NoSlaves.com http://blog.noslaves.com Cyberactivism on Trade, Economics and Labor Arbitrage Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:36:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 en DOL Investigates Top Immigration Law Firm http://blog.noslaves.com/dol-investigates-top-immigration-law-firm/ http://blog.noslaves.com/dol-investigates-top-immigration-law-firm/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:36:32 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/dol-investigates-top-immigration-law-firm/ Why on Google ads, which places automatically content appropriate ads onto your blog, I have banned hundreds of immigration law firm advertisers peddling their wares on how to not hire an American.   Obviously corporations are more than willing to pay huge attorney fees to skirt the law instead of  using  that money to hire entire divisions of American engineers.   Well, finally, the DOL is actually auditing one of these firms. From the Department of Labor press release:
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has begun auditing all permanent labor certification applications filed by attorneys at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP. The department has information indicating that in at least some cases the firm improperly instructed clients who filed permanent labor certification applications to contact their attorney before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers. The audits will determine which, if any, applications should be denied or placed into department-supervised recruitment because of improper attorney involvement in the consideration of U.S. worker applicants
Additionally the DOL said, "The department's regulations specifically prohibit an employer's immigration attorney or agent from participating in…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/dol-investigates-top-immigration-law-firm/feed/ US Workers - The Nuts and Bolts, or Screws if you will http://blog.noslaves.com/us-workers-the-nuts-and-bolts-or-screws-if-you-will/ http://blog.noslaves.com/us-workers-the-nuts-and-bolts-or-screws-if-you-will/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:56:24 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/us-workers-the-nuts-and-bolts-or-screws-if-you-will/ Vince Wade, Wade Multimedia]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/us-workers-the-nuts-and-bolts-or-screws-if-you-will/feed/ Law Firm Sues DHS Over Illegal Expansion of Guest Worker Program http://blog.noslaves.com/law-firm-sues-dhs-over-illegal-expansion-of-guest-worker-program/ http://blog.noslaves.com/law-firm-sues-dhs-over-illegal-expansion-of-guest-worker-program/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:52:37 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/law-firm-sues-dhs-over-illegal-expansion-of-guest-worker-program/ OPT program was illegal? Well apparently a powerful group of attorneys thought so too and decided to take legal action. justice From ComputerWorld, , H-1B opponents challenge Bush administration in court:
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., by the Immigration Reform Law Institute and joined by The Programmers Guild and other groups, charges that the administration's decision in April to extend the work period for students under the Optional Practical Training provision is little more than an effort to get around the H-1B cap limit
They did this with absolutely no legal basis," said John Miano, founder of The Programmers Guild in Summit, N.J. He said the federal extension will hurt U.S. workers who are seeking job training because it will divert training resources to foreign workers. "We hear over and over again that U.S. workers do not have the skills to do the job," he said.
Some of the occupational areas covered under the OPT program, believe it or not, are technician and web site design.   Considering we have people paying less than minimum wage for these skills, does anyone believe there is a shortage or that magically that's in depth scientific…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/law-firm-sues-dhs-over-illegal-expansion-of-guest-worker-program/feed/ McCain Touts Fictional Employment Theory http://blog.noslaves.com/mccain-touts-fictional-employment-theory/ http://blog.noslaves.com/mccain-touts-fictional-employment-theory/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 18:29:08 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/mccain-touts-fictional-employment-theory/ My, my, the economic theory hits just keep rolling from John McCain.   First he said that Americans couldn't pick lettuce for $50/hr.   Of course he thinks more bad trade deals are great for the nation. That's right, damn the evidence and the statistics as our US dollar tanks and the nation is hollowed out of manufacturing and service jobs.   Now he believes by denying US citizens jobs and opportunity, displacing them with foreign guest workers, one creates jobs!   Must one wonder if McCain is living in some sort of economic fantasy world!   Or could it be he will only listen to corporate lobbyists and present their public relations teams talking points? Ars Technica reports Chuck Fish, former conglomerate Time-Warner executive and lawyer, representing McCain, claims:
For each H1-B visa hire, 20 domestic jobs are created
