Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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June 7, 2007 12:18 PM
VOTE ALERT: Barring Outsourcers From Abusing Visas to Undercut Wages
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), my old boss, has an important bipartisan amendment coming to the floor of the Senate very soon. As reported by Computerworld Magazine, the legislation "would prohibit companies that have announced mass layoffs from receiving any new [H-1B] visas unless they could prove that overall employment would not be reduced by these layoffs." During a recent trip to Redmond, Washington, I wrote a San Francisco Chronicle column about my meetings with tech and IT workers worried about companies abusing the H-1B visa program in order to undercut domestic wages. It looks like populist Senators have heard their concerns and are fighting back on their behalf.
You can watch an excerpt of Sanders' floor speech introducing the legislation above, which I posted on YouTube.
Undoubtedly, the opponents of this amendment will claim that it's supposedly "anti-immigrant" when it's nothing of the kind. The H-1B program is set up to help companies temporarily employ foreign workers if they can't find the workers they need here in the United States. A company that is laying off workers in the United States, thus, should not be allowed to simultaneously use a program designed for labor shortages. This legislation is just straight-up common sense. It makes sure the H-1B program isn't being abused by companies who want to use as a quiet way to drive down wages - which the data shows is exactly what at least some companies are doing. And in the process, it makes sure more H-1Bs go to the companies that truly can't find workers here at home.
Check back here later - I'll update readers on whether the bill is approved or rejected.
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
Kudos to Bernie for stepping up for the American worker. But he really needs to put forth a amendment calling for a 5 year moratorium on H1-B and other visa workers.
Hell we have a surplus of native born engineers and techs who can't find work because of off-shoring, H1-B competion and age discrimination.
There is no excuse for importing low wage foreign workers other than to crush the American worker.
This is good stuff and sorely needed, but I can already see how businesses will get around this. A good portion of the H1-B Visas already go to Indian outsourcing companies located in the US. So, a US company that wants to use H1-B labor can still do their layoffs and then hire replacement H1-B workers by contracting through the Indian outsourcing companies.
Hurray for Chris V for the insight in how the incompetent US Gov does things. Also kudos to Sanders and Serota for their efforts above and beyond duty.
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