Posted on 10/21/2015 8:02:25 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom
One of the tech workers Disney laid off in January is meeting with Senate staffers Monday to describe his experience at Disney and dispel common misconceptions about the H-1B visa program.
The ex-Disney worker is meeting behind closed doors with Senate staffers from several offices, he told The Daily Caller News Foundation. These include Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions and Republican senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz.
His goal is to personally “explain the Disney situation” and try to dispel four myths he says politicans are being “fed from the tech giants.” (RELATED: Qualcomm Lays Off 4,500 Workers While Demanding More H-1bs)
Nelson asked the Department of Labor to investigate the Disney layoffs, Sessions is a leading advocate for immigration policy that puts American workers first, and Cruz is an H-1B proponent who has worked to dramatically expand the program in the past.
The ex-Disney worker may also meet with staffers from the office of senior Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley , another leading critic of the visa program who has led legislative efforts to fix the alleged abuses. (RELATED: Rubio Breaks Silence On Reports Of H-1B Abuses)
Here are the four myths tech giants and their lobbyists are using to defend the program from critics, according to the former Disney worker:
Myth: Disney is an anomaly. “This exact same situation is happening all over our state and country with most of the large Fortune 500 companies,” the laid-off worker said in an email to TheDCNF.
Myth: The laid-off workers aren’t as qualified for the job. “I hold numerous technical certifications and received the highest possible job performance rating while with Disney,” he added.
Myth: Disney creates other jobs the laid-off workers can apply for. “Disney job postings did not really exist,” he added. “Out of the several hundred IT workers displaced, only three received a new IT job.”
Myth: There is a dire shortage of skilled American tech workers. “IT salaries have steadily decreased due to a low demand of U.S. IT workers,” he said. “And many IT jobs that do still exist in this country require that U.S. IT workers have the ability to work well with foreign offshore and onshore groups.”
He and hundreds of his fellow “Cast Members” were laid off in January and allegedly blacklisted from employment at other Disney-solicited contractors, after Disney forced them to train their foreign replacements. Several of the workers filed official complaints with the Department of Labor, spurring an ongoing investigation into Disney and other companies’ alleged abuse of the H-1B visa program.
The stated intent of the visa program is to help companies bring in high-skilled foreign workers for jobs Americans can’t fill. But some companies including Disney, Southern California Edison, Fossil Group and Catalina Marketing, are allegedly using it to cut labor costs.
The amount of Indian H1B workers has exploded in the last 5 years. I personally know Americans who were perfectly qualified, 10 to 20 years of service laid off. A week or so later, an Indian H1B worker populates their cube.
This is insane! Millions of Americans cannot gain employment in their respective fields because they are being passed over in favor of H1B’s.
I remember once upon a time in America, our leaders at least pretended to protect American workers/American industry/manufacturing.
I'm not a big Trump fan mostly because of his mannerisms, personality...I find him obnoxious and an ego maniac, but I'm completely on board with his proposals for protecting America/Americans.
Well, what else is there?
Bean counters think this works but my experience was that it didn't really work very well.
And they wonder why it keeps getting easier and easier to sway American voters with anti-big-business rhetoric. These guys are doing more to undermine capitalism than the Democratic Party could ever dream of.
I expect you are right......
how ever the required work might not get done by the salary takers
perhaps you painted with a brush that is too broad
Asian as in Indians I agree.
I sure hope that Ted Cruz listens ... and listens well ... otherwise his political goose is “cooked” ... and I’ll lite the match to the stove ...
>>I’m completely on board with his proposals for protecting America/Americans.<<
>>Well, what else is there?<<
Well, how bout...integrity, character, wisdom, temperance, maturity.
I believe that we need a foreign worker program but we need to make it costly for companies that chose to take advantage of it. We don’t want the abuses that we see Disney and other companies doing. The way to do this is to make them pay a tax on the workers in the program.
Nellie won’t care. The two-faced Richard (can I call you Dick, Dick?) makes commercials promoting STEM while at the same time votes to open the H-1b floodgates. Where do you propose those grads work, Dick?
And you don’t care about the 50+ year olds who have given up looking for work and are eating up their retirement savings, do you? More destitute seniors, forced to be gimmiedats and vote RAT in self-preservation must be your plan.
Japan requires that similar visas in that country be paid 120 percent of prevailing wage. That alone, if tied to H-1B, would kill off the abuses - I don't have a problem with companies bringing in exceptional talent if they are willing to pay a premium for it.
“Right to work” is a cruel joke in Florida if you are an employee. None of the four protections enacted in the Florida Statutes as in other states. Help from the Dept of Just-Us? Ha!
I’m glad to see he is meeting with Cruz, maybe he will learn some facts. I agree with Cruz on most things, but increasing H-1b visas is definitely not one of them.
Ska-rew decorum!
Build the fence and push the button Mr Trump.
Yeah, that's it!
Reverse the decades-long tide of progressive policy. Repeal the corporate income tax, kill the EPA, and let the government regulate the hell out of aliens, not to mention putting a bounty on criminal invaders.
Great idea.
Here’s a good one from Karl Denninger over at market-ticker.org
SunTrust Banks in Atlanta is laying off about 100 IT employees as it moves work offshore. But this layoff is unusual for what the employer is asking of its soon-to-be displaced workers: SunTrust’s severance agreement requires terminated employees to remain available for two years to provide help if needed, including in-person assistance, and to do so without compensation.
Bank’s severance deal requires IT workers to be on call for two years - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3350525/posts
The other fun one is where the company says we are outsourcing functions to save money, and the CONTRACTOR like CSC has the HB-1/foreign support but the company doing the layoffs doesn’t.
Then it isn’t their fault that foreigners are brought in, and they can say the people have the option to apply for new positions with the contractors but no responsibility to see that they get hired.
And most of the positions with the contractor ARE at lower pay. But if you refuse the transfer, you refused the new job, so no unemployment benefits for you.
SunTrust’s rivals could make an investment in a small retainer with these displaced people, with the condition that they cannot work for Suntrust due to conflict of interest.
In essence, deprive Suntrust of the talent it just squandered.
If they want to win a PR coup, hire the laid off SunTrust people, embarrass Suntrust while looking good for hiring them, and then say they are not allowed to work for SunTrust due to conflict of interest.
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