesn't work... and if you want to check out past strips....
go here
08:48 am

posted by gmminks
link

Thursday May 6, 2004

Harris Miller wants to privatize Secret Clearance jobs

Is he nuts?

"A company is not going to pay someone indefinitely while they mark time waiting for a clearance to come through," said ITAA President Harris Miller. "In essence, this means skilled employees are losing out on good paying job opportunities while work on important government contracts goes undone."

OK, so an ITAA "Blue Ribbon Panel" is telling the Government to speed up the process that grants individuals Secret Security Clearance.

Who is on this so-called expert panel?

Gary Nakamoto, CEO of Base Technologies, a federal contractor that operates data centers for the Customs and Border Protection Agency

Doug Wagoner, vice president of Data Systems Analysts

(he also happens to be the chairman of ITAA's Intelligence/Security Clearance Task Force)

Sudhaker Shenoy, CEO of Information Management Consultants

(also chairman of the Northern Virginia Technology Council)

07:52 pm
Thursday May 6, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

Tuesday May 4, 2004

Why are temp visaholders crafting their own lca?

From a list I am watching....

Hi,
I have recently applied for H1B visa (Position: Software Engineer)
and I have received a query from USCIS (formerly, INS). The query is
as given below:

The documentation submitted is not sufficient to warrant favorable
consideration of your petition/ application. The following
information is also required.

1. Submit evidence that the position meets one of the following
criteria to qualify as a specialty occupation:

A. A baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is
normally the minimum requirement for entry into the particular
position.

B. The degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel
positions among similar organizations or, in the alternative, the
employer may show that its particular position is so complex or
unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree
(Parallel positions must be documented; such documentation must be
submitted to show that it is normal practice for similar firms to
employ individuals with a baccalaureate degrees in a specialized area
in parallel positions);

C. The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for
the position (the employer's mere statement that a degree is required
is not good enough; the employer must submit documentation to show
that individuals with baccalaureate or higher degrees in a
specialized area have been employed in the past;

D. The nature of the specific duties is so specialized and
complex that knowledge required to perform the duties is usually
associated with the attainment of a baccalaureate or higher degree.

2. Submit a complete, detailed description of the duties to be
performed by the beneficiary. If the beneficiary will be performing
various duties, please indicate the percentage of time the
beneficiary will spend performing each duty.

Can anyone tell me what I am supposed to do to prove the questions
asked. Also, if you have any samples of such letters please do email
it to me.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Madhav

When asked why this person's employer is not handling these details, the poster says:

"I am the first H-1B case this company is handling although the company was set up nearly 10 years ago. Hence he keeps falling back upon me to get questions answered. I am going to consult an attorney but I wanted to know if anyone has been through such a query."

Poor guy...I'll bet the application is not being approved because the work does not require a specialized skill.
09:56 pm
Tuesday May 4, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

We are all just spoiled

We spoiled an entire generation with the '90s. The expectation was: You go to college, find a product, get venture capital money and, boom, you're a millionaire," said Denis, the chief information officer at Trimble Navigation, a satellite software company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., that has more than 2,000 employees"

yeah, that is why I went to college
07:37 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Monday May 3, 2004

Political Coalitions

This article explains how and why political coalitions work.

This is the quote that caught my eye:

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a member of at least 300 coalitions, says R. Bruce Josten, an executive vice president. The scope and specificity of these endeavors is remarkable. For instance, the chamber directs coalitions that advocate the highway construction bill and the anti-class-action-lawsuit bill. It's also a member of two separate coalitions that want to expand the H1B and H2A visa programs. " (italics mine)

SHEESH no wonder politicians don't listen to us...it seems to them that we are outnumbered.
12:33 pm
Monday May 3, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

The sign says it all

Reading articles about the protests to FSU's commencement speaker, I came across this sign:

kinda says it all
10:54 am

posted by gmminks
link

UK reporter goes undercover in Indian call center

What is it like to have one month to teach Indian call center employees to pretend to be British so that they can sell automobile services? Must be hard considering comments such as this:

""It was OK," Tajinder says after handling a mock call, "but he [the trainer] came out with some very difficult questions about the inside of a car which I don't know about. First of all, we have never driven a car in our lives."

