The lobbyist and spin doctors against the working American have launched all sorts of anti-union websites, one of their newest is using the "stop unions" phrase. So here's a nice little spot on Blogger where I can test some nice widgets for my own site Joe's Union Review
From the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO (6/12/08) :
INDIAN WORKERS SUSPEND HUNGER STRIKE
Indian trafficking survivors suspended their 29-day hunger strike at a rally outside the Department of Justice Wednesday following a wave of support over the past month from US Congress-members, labor and religious leaders, and thousands of labor and civil rights activists across the country.
"We have confidence to suspend our hunger strike today because we have faith in these allies to fight alongside us until the traffickers are brought to justice," said Indian Workers' Congress Organizer Sabulal Vijayan. "With our hunger strike, we have won concrete actions that will help protect future workers from the nightmare of forced labor we suffered."
At the rally, US Congressmember Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called the treatment the workers faced at the hands of Indian recruiters and their employer, Signal International, (DC Jobs with Justice Corner: Indian Workers to Stage Hunger Strike in DC 5/8/08 UC) "wrong, inhumane, and immoral." Kucinich and 17 other US Congress-members sent a letter to US Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week demanding he "take the steps necessary to ensure the workers' continued presence so that DOJ can continue this important investigation of modern-day slavery, human trafficking, and forced labor and bring these traffickers to justice."
Kucinich has also promised to hold a Congressional hearing on abuses of guest workers by Signal and other companies. "I think we as Americans and working people around the world owe you an enormous debt for standing up," said Nickeled and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich. "You helped bring to light a scandal of slavery in the US."
Quoting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent statement that a “robust law enforcement response is essential” in stopping “petty tyrants who exploit their laborers,” AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt called on the Bush Administration to “apply those principles right here at home” and prosecute Signal. The rally - attended by over one hundred supporters - was part of a National Day of Action for the workers that included congressional visits and rallies outside DOJ offices in 10 other cities.
Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress
The AFL-CIO WebBlog has been covering this also (most recent below)
If this is the first you have heard of this story, you don't visit enough, from Union City e-mail:
Indian Guestworkers to Rally Outside DOJ:
Indian guestworkers and supporters will march on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday at noon to demand the DOJ allow workers to stay in the US during the ongoing investigation against their employer Signal International. “The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program,” reported Julia Preston in the New York Times on Saturday.
“The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States.” The New York Times article followed the hospitalization of Paul Konar – the only remaining hunger striker from the group that began the strike on May 14 – Thursday that forced him to end his 23-day hunger strike. “Somebody needed to do something for others, so we, the Indian Worker Congress started this fight for justice,” said Konar Thursday. “I took this risk of holding a hunger strike to achieve justice in this country for all people.” 11 workers remain on hunger strike. Click here to sign a petition to support the workers.
Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress
More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's
If this is the first you have heard of this story, you don't visit enough, from Union City e-mail:
Indian Guestworkers to Rally Outside DOJ:
Indian guestworkers and supporters will march on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday at noon to demand the DOJ allow workers to stay in the US during the ongoing investigation against their employer Signal International. “The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program,” reported Julia Preston in the New York Times on Saturday.
“The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States.” The New York Times article followed the hospitalization of Paul Konar – the only remaining hunger striker from the group that began the strike on May 14 – Thursday that forced him to end his 23-day hunger strike. “Somebody needed to do something for others, so we, the Indian Worker Congress started this fight for justice,” said Konar Thursday. “I took this risk of holding a hunger strike to achieve justice in this country for all people.” 11 workers remain on hunger strike. Click here to sign a petition to support the workers.
Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress
More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's
"Very little has changed in the last hundred years. Welcome to the new world order."- Ron Ault, President Metal Trades Dept., AFL-CIO in support of hunger strikers Signal Corp Fucked American workers from the beginning Getting to the bottom of why this is a plight for all American workers
I have been following this story for a while, not only for the fact that it's a crime against humanity and every labor law of the United states, not just for the fact that I detest slavery and Visa abuses, not only for the constantly worsening conditions that working people in my United States must endure, the HUGEST GRIPE I have is that this is the work that myself and my fellow union brothers and sisters do for a living, and while we get a decent paycheck, we only get one when we work and we are by no means independently wealthy. Construction is quickly becoming the most dangerous profession in the country, it requires high skills and training. Signal International decided that it wouldn't even use any US workers at all, and was granted H2B, temporary, non-seasonal Visa's to bypass all American workers and get them from elsewhere. I know quite a few pipefitters and steamfitters who would have worked to get Signal back online.