Ars Technica notes there is only one study that claims firing Americans and denying opportunity to Americans creates jobs.   When Ars Technica requested the source of John McCain's claim that guest worker Visas is a massive job creation engine, there was no reply from the McCain campaign. Even worse, Ars Technica is quoting a corporate lobbyist paper that has been heavily debunked.   Of course it is debunked, does anyone in their right…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/mccain-touts-fictional-employment-theory/feed/ Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick on Immigration http://blog.noslaves.com/jeff-merkley-and-steve-novick-on-immigration/ http://blog.noslaves.com/jeff-merkley-and-steve-novick-on-immigration/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 22:38:47 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/jeff-merkley-and-steve-novick-on-immigration/ Immigration is the 3rd rail of politics, especially for Democrats.   One is guaranteed to be name called and attacked if any attempts to have a controlled immigration policy are made.     long hard dig In the Oregon Senate Democratic Primary, not surprisingly, finding out where the candidates stand is a hard, long dig.   Like stepping through a mine field, one false move is guaranteed to be targeted by some special interest group.    Let's go past the name calling hype and try to find out where they really stand and why these positions are vital to US workers. Steve Novick on Immigration: [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmExdWhcVxg] First,  Novick talks about the small business owner getting wiped out by the competition through use of cheap illegal labor.  Yet in the very next sentence, he endorses the failed Comprehensive Immigration Bills! The comprehensive immigration bills were opposed by the AFL-CIO because they were loaded with guest worker Visas and were anti-labor. Jeff Merkley on Immigration: [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAxL7COE_TE] Now Merkley is mentioning something very real, labor supply and demand. It is well known among labor economists (and corporations) to lower wages, one dramatically increases the domestic labor supply.   These are fundamental economic laws and apply to to any worker in any labor market,…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/jeff-merkley-and-steve-novick-on-immigration/feed/ Straight From the Horse’s Mouth - It’s about Cheap Labor http://blog.noslaves.com/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-its-about-cheap-labor/ http://blog.noslaves.com/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-its-about-cheap-labor/#comments Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:59:52 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-its-about-cheap-labor/
If you can find high-quality talent at a third of the price, it's not too hard to see why you'd do this
says EDS chairman Ron Rittenmeyer. So much for the talk of domestic shortages of engineers. EDS has shifted literally tens of thousands of jobs overseas. EDS owns the India-based offshore outsourcing firm, MPhasis, which uses the H-1B & L-1 visa programs to facilitate this transfer. WashTech, a local of the CWA (AFL-CIO) has an action item to demand the extension of student worker Visas be set back to it's original. If you are a Professional worker and have your own personal horror story on wage arbitrage, displacement through insourcing and/or offshore outsourcing, may we request you join Hire Americans First and add your story so the facts of how guest worker Visas are used to displace US Professionals cannot be dismissed. For your viewing pleasure, another group has made a series of you tube videos worth watching: [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BIvffAHsJs] [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDltU1ysQTE] [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX9zYxi8EoM] Finally Ex-startup CEO turned Academic Vivek Wadhwa also agrees we should get rid of the lottery on the H-1B Visa program. But we should not allow any increases in H-1B or the creation of an F-4 Visa and instead…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-its-about-cheap-labor/feed/ DHS Illegally Changes Rule to Increase Foreign Guest Workers http://blog.noslaves.com/dhs-illegally-changes-rule-to-increase-foreign-guest-workers/ http://blog.noslaves.com/dhs-illegally-changes-rule-to-increase-foreign-guest-workers/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:51:49 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/dhs-illegally-changes-rule-to-increase-foreign-guest-workers/ bypassed Congress and increased foreign guest workers through a ruling and executive order.   No input from US workers, no votes, nothing.   Even worse, Bill Gates claims a weakened America is a good thing! DHS Changes Rule
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released today an interim final rule extending the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) from 12 to 29 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students. The extension will be available to F-1 students with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics who are employed by businesses enrolled in the E-Verify program
One small problem. Students graduating in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics majors are about three times the total number of new jobs created in the United States for these majors.   So now, to make matters worse, DHS increases the ability to hire foreigners, insuring more Americans cannot get a job! UI PAUL ALAMEDA, President AFL-CIO, DPE