05:13 am

posted by gmminks
link

Washington Post op-ed on Guest Visas

"Unless our current guest worker policies are adjusted, new trade agreements could result in wide-open access for foreign workers under terms dictated by an international organization rather than our own democratically evolving immigration laws -- with potentially disastrous consequences in a number of professions, such as technology, nursing and teaching."

via Norm Matloff's newsletter
05:05 am

posted by gmminks
link

Sunday May 2, 2004

Support NJ Senator's bills

This from a Programmer's Guild email....

In NJ, State Senator Shirley Turner has once again
introduced anti-offshoring legislation for state contract work. In the
NJ Senate, her bill is S494; in the NJ Assembly, the bill is A2133.

Both bills are being held in committees. In the NJ Senate, S494 is tied
up in the NJ Senate Appropriations Committee (Senator Wayne Bryant,
Chair). In the NJ Assembly, the bill is tied up in the State Government
Committee (Assemblyman Alfred Steele, Chair).

Note: Last year the bill passed the Senate unanimously but was tabled
(and, thus, killed) in the State Government Committee by Alfred Steele
(the committee chair)... after NASSCOM lobbyists (the Indian IT industry
lobby group) descended on Trenton and cuddled up to our lawmakers.

We need to get these bills out of their respective committees and onto
the floor for a vote. The current legislative session is nearing a
recess for the summer. NOW is the time to act!

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

CALL these two committee chairs and urge them to move Turner's bill
(S494; A2133) and pass it into law:

Senator Wayne Bryant(Chair, NJ Senate Appropriations Committee):

Call 856-757-0552 and say "I support S494, the Turner
anti-offshoring bill, and I urge you to move it forward and pass it into
law."

>Assemblyman Alfred Steele (Chair, State Government Committee):

Call 973-399-1000 and say "I support A2133, the Turner
anti-offshoring bill, and I urge you to move it forward and pass it into
law."

New Jersey still could be the first state to pass anti-offshoring
legislation... but it depends on you!

WANT TO HELP EVEN MORE?

1. Spread the word: Forward this email, call your friends and family,
tell your neighbors... "No More Offshore! Pass S494/A2133!"

2. If you live in NJ, call your OWN State Senator (1 per district) and
Assembly representatives (2 per district). Don't know who they are or
how to call them?
Go to: www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp

If you speak with Senator Turner, tell her I STILL think she rocks!

09:27 am
Sunday May 2, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

John C. Dvorak on Outsourcing

John C. Dvorak has an article about the scam of outsourcing that is really quite good.

I like this point in particular:

" hear all the time that coders in India are cheaper and better. What makes them better? Have there been some blockbuster Indian software programs that I somehow missed? Maybe they are good at patching spaghetti code or doing well-defined C++ modules, but who knows? You'd think that some killer apps would have come out of India by now, as they have from Europe, the U.S., Japan, and even Russia."

He also talks about how Hillary has sold us all out to the highest [Indian] bidder.

via Norm Matloff's newsletter
09:19 am

posted by gmminks
link

Saturday May 1, 2004

Are they outsourcing the war too?

According to this article, "US and British security sub-contractors are seeking out Indian ex-servicemen" to deploy with troops on the ground in Iraq. The article goes on to say:

"The Indian personnel work under the direct command of United States and British forces. Most are deployed to perform security duties, such as guarding key installations like oil wells, refineries, food convoys and ports, as well as normal day-to-day duties around military camps. Though there is no involvement in direct combat, the situation in Iraq is fraught with risk, with some reports indicating that a few Indians might already have been injured."

The Indian government refused the US request for troops, but it looks like Bush is hell bent on "matching willing immigrants to employers", no matter what the job may be.

via metafilter.com
08:53 pm
Saturday May 1, 2004
posted by gmminks
link

US Ambassador to India David Mulford on outsourcing

""Outsourcing is the part of global economy and I don't think the US legislation can change the course of the global business relations. And I don't think private business is willing to accept any government interference on this issue."

03:10 pm

posted by gmminks
link

Buy American!

Union Jean Company

Onshore Alternatives

www.buympc.com

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