So Signal Corp fucked the American worker from the beginning. Thats just the start to our story. I'll let the E-Active campaign, by Jobs With Justice, which has already had 9,000 E-mails sent to Congress asking for an investigation of Signal International, explain the rest of this travesty.
When Signal International needed workers to rebuild the shipping industry, they did not hire and train the local population. Instead, Signal used the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.
Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.
On March 6, more than 100 workers broke the human trafficking chain and quit their jobs at Signal in protest. These workers, together with the New Orleans Workers Center, are carrying forward the struggle for justice not only for themselves, but also for all immigrant workers in the U.S. by exposing the fundamental injustices of the guest worker program. These workers have toured the U.S. telling their stories and have appealed to Federal Government to investigate Signal International and their recruiters, only to be surveilled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On May 14th, these brave workers started a hunger strike to demand action from our elected officials.
You can help! Please urge your Representatives in Congress to hold hearings on Signal International and to grant continued presence to the workers.
Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress
Tomorrow is day 20
I just got my E-Mail from Metro Labor and found that there was only 1 striker remaining, a man named Paul, today is the 19th day, last week Paul had his 54th birthday on the line. According to Scott Reynolds, the is State & Local Labor Council Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, writing for DC Metro:
Paul is of course much thinner than when I saw him last and his voice is weak. He slept most of the time I was there. When we talked he spoke with an almost spiritual sense of conviction about doing this so others wouldn't have to endure the same exploitation he and his fellow workers had suffered. He said 'prayer is my food.' There wasn't a trace of bitterness or anger. He seemed almost serene. I forget sometimes that struggle isn't just about tactics and strategy, though those things are undeniably important. It's also about sacrifice and courage. Paul may not know that his campaign is an uphill battle that hasn't yet found much of a spotlight or a patron, but if he does know I'm pretty sure he doesn't care much. The successful hunger strike at Georgetown University lasted nine days. Gandhi fasted for 21. Tomorrow will be day 20 for Paul. Amazing.
I'm with you in spirit Paul, speaking of the plight and the injustices these workers endured, I happened across a site called "The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice", which as of now is dedicated to spreading awareness of the injustices against both foreign and American workers in post-Katrina New Orleans. They are following the story, with as much information as they can get.
AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt states
The AFL-CIO and its 10 million members are proud to support the hunger strike by these Signal workers, and their campaign to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. Government’s H2B guest worker program.
For decades, the AFL-CIO has been fighting against so-called guest worker programs, programs that are in reality indentured worker programs.
The substantial exploitation of workers in these programs has been well documented, most recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and now through the struggles of these courageous workers.
These courageous workers have clearly shown us that the H2B program is a template for exploitation, and that we need to work together to expose the abuses of the program. By denying workers their labor rights, this program lowers wages and working conditions, to the detriment of all workers.
The AFL-CIO supports this strike and will stand in solidarity with the workers through this struggle.
I have a lot more stories of slavery and labor abuses that are affecting all Americans, I've needed a little time, but I'll try to get them out tonight. Don't forget to click below and send the E-Mail
"Very little has changed in the last hundred years. Welcome to the new world order."- Ron Ault, President Metal Trades Dept., AFL-CIO in support of hunger strikers Signal Corp Fucked American workers from the beginning Getting to the bottom of why this is a plight for all American workers
I have been following this story for a while, not only for the fact that it's a crime against humanity and every labor law of the United states, not just for the fact that I detest slavery and Visa abuses, not only for the constantly worsening conditions that working people in my United States must endure, the HUGEST GRIPE I have is that this is the work that myself and my fellow union brothers and sisters do for a living, and while we get a decent paycheck, we only get one when we work and we are by no means independently wealthy. Construction is quickly becoming the most dangerous profession in the country, it requires high skills and training. Signal International decided that it wouldn't even use any US workers at all, and was granted H2B, temporary, non-seasonal Visa's to bypass all American workers and get them from elsewhere. I know quite a few pipefitters and steamfitters who would have worked to get Signal back online.
So Signal Corp fucked the American worker from the beginning. Thats just the start to our story. I'll let the E-Active campaign, by Jobs With Justice, which has already had 9,000 E-mails sent to Congress asking for an investigation of Signal International, explain the rest of this travesty.
