IP: CWA Calls for Repeal of H-1B Program (fwd)

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 09:40:02 -0400 (EDT)
> From: "John F. McMullen" <observer () westnet com>
> X-X-Sender: observer@westnet
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
>
> >From e-Week --
> http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,302342,00.asp
>
> CWA Calls for Repeal of H-1B Program
> By  Lisa Vaas
>
> Claiming that the H-1B visa program has "proven to be abusive of domestic
> workers in several ways," the Computer Workers of America union
> (http://www.cwa-union.org/) has passed a resolution condemning program
> abuses and called for the program's immediate repeal.
>
> The CWA has had reservations about the visa program in past years, union
> officials said, but the straw that broke the camel's back was President
> Bush's FY 2003 budget proposal
> (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/pdf/budget.pdf), which
> proposes the elimination of a technical skills training program for
> American workers that is funded by the $1,000 fees paid by employers that
> file for H-1Bs. The Bush administration wants to shift some $138 million
> out of the current H-1B visa-generated training account and apply it, and
> all future funds, to faster processing of permanent foreign labor
> certificationsa move the CWA derided in its resolution as adding "insult
> to injury."
>
> We did have reservations in prior years, but we ended up supporting the
> legislation as it was developed in Congress in that an education and
> training component was built into the program so companies would be
> contributing to the fund that would provide training opportunities for
> U.S. workers in a lot of these technical areas," said Candace Johnson, a
> spokeswoman for the CWA's national office, in Washington.
>
> "We supported that element of the program as it went forward. But we've
> seen too many problems with it now."
>
> The CWA represents more than 700,000 workers, the bulk of them in the
> telecommunications industry. The resolution was passed at the union's 64th
> convention earlier this month, in Las Vegas. The problems with the H-1B
> visa program as perceived by the CWA include this list as outlined in a
> draft of the resolution:
>
>
> The increase in the number of visas now is higher than any defendable
> level of shortages of skilled workers;
>
> H-1B visa holders are often paid less than other workers doing similar
> jobs;
>
> High-tech companies have pushed legislation to raise H-1B limits while
> they fought legal attempts to support basic labor law in regard to the use
> of permatemps;
>
> This industry activity has occurred even while more than 200,000 high-tech
> workers lost their jobs in 2001 and more in 2002 in the United States; and
>
> This industry activity appears to be an attempt to lower local wages, make
> bigger profits for corporations at the expense of local communities, to
> break existing unions by using H-1B visa holders during strikes, and to
> prevent high-tech unions from forming in the first place.
> One thing the CWA is staying away from, however, is laying the blame for
> H-1B abuses on the immigrants who are brought in under its aegis. To that
> end, the CWA's resolution also calls for "[recommitting] its support to
> winning justice for immigrant workers."
>
> "I've worked at Microsoft [Corp.] and I've seen lots of people from
> different countries come to work in IT," said Roberta Wilson, a officer
> for WashTech (Washington Alliance of Technology Workers), a Seattle-based
> organization of high-tech workers and the local affiliate of the CWA. "We
> did not want to foment talk about scab labor or any kind of xenophobic
> reaction to all the workers coming in, but we did want to point out that
> companies have been getting tax break subsidies all in the name of job
> creation from local municipalities. All companies say, 'We pay millions in
> taxes,' but they cut different deals to avoid their full share."
>
>
>    "When you come to the fork in the road, take it" - L.P. Berra
>    "Always make new mistakes" -- Esther Dyson
>    "Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
>     Pierre Abelard
>                           John F. McMullen
>    johnmac () acm org ICQ: 4368412 Fax: (603) 288-8440 johnmac () cyberspace org
>                   http://www.westnet.com/~observer
>
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