U.S. DOL Reserving 65,000 U.S. Jobs for Foreign H-1B Workers

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Wed, 31 Aug 2005 06:27:51 -0700 (PDT)

U.S. DOL Reserving 65,000 U.S. Jobs for Foreign H-1B Workers

 

 

 

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prwebxml278085.php

 

U.S. Department of Labor Reserving 65,000 U.S. Jobs for Foreign H-1B

Workers

 

 

 

The U.S. Department of Labor has approved applications for 65,000 H-1B

visas. Since the H-1B workers cannot fill the positions until after

October 1st, all of these represent open U.S. jobs, Throughout August

groups have called upon DOL to publicize these openings to qualified

U.S. workers. To date DOL has declined.

 

SACRAMENTO, CA (PRWEB) August 30, 2005 -- DOL has approved U.S.

employers to import 65,000 foreign tech workers on H-1B visas in the

next fiscal year. The DOL does not require that these employers first

try to fill jobs with U.S. workers. Because these foreign workers

cannot start work until after October 1, 2005, groups such as the

Programmers Guild have pleaded with DOL to publicize these openings so

that U.S. workers could receive equal consideration.

 

Over the past month U.S. tech workers have phoned the Department of

Labor, Foreign Labor Division at 202-693-3010, leaving messages for

Leddy Sierra and for Monica who answers by default, stating their

interest is the list of these U.S. job openings. The DOL has not

returned these phone calls.

 

DOL's Website states their mission as ensuring " that all American

workers have as fulfilling and financially rewarding a career as they

aspire to have and to make sure that no worker gets left behind in the

limitless potential of the dynamic, global economy of this new

millennium. " Ignoring the phone calls of U.S. workers asking for equal

consideration for U.S. jobs seems inconsistent with this mission.

 

A substantial percentage of the foreign workers are hired by body

shops that have no direct need for the employees. Instead the body

shops aggressively shop their H-1B workers on the open market,

directly competing with U.S. workers for the limited job openings. The

widespread use of the H-1B visa does indicate a labor or skill

shortage. Many employers, including the State of California, are

deluged with U.S. workers possessing the same skills as the H-1B workers.

 

DOL is funded by U.S. taxpayers and thus should place the interests of

U.S. workers above those of foreign workers. The DOL website provides

on-line application for employers to apply for foreign worker

certifications. Kim Berry, president of the Programmers Guild asks,

" Why doesn't DOL make those openings searchable in real-time by U.S.

job seekers? "

 

The Programmers Guild is seeking Congressional sponsors for a bill

that would simply require that employers seek and consider qualified

Americans in good faith before DOL would approve applications to fill

U.S. tech jobs with foreign workers.

 

So far no Congressmen have sponsored the bill.

 

About Us

The Programmers Guild advocates for the interests of U.S. computer

programmers and other tech workers. The Guild is seeking sponsors for

a bill that would amend the H-1B legislation to require that employers

first attempt to recruit from the 250,000 unemployed skilled tech

workers in the U.S. before DOL would approve the positions for H-1B

workers. See www.programmersguild.org for more information.

 

REFERENCES

DOL 21st Century Workforce Mission

 

http://www.dol.gov/21cw/

 

Lou Dobbs report of this issue August 26th:

 

http://www.programmersguild.org/docs/loudobbs_aug2005/

 

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