When Signal International needed workers to rebuild the shipping industry, they did not hire and train the local population. Instead, Signal used the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.
Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.
On March 6, more than 100 workers broke the human trafficking chain and quit their jobs at Signal in protest. These workers, together with the New Orleans Workers Center, are carrying forward the struggle for justice not only for themselves, but also for all immigrant workers in the U.S. by exposing the fundamental injustices of the guest worker program. These workers have toured the U.S. telling their stories and have appealed to Federal Government to investigate Signal International and their recruiters, only to be surveilled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On May 14th, these brave workers started a hunger strike to demand action from our elected officials.
You can help! Please urge your Representatives in Congress to hold hearings on Signal International and to grant continued presence to the workers.
Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress
Tomorrow is day 20
I just got my E-Mail from Metro Labor and found that there was only 1 striker remaining, a man named Paul, today is the 19th day, last week Paul had his 54th birthday on the line. According to Scott Reynolds, the is State & Local Labor Council Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, writing for DC Metro:
Paul is of course much thinner than when I saw him last and his voice is weak. He slept most of the time I was there. When we talked he spoke with an almost spiritual sense of conviction about doing this so others wouldn't have to endure the same exploitation he and his fellow workers had suffered. He said 'prayer is my food.' There wasn't a trace of bitterness or anger. He seemed almost serene. I forget sometimes that struggle isn't just about tactics and strategy, though those things are undeniably important. It's also about sacrifice and courage. Paul may not know that his campaign is an uphill battle that hasn't yet found much of a spotlight or a patron, but if he does know I'm pretty sure he doesn't care much. The successful hunger strike at Georgetown University lasted nine days. Gandhi fasted for 21. Tomorrow will be day 20 for Paul. Amazing.
I'm with you in spirit Paul, speaking of the plight and the injustices these workers endured, I happened across a site called "The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice", which as of now is dedicated to spreading awareness of the injustices against both foreign and American workers in post-Katrina New Orleans. They are following the story, with as much information as they can get.
AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt states
The AFL-CIO and its 10 million members are proud to support the hunger strike by these Signal workers, and their campaign to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. Government’s H2B guest worker program.
For decades, the AFL-CIO has been fighting against so-called guest worker programs, programs that are in reality indentured worker programs.
The substantial exploitation of workers in these programs has been well documented, most recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and now through the struggles of these courageous workers.
These courageous workers have clearly shown us that the H2B program is a template for exploitation, and that we need to work together to expose the abuses of the program. By denying workers their labor rights, this program lowers wages and working conditions, to the detriment of all workers.
The AFL-CIO supports this strike and will stand in solidarity with the workers through this struggle.
I have a lot more stories of slavery and labor abuses that are affecting all Americans, I've needed a little time, but I'll try to get them out tonight. Don't forget to click below and send the E-Mail
Indian Ambassador Refuses to Visit with Hunger Strikers Hunger strikers – too weak to make the trip to the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – stunned the strikers on Tuesday when he told them that he had not received their list of demands and he would not visit hunger strikers because he “couldn’t get involved with politics.” "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics’”asked Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Indian workers have been pressuring Indian government officials to demand the US government allow the workers to stay in the US to participate in the human trafficking investigation against their employer, Signal International.
Indian Ambassador Refuses to Visit with Hunger Strikers Hunger strikers – too weak to make the trip to the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – stunned the strikers on Tuesday when he told them that he had not received their list of demands and he would not visit hunger strikers because he “couldn’t get involved with politics.” "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics’”asked Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Indian workers have been pressuring Indian government officials to demand the US government allow the workers to stay in the US to participate in the human trafficking investigation against their employer, Signal International.
Hundreds of Indian workers will launch a hunger strike this Wednesday to demand that the federal government investigate the guest worker program and abuse of post-Katrina Gulf Coast workers. The hunger strike follows a march from New Orleans to Washington by the workers, who escaped labor camps in Texas and Mississippi in March. "Guest workers from across the world are systematically exploited under the federal H2B visa program," says the New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ), which is supporting the workers. "They suffer abuses that routinely rise to the level of labor trafficking, forced labor, and involuntary servitude. If they organize, they face violence and deportation."
(3/16/08) I was listening to the testimony of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his points on requesting Congress for increase in H1 B visa quotas. He was mentioning that H1 B employees gets paid very high salary and most of the H1 B guys remain in US through Green card. See companies like Microsoft do not abuse H1 B visas program but there are many-2 big Indian companies are abusing these programs and also pay very low salaries to the H1 B workers keep them in a pathetic condition in USA.
