I was listening to David Sirota this morning and he's bringing up a really, really good and appropriate issue. He played a clip of yesterday's google town hall....
More below the fold
A lady said to the President that her husband is an engineer in the high tech field and was laid off three years ago and he hasn't been able to find work for that amount of time and why is he allowing tech companies to keep HB1 workers when he said he wants to keep high tech jobs with Americans.
The President was seemingly perplexed that her husband has not been able to find a job and actually said, well I can't believe your husband can't find work, we're hearing from all these companies that they can't find workers. The lady again brought up the HB1 workers and he said that those companies aren't supposed to turn to HB1 workers unless the company can't find qualified American Workers. But apparently, that's not in the law!
Now listening to Sirota, who I tend to have faith in because he does his research, the President was not being truthful, or he has listened to the tech CEO's for too long and not done his due diligence.
According to Sirota, apparently there is no requirement on the HB1 visas that these workers are only to be hired as a last resort. There is no requirement that HB1 workers be paid on par with American workers, hence American workers being laid off and not finding new work and replaced with HB1 workers. So while technically the jobs are in America, the workers are not American.
Tech companies are saying they need highly skilled workers, but, as Sirota said and I agree with, they are not finishing the sentence, they need highly skilled workers....who are willing to work for peanuts with no benefits, pensions, profit sharing, etc.
Now I've been personally critical of some of his policies, even though I voted for him, I was horrified at no single payer or even public option in healthcare, I was astounded at no interest rate caps on credit cards and no structured interest raises and a bunch of other common sense regulations not in the financial reform bill. I was dissatisfied that DADT repeal did not specifically, automatically entail all marital benefits to military same sex spouses. I'm not one of those progressives who sat on their thumbs in Nov 2010 because the President didn't keep his promises, or sold progressives down the stream for that elusive ideal called compromise. I went out and voted democrat down the line. I will also vote democrat down the line this year. So please don't accuse me of being an Obama hater. I am not. But I voted for him and I have a right to not be happy with some of his policies and some of his statements and some of his advisers.
I do want however, for someone in a position to do so, to hold the President's feet to the fire on this one and make him understand, with actual numbers, that tech companies are using the letter of the HB1 visa program and not the spirit of it, and cheating skilled, educated Americans out of American jobs for the sake of their bottom lines. I want him to hold Microsoft, Apple, Energy companies, GE and every other tech company accountable for that. And only then, can the President get on his bully pulpit and advocate for high paying, high tech, American jobs being held by Americans.
If anyone can find the clip, please feel free to attach.
ps: I read about the greed of Wall Street, energy companies, and corporations in general and I wonder....how did America become so greedy? Why do some need more and more and more millions and feel absolutely no remorse when dollars are taken out of their workers pockets and go straight into theirs? There is no trickle down economics...only trickle up. I will have another diary detailing an example of this at my job right now, at a later date.
But dammit, this is important. If anyone could listen to the David Sirota piece this morning, listen to how many tech workers called in right away to say they lost their jobs to HB1 workers. This information needs to be disseminated far and wide and someone needs to educate the President.
Peace!