The projection is the growth in this industry is about 120,000 jobs per year and this is in the high tech meaning math and science degrees. And we're graduating in excess of 300,000 with bachelors, masters and PhD's from United States universities
The below Lou Dobbs segment goes into more detail:…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/dhs-illegally-changes-rule-to-increase-foreign-guest-workers/feed/ Senators Grassley & Durbin Confront Firms, Stand Up for American Professionals http://blog.noslaves.com/senators-grassley-durbin-confront-firms-stand-up-for-american-professionals/ http://blog.noslaves.com/senators-grassley-durbin-confront-firms-stand-up-for-american-professionals/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:09:11 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/senators-grassley-durbin-confront-firms-stand-up-for-american-professionals/ DURBIN AND GRASSLEY ZERO IN ON H-1B VISA DATA God bless Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley.  They are asking some tough questions on H-1B and L-1 Guest worker Visas and how they are being used.  For some background, H-1B guest worker Visas are a temporary, corporate sponsored method to bring in foreign labor.  The program is supposed to be about supplementing the US labor force with specialty skilled professionals who cannot be found domestically.  But instead, the program often bypasses American professionals capable of performing the work desired.  In other words, the H-1B guest worker visa is often used as a labor arbitrage vehicle.    Labor arbitrage is a method to increase profits by squeezing wages of workers. Business Week has published a handy table showing how the biggest users of these insourcing methods (bringing in cheaper labor via guest worker Visas) are Indian firms which specialize in providing technical services at lower costs. From his press release Durbin is calling it out:
The H-1B program can’t be allowed to become a job-killer in America - Senator Dick Durbin
So in other words, if companies cannot offshore the job, they are insourcing, or bringing over cheaper labor under guest worker Visas to labor arbitrage American workers and pocket the…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/senators-grassley-durbin-confront-firms-stand-up-for-american-professionals/feed/ The Bill Gates Show http://blog.noslaves.com/the-bill-gates-show/ http://blog.noslaves.com/the-bill-gates-show/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:41:22 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/the-bill-gates-show/ Once again, it's the Bill Gates propaganda show on Capital Hill.  Bill Gates the Borg This time Gates got his own personal hearing in front of the House Science Committee.  Of course our representatives fawned and flattered, despite the fact Gates was spewing lies of astounding proportions.  Like a fountain of fictional statements,  Bill Gates spouted his global labor arbitrage agenda.  Spread like rancid butter across our Unrepresentative of America Congress, most just licked their lips in Bill Gates adulation.    Let's go through some of the spin. The threat from Bill Gates:  Microsoft will offshore outsource jobs because Congress won't let us bring in unlimited cheap labor. This is an obvious lie for H-1Bs have been shown to enable offshore outsourcing and are referred to as the outsourcing Visa.   Microsoft has been moving R&D offshore for years even when they had in essence unlimited guest worker Visas.    Gates claim that 1/4ths of startups are started by immigrants.  Gates fails to note most immigrants did not come over on H-1B guest worker Visas. Also by the percentages of people in the field, the number of immigrants forming corporations is less that US citizens. Implying somehow that only foreigners have a lock on entrepreneurship is fairly discriminatory against Americans and Gates also fails to note…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/the-bill-gates-show/feed/ Oh Canada, Catching Obama on NAFTA DoubleSpeak? http://blog.noslaves.com/oh-canada-catching-obama-on-nafta-doublespeak/ http://blog.noslaves.com/oh-canada-catching-obama-on-nafta-doublespeak/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:52:41 +0000 Bob Oak http://blog.noslaves.com/oh-canada-catching-obama-on-nafta-doublespeak/ CTV, a major Canadian network, who checks their sources and it's damning.  They catch Obama in a bold faced lie on NAFTA. From CTV:
Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources. The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value
[flash http://www.youtube.com/v/_LtbLEKHsi0 ] There are two must see video reports. The first is the original story, the second is the Clinton campaign not only denying they did anything similar but encouraging CTV to investigate and out anyone even remotely affiliated with them who could be found to make such promises to not renegotiate NAFTA. [flash http://www.youtube.com/v/jAJYMgX4JuU ] So far, it sure appears that CTV is dead on, which leads to another question, why is it that Canadian broadcast television can break this so important story while US TV goes on and on about identity politics. Maybe when they renegotiate NAFTA we can import some real journalism to boot. Additional MSN…]]> http://blog.noslaves.com/oh-canada-catching-obama-on-nafta-doublespeak/feed/