Comapnies like Infosys, Wipro, TCS get the job of Software Designer, Architecht, Data Base Adminsitrator done from their employees but pay them the prevaling wage of a junior programmar as they file there H1 in junior category and pay them less salary. He only gets paid as per a Junior Programmer salary say 60 K USD where as his day to day job responsibility should be compensated by 100 K or more.
Indian H1 B employee is completely on the mercy of his Indian employer as the moment H1 is cancelled the person becomes illegal in USA so he continue to bear the abusive practices from his employer. Hiring an American would need the IT consulting to pay almost 30 K more per year for the same job responsibilities. This way of paying Indian engineer less salary brings down the overall salaries for Americans.
Most of the Indian IT consulting do not file Green Card for the employees as they want employee to be temporary for six years in USA and always be dependant on the H1 sposnoring employer. Say if they file H1 B Visa for 1000 employees but only file 10 Green card out of those 1000 H1B guys.
Mr Gates was asking to increase the quota for H1 B but most of the quota would be abused by the Indian IT Companies. Only 20 % of the quota would be used by the big American companies like Microsoft and they might be utilizing this H1 B program correctly but rest of the 80% would be used by Indian IT consulting companies who would abuse the emoloyees and bring down the entire salary level for American employees.
One H1 B employee works in USA and be a Onsite coordinator but in his team there are 5 engineers in India. So he becomes a coordinator and 5 people work in India. So one h1 B is replacing atleast 5-6 jobs in USA.
I know a very close friend of mine who is on a H1 B program and get paid only 65 K per year whereas the same job being done by an American is getting paid about 90K per year. He cannot raise his voice as his Indian employer would kick him back to India. So this way the abuse continues and if the congress increase the H1 B quota the more Indian employees would get exploited, IT salary would come down further and jobs would continue to get shipped to India.
And From The Star Ledger
Editorial: Going after the skills of foreign workers (3/16/08) Excerpt A well-intended visa program needs expansion and reform.
Four years ago, the Office of Management and Budget found the program "vulnerable to fraud or abuse" and made several suggestions for reform, none of which has been implemented.
In most cases, the H1-B program does not require that employers hire a U.S. worker who may want a particular job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from a job in favor of a foreign worker, according to the Department of Labor. In fact, contrary to widely held belief, most employers using the H1-B program do not have to search at all for a U.S. worker willing to fill a job.
Of the 10 companies that filed the most requests for H1-B visas in 2006, seven had headquarters in India. Those companies use H1-B visas mainly to send workers to the United States for training before bringing them back to work in low-wage countries.
Oversight has been less than rigorous. The Department of Labor certified 99.5 percent of the nearly 1 million applications that it reviewed from 2002 to 2005. A check of the same applications by the Government Accountability Office found thousands of instances where the wage rates being paid to H1-B workers fell significantly below the prevailing wage, a violation of the rules. And that GAO review merely looked at the information provided by the employers themselves, without verifying the information's accuracy. In fact, the H1-B program does not require any verification of the information presented by employers. Many of the workers brought in under the program actually earn less than the median U.S. income. Read Full Story
Thanks to Global Writers, a blog which according to their about: The blog is linked to the ILO International Training Centre course ‘Communicating labour rights’. Blog
Brussels, 18 March 2008: The ITUC has today called on the US and Indian Governments to take action on behalf of nearly a hundred Indian workers who on 10 March protested the trafficking practices they suffered when they were recruited in India only to be exploited on a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The workers are demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice open a criminal investigation against their traffickers and that it act to ensure that future workers and their families do not face the same modern-day slavery. Reportedly, on the same day a law suit was filed on behalf of about 500 Indian dock workers. The 82-page complaint accuses Signal International, a marine construction company, and American and Indian recruiters Malvern Burnett and Dewan Consultants respectively, of subjecting over 500 Indian workers to forced labour, trafficking, fraud and civil rights violations. Full Story
Washington, March 19: More than 100 Indian workers, who alleged that they faced "slave-like treatment" in a Mississippi shipyard after being "tricked" into coming to the US, have began a march from New Orleans to Washington to meet Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen in their search for justice.
The protesters, who alleged that the Indian government failed to protect them, are expected to reach Washington DC on March 26.
