LTEs protesting H-1B
LTEs protesting H-1B
Date: Friday, June 14, 2002 12:33 PM
*** H-1B NEWSLETTER ***
Get the Facts on H-1B at
www.ZaZona.com
On 6/4/2002 I sent a newsletter about a controversy over the State of
Ohio
hiring H-1Bs. Here are some letters to the editor that were published in
response to that article.
http://www.clevelandlive.com/letters/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/ht
ml_standard.xsl?/base/opinion/1023960811279590.xml
Work visas are an insult to Americans
06/13/02
P. David Matlock
In response to the June 2 front-page article about the hiring of
immigrant
computer professionals by the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services:
At one time, part of this department was the Ohio Bureau of Employment
Services. What an oxymoron.
It is unconscionable, unethical and probably immoral that this
department
would recruit and hire information technology workers from foreign
countries with our tax dollars while hundreds of thousands of qualified
American citizens are unemployed. These Americans have upgraded skills
and
a wealth of knowledge and experience, yet they have no jobs.
These workers have been laid off due to downsizing, the state of the
economy and, unfortunately, their age. They have been loyal,
hard-working
Americans their entire lives and now are on the outside looking in
because
no one wants to hire them. Organizations would rather sponsor an
immigrant,
at a much lower cost, or outsource their work to someplace like India,
where pay is $7.50 an hour for programming work that would cost $25 to
$50
an hour domestically.
This American labor pool is a tremendous resource that should be
recognized
for its accomplishments and the contribution that it can still make to
our
society.
P. David Matlock
Lakewood
As a Cleveland-area resident from 1986 to 1993, who migrated to Texas
because of the lack of computer-related positions, I am very disturbed
by
reporter Ted Wendling's account of how the state of Ohio is firing (or
not
hiring) U.S. citizens and replacing them with H-1B visa holders (June
2).
Even if they are members of the OCSEA union, since they are effectively
indentured to their employers, H-1B visa holders can be easily pressured
by
management to vote to decertify and break the union.
This employer practice is very destructive in the long run, since it is
part of an ongoing disincentive for American citizens to enter IT
careers.
The readership should take the time to learn about - and fight - the
dangerous H-1B visa program at www.ZaZona.com. More and more positions
are
slated for permanent displacement of U.S. citizens by "fresh,
inexpensive
young blood" - now mostly from overseas. This visa program already is
being
used to permanently displace Cleveland Municipal School District
teachers.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Gene Nelson
Carrollton, Texas
I have a few questions for Tom Hayes, director of the De partment of Job
&
Family Services, regarding his hiring of H-1B visa holders. Tell me, Mr.
Hayes, how is a recent college graduate supposed to feel when he or she
is
turned down for a position because of a lack of relevant experience (or
should I say, for being less qualified than an H-1B)? Or how about
someone
like me, unemployed with 20 years' experience and having spent the last
six
years getting as much training as possible? How are we supposed to get
qualified, if your solution in these economic times is to hire H-1Bs?
To put it bluntly, Ohio is no better than the U.S. athletic shoe firm
that
moves its factory outside of the country, pays a pittance to the foreign
sweatshop workers and then brings the product back here with a 1,000
percent markup.
Pierre Katona
Brooklyn
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