News report from Hindustan times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_352974,00050001.htm
US workers gear up for protests over H-1B visas, outsourcing
S Rajagopalan
Washington, August 27
Labour protests in the US over H-1B visas and outsourcing are set to move into high gear. On September 1, Labour Day, American technology workers are planning a big protest at a California location where a Bank of America programmer killed himself in May after being told that his job has been outsourced to India.
A number of associations that have been formed to fight the loss of American jobs are gearing up to use 41-year-old Kevin Flanagan's suicide to whip up passions and force the issue in the US Congress when it reassembles after the summer recess. "Flanagan received the pink slip after he was made to train his replacement," they say.
Fiery slogans have already been emblazoned on a spate of websites, "America's best paying jobs should be held by American citizens", "Congress sold our high-tech jobs to foreigners and industry lobbyists", "Be American...Hire American", "Replace H-1B Workers With Citizens".
The protests come at a time when the US Congress is expected to take a view on the H-1B visas, whose main beneficiaries have been Indian tech workers. The number of H-1B visas will revert to 65,000 a year from the present 195,000 if the Congress fails to intervene.
One member, Tom Tancredo, has moved a bill for the very abolition of the H-1B visa, while another, John Mica, has sought curbs on outsourcing of jobs. Some other members have moved bills for restrictions on the L-1 visas. All these bills are pending with House Committee on Judiciary.
The upcoming protests have been sponsored by a coalition of organisations sporting such labels as "Hire American Citizens" and "No More H-1B". The National Association for the Employment of Americans, the Organization for Rights of American Workers, and the Programmer's Guild are among the others to have come together.
Lee Perry, a spokesman of the protest groups, said the picketers at the Bank of America campus in Concord, California will "represent hundreds of thousands of technology service sector workers laid off and replaced by imported workers through the H-1B and L1 non-immigrant visa programme and offshore outsourcing".
The groups regard the big American multinational corporations as the major offenders. The Government's policies and the actions of the big companies engaged in cost-cutting operations have made it a desperate situation for the American workforce, they alleged.
The workers' coalition has claimed that nine out of 10 American IT jobs last year had gone to H-1B and L-1 visa holders. "While there are over one million American IT workers on the streets looking for work, there are over 1.5 million H-1B workers in the US," the spokesman claimed.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_352974,00050001.htm
US workers gear up for protests over H-1B visas, outsourcing
S Rajagopalan
Washington, August 27
Labour protests in the US over H-1B visas and outsourcing are set to move into high gear. On September 1, Labour Day, American technology workers are planning a big protest at a California location where a Bank of America programmer killed himself in May after being told that his job has been outsourced to India.
A number of associations that have been formed to fight the loss of American jobs are gearing up to use 41-year-old Kevin Flanagan's suicide to whip up passions and force the issue in the US Congress when it reassembles after the summer recess. "Flanagan received the pink slip after he was made to train his replacement," they say.
Fiery slogans have already been emblazoned on a spate of websites, "America's best paying jobs should be held by American citizens", "Congress sold our high-tech jobs to foreigners and industry lobbyists", "Be American...Hire American", "Replace H-1B Workers With Citizens".
The protests come at a time when the US Congress is expected to take a view on the H-1B visas, whose main beneficiaries have been Indian tech workers. The number of H-1B visas will revert to 65,000 a year from the present 195,000 if the Congress fails to intervene.
One member, Tom Tancredo, has moved a bill for the very abolition of the H-1B visa, while another, John Mica, has sought curbs on outsourcing of jobs. Some other members have moved bills for restrictions on the L-1 visas. All these bills are pending with House Committee on Judiciary.
The upcoming protests have been sponsored by a coalition of organisations sporting such labels as "Hire American Citizens" and "No More H-1B". The National Association for the Employment of Americans, the Organization for Rights of American Workers, and the Programmer's Guild are among the others to have come together.
Lee Perry, a spokesman of the protest groups, said the picketers at the Bank of America campus in Concord, California will "represent hundreds of thousands of technology service sector workers laid off and replaced by imported workers through the H-1B and L1 non-immigrant visa programme and offshore outsourcing".
The groups regard the big American multinational corporations as the major offenders. The Government's policies and the actions of the big companies engaged in cost-cutting operations have made it a desperate situation for the American workforce, they alleged.
The workers' coalition has claimed that nine out of 10 American IT jobs last year had gone to H-1B and L-1 visa holders. "While there are over one million American IT workers on the streets looking for work, there are over 1.5 million H-1B workers in the US," the spokesman claimed.