"We write in response to your seven-day-long silence, followed by a 97-word letter that adds insult to the workers' injury as survivors of human trafficking. Apparently 18 months of human trafficking merited less than 100 words from you," the workers have said in a letter to Ambassador Sen.
"You leave us no choice but to launch a satyagraha so that the truth will come to light and justice will be served," they added.
"My doors are always open to any of my fellow citizens of India," Sen had said in a letter to Saket Soni of the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity.
"I am willing to receive you and other Indian workers at my office at a mutually convenient date and time to see how legitimate grievances and concerns could be met," Sen had said in the March 17 letter making also the point that a report submitted by senior Indian officials on the matter is being examined.
The Indian workers have made a number of demands including asking the Ambassador to pressurize the State Department to restrict travel to India for their employer Signal Internationals US recruiters.
They also want India to put pressure on the US government to halt any expansion of the guest worker program until both governments have adopted an agreement that reflects the interests of workers, as well as Companies and recruiters.
"These workers received a harsh education in the caste system of the United States," said Soni, also Director of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice.
"The Indian government must look these workers in their face and decide: On what terms is India willing to send its citizens to become indentured servants in the United States?" he said in a statement.
The workers quit their job in a Mississippi shipyard and sued the employer demanding "tens of millions of dollars" in damages for allegedly bringing them to the US on a false promise of permanent residency and forcing them to work under inhuman conditions.
What do you call it when those who cross the Mexican-U.S. border get charged thousands of dollars for a ride to a job where their employer makes them pay rent for unspeakably bad living conditions and board for the food they can only buy at the company store and where that employer patrols with dogs, trucks and thugs so the workers can't leave?
John Bowe calls it slavery. And it's happening in the United States right now, he says. Bowe's newest book, Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the Global Economy, makes the case using three specific cases and geographical areas to show just how much workers in the U.S. get undermined and hurt by these practices.
Interview with author by Suzi Steffen, AlterNet. Same article, excerpted
SS: Do you see American unions helping in this fight for ending slavery? What could they do, and why should they do it?
JB: Well, the unions have caught up and gotten much smarter in the last 10 years. At first they'd be thinking anti-immigrant, and now, it's better for them to focus on, "If you're in this country, and you're working, this is how much you're supposed to be paid," and enforce the labor laws.
But unions have gotten a bad name, and money and corporations have done a lot to give them a bad name. Perhaps it will be tough going for unions until the economic inequality in the U.S. and around the globe gets worse, but eventually it will get bad enough so unions will look like a good idea again. The reason I wrote my book was to help people choose between the imperfections and current uncoolness of unions -- and the endpoint of the current trend towards inequality. Would you rather be in a union? Or would you rather be unpaid entirely and treated far worse?
SS: The middle section of your book concerns the bizarre abuse of "training" programs, in this case for a group of welders from India. What other abuses have you heard about of this program, and how can the government or ordinary citizens help stop this abuse?
JB: Guest worker problems are bad, period. Go all the way back to the colonies and indentured servants from Germany, in which there was tons of abuse, up to the Bracero Program and the people brought to cut sugar cane. There's just always abuse. Guest worker programs don't work. I'm much more liberal than many people on the issue of admitting foreigners to become legal citizens of the U.S., but I'm probably much more conservative than most people I know about illegal immigration. Enforcement against employers who hire illegal citizens should be funded to the fullest possible levels. You can't have a fair or democratic society without the rule of law, and in my opinion, laws formed around the idea that we're all equal are wonderful. Don't have these halfway citizens. Having people around who have half rights leads to abuse.
SS: You mention that people have a hard time calling coerced work "slavery." Why is that?
JB: Because it hasn't happened to them. I had a hard time at first, I just didn't get what was the essence of slavery. It is a very complicated subject; thousands of people are earning their living writing about it. But really, it's as creative as any form of art. There are so many different tortures, punishments, rules; so many ways of convincing the slave this is the correct order of things. Someone else has control over you.
Some people said to me, "We're all slaves to consumer ideology," but you can't go throwing terms around. "Slavery" doesn't mean "suffering," or working at a job that's a bummer, or depressing or whatever. It means someone is hurting you or threatening to hurt you or your family, and they are forcing you to work, and you can't leave.
SS: How should media folks be responding to your work and to the conditions of inequality we see all around us?
JB: There's a fable where the king hired people to go out and circulate among the people and find out what was going on -- that's how journalism in a free country should work. But instead we're blinded by Britney getting fat, and we don't hear anything about regular life -- and no one really cares about it. Journalism about the poor is always done in this boo-hoo way. You have to go out and write about poor people, yes, but you have to be really good at it to make people find it interesting. No one wants to be sorry for people.
So get off your ass and get off your desk and get out there. Forget about the internet. Forget about other media. Go out into the real world. Go to places you don't know, talk to people you don't understand, whom you fear. Ask them what the world looks like through their eyes. Start from there. Surprise yourself.
Main Stream Media, are they lazy, or is it in their best interest not to report factual information.
In November 2007, I wrote a story entitled "Slavery Alive and Well In New York and the rest of the US" at Union Review , in which i run through the various ways in which is not only tolerated and unregulated but the facts are so underground the real tallies on these human rights infractions are almost impossible to figure. From the Long Island, NY perfume barons who had actual slaves living in their house, the slave like conditions in which undocumented workers in the construction industry must endure, to the prostitution industry that uses indentured servitude to pay their way to the states which the NY Times reported on way back in 1994. Before that story, back in 7-08, I wrote about the H1B Visa abuse, mostly in the tech sector, that a law firm actually had the audacity to produce a video training seminar where they boast on how to use this procedure. That story, "Corp Objective: Disqualify Qualified American Workers, Get H-1b Visa's For Non-Citizens." and it's follow-up, "Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers" are among my two most read entries since I have been writing about the labor movement. Which brings us to the newest in the trend of slavery and Visa abuse that is alive and well in these United States.
From:ABC News 3-07-08
Revolt in Mississippi: Indian Workers Claim 'Slave Treatment' Workers Call for Signal International to Be Prosecuted on Alleged Human Trafficking Charges
Rebelling against alleged "slave treatment," some 100 workers recruited from India staged a dramatic protest at a Mississippi shipyard Thursday, claiming they had been tricked into coming to the United States.
The workers, brought from India to work as welders and pipe-fitters at Signal International shipyard in Pascagoula, hurled their hard hats at company gates and demanded a federal investigation.
The workers claim they were defrauded by a Signal International recruiter in India who promised them green cards and permanent residency in the U.S. in exchange for a $20,000 fee. The workers allege that they instead received 10-month work visas, which was only enough time for them to pay off their recruitment fees.
The workers also claim that Signal forced them to live in substandard housing, with 24 men crammed into a small room. The men say Signal charged them more than $1,000 a month to live in company housing.
"For more than one year, hundreds of Indian workers at Signal International have been living like slaves," said former Signal worker Sabulal Vijayan. "Today the workers are coming out to declare their freedom. This trafficking needs to end."
The workers have reported their situation to the U.S. Department of Justice and are calling for Signal International to be prosecuted on human trafficking charges.
Signal International strongly denied the workers' allegations. The company released a statement saying, "Unfortunately, a few of the workers whom Signal had sponsored for H2B visas and recruited have made baseless and unfounded allegations against Signal concerning their employment and living conditions." According to the statement, "The vast majority of the workers whom Signal recruited has been satisfied with the employment and living conditions at Signal."
Signal called its housing complex "state of the art" and said government inspections have "found that Signal's practices and facilities are fully compliant with the law."
The Mississippi Gulf Coast has faced a severe labor shortage in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and many companies have replenished their workforce with overseas labor brought in under a guest worker plan. Human rights groups, however, charge that many foreign workers have been exploited by their employers.
"The U.S. State Department calls it 'a repulsive crime' when recruiters and employers in other parts of the world bind guest workers with crushing debts and threats of deportation," said Saket Soni of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. "This is precisely what is happening on the Gulf Coast."
How is it that we have temporary Visa's for Foreign workers when we have vast unemployment here in the United States? It's amazing how they are getting away with this, under the cloak of labor shortages, I fucking know plenty of welders who are quite capable of doing the job for an honest days pay. Never mind the fact that big business wants more Visa's. People's Weekly World has a more in depth article, from way back in March 2007:
Guest workers fired after protesting ‘slave’ conditions
Strike line formed when more than 200 workers walked off of the job at Signal, March 9, in solidarity with at 3 employees that they believe were wrongfully terminated and illegally imprisoned by management on Signal’s property. MIRA photo.
Hundreds of guest workers from India are protesting conditions in a Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard that immigrant rights activists compare to slavery.
Many of the workers gathered in a church on March 11 in this Gulf Coast port, after their employer, Signal International, threatened to send some of them home. Signal is a large corporation that repairs and services oil drilling platforms around the world.
According to Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, “they were hired in India by a labor recruiter sent by Signal. They had to pay exorbitant amounts to the company, to the recruiter and to the attorney who did the labor certification for them.”
Labor traffickers globalized Signal brought about 300 workers from India in December to work in its Mississippi yard, and another 300 to work in two yards in Texas. The workers are part of the H2B visa program, in which the U.S. government allows companies to recruit workers outside the country and bring them here under contract. The visas are good for 10 months, but the company can renew them for those it wants to keep longer. The workers must remain employed, and if they lose their jobs, they must go home.
Signal H2B worker Joseph Jacobs talking to WLOX reporter March 9, about the general despair of mistreated Indian H2B workers at the Signal International, LLC, plant in Pascagoula, MS, including a young man who attempted suicide when he learned that he might have to return to his country without the opportunity to earn the money he had borrowed to come to the United States. MIRA photo.
Workers say they were promised jobs as welders and fitters, and had to pay as much as $20,000 each to the recruiting contractor, Global Industry. Workers also say they were promised that Signal would refund the money.
“I had to pay $14,000,” says one of those workers, Joseph Jacob. “I worked for years in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, and I spent all the money I had to get the visa, which the recruiter promised would be a permanent residence visa. But that visa never came, and finally he said they could get us a H2B visa. That would give us 10 months of work, and if the company renewed it, we might get as much as 30 months. I thought that was the only way I’d ever be able to get back the money they’d taken.”
Signal put the Indian guest workers to work in the yard alongside U.S. workers doing the same job — welding and fitting. The company claims it pays workers from India the same wages as domestic employees. The guest workers say they were promised $18 an hour, but many were paid only half that after the company said they were unqualified. Chandler says the company recruiter in India determined the workers knew their jobs during the process of hiring them.
The new ‘company town’ Out of their wages, workers pay an additional $35 per day to stay in a labor camp Signal set up inside the yard. “The conditions are very bad here for the H2B workers,” Joseph says bitterly. “Twenty-four of us live in a room in a barracks that measures 12 feet by 18 feet, sleeping on bunk beds. There are two toilets for all of us and only four sinks. We have to get up at 3:30 in the morning, just so all of us have time to use the bathroom before going to work.”
Fired for meeting
Indian H2B workers from Signal International, LLC, marine fabrication company meet at a Pascagoula hall to strategize how to present their demands against substandard living and working conditions, March 4. MIRA photo.
A month ago, the Indian guest workers began meeting in a local church to discuss how they might get the company to refund the huge sums they paid to come to the U.S., and to protest the bad conditions. They organized a group, Signal H2B Workers United. It was after the company found out, they say, that it accused workers of being unqualified for their jobs and cut their pay. Eight were told they were completely incapable, and Signal announced it was sending them back to India immediately. Joseph was fired. “I am now terminated because I attended the meeting,” he says. “That’s what the company vice-president told me.”
Signal International President Dick Marler told the Mississippi Press that although workers had been employed since December, the company only discovered recently that they had no skills. Federal law required the company to fire them, he asserted.
Signal did not return calls for this story, but a statement on the company web site says the workers “receive the same pay and are taxed the same as all other Signal craft personnel. Workers from India have a reputation for being pleasant and hard-working.” It quotes Marler, who says, “We are fortunate the U.S. government has such a program that allows us to supplement our workforce during a time of emergency created by hurricanes.”
Deportations, company lock-up When the company announced the terminations, one worker disappeared. Another, Sabu Lal, slashed his wrists and was taken to the Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula. He told the Mississippi Press that dying would be better than being sent home.
“Lal and I are from the same place in India,” Joseph explains. “I knew he had sold his home, and had no place to return to. He was only able to make back a small part of the thousands of dollars he paid to the recruiter, and he said he couldn’t go home like that.”
Company security guards locked the fired workers in what they call the TV room, and wouldn’t let them leave.
Their co-workers contacted the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, which went to the Pascagoula Police Department. The police went out to the yard and eventually freed the imprisoned workers. Outside the yard, dozens of workers and activists denounced the firings and mistreatment.
DANGER: Guest worker programs
Signal International plant in Pascagoula, MS. MIRA photo.
“We’ve learned about case after case of workers in Mississippi, Louisiana and all along the gulf in these conditions,” Chandler says. “There are thousands of guest workers who have been brought in since Katrina and subjected to this same treatment. Mexican guest workers in Amelia, La., were held in the same way. They also got organized, and came to Pascagoula to support the workers here when they heard what happened.”
According to Chandler, Signal imported hundreds of workers from Peru a year ago, and after sending them home, brought the present group of guest workers from India to replace them. He says the experience of these workers highlights the problems inherent in proposals introduced into Congress over the last two years, which would set up similar schemes for the importation of as many as 400,000 guest workers per year.
“Organizations that are fighting for the rights of workers and advocating on behalf of workers should be totally opposed to these kind of programs,” he says. “The conditions that people work in here are so exploitative they’re worse than the conditions for even undocumented workers.”
The Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance and the Southern Poverty Law Center plan to go to court to stop the deportations. Meanwhile, workers say they are determined to continue challenging the company until the money they paid the contractor is returned to them.
Suppression of News that matters
Whatever your thinking, know this as a fact, this information was out there a full year ago and the suppressive corporate media didn't acknowledge it.
It is us against them, at so many levels. Turn off the damn TV and get to learning.
We knew about the abuses in New Orleans, the facts are never reported on, just take a look at the article at Union review published by Chuck Lazette in Sept 0f 2007, entitled "In the Lawless Post-Katrina Cleanup, Construction Companies Are Preying on Workers", and its further backed by a comment I found on the upcoming attack on the guest commentary found in the NaplesNews that was published on Labor Day in 2007 about unionized teachers entitled "Labor Day ’07: Union bosses’ agenda scary", by corporate lobbyist, and the mind behind "The Center For Union Facts" and other disillusioning bullshit against the people of America, Rick Berman. Here is the counter "attack" and I use the terms loosely, because Mr.Charlie Ward uses FACTS in his comment.
More for Rick Berman: Why didn't the Right to Work Committee defend the rights of the American workers in Louisianna(which is, after all, a right to work state? Recently, the State of Arizona (which is also a right to work state), passed legislation stating that businesses can not hire illegal workers, and illegals can not own businesses. These illegals are leaving Arizona by hundreds a day, selling their houses, leaving for other states or heading back to their homeland. The U.S. workers of Arizona have had enough of their wages being undermined and demanded change--and they got it. Guess who is challenging this new law? The United States Chamber of Commerce. Where is the outrage by you and the Right To Work Committee? Union membership in Arizona has grown by 30% in the past two years. One wonders why. With respect to The Employee Free Choice Act,tell the truth. The glitch in the bill that you and the Right to Work Committee object to is not the way a union is voted in.(card vs. secret vote--they are both legal and valid, and it is diversionary to assert that this is the issue. The issue really is that this bill would stop management from stalling for time and finding bogus reasons not to sit down and negotiate--just as you and the Right to Work Committee assert that unions use this tactic to slow down a decertification process. What is really not wanted is the clause that would require a federal mediator to step in if management and the union representation can not come together, and any employer who commits unfair labor practices shall be fined $20,000.00 for each violation. Thus far it has been passed by the House and it is up to the Senate. They are being lobbied strongly against this bill---by you know who. You are correct, unions do lobby and donate to politicians that they perceive will help them with their issues. As you know,all union members have the right to use the Beck Right Law, which states that they can request that none of their dues be used for political interests to which they do not subscribe. It's a law. Conversely, anti- union organizations and businesses also lobby strongly and donate heavily for support of their interests. So, where's the beef? It's politics. Right now, the NLRB is stacked with anti-union people, mostly Republicans. And yes, you are right, if the Democrats win, the pendulum will swing the other way. That, too, is politics as usual. The only thing The Right to Work Committee has done has been to assure that an individual does not have to join a union or pay dues, even if there is a union in their workplace. But they have done their best to undermine labor laws for all workers: i.e. minimun wage, overtime laws, OSHA and reduced workmans comp entitlements , which have been reduced as much as 50% in some right to work states already, and other laws which protect the rights of workers both union and non-union. In closing, Mr. Berman, I would like to say that with all the faults unions have, they have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, education, betterment of all races, and for the developing of character in man than any other association of men. Clarence Darrow
Remember, before there is profit, there is labor. Abraham Lincoln (Republican President) Happy Labor Day. Charlie
One more note about Labor Day, according to WIN, Workers Independent News Radio on 3-14-08 "The Department of Transportation came under fire by Senator Byron Dorgan on Tuesday over a controversial “pilot program” that allows Mexican trucks to operate on US roads.", that program, which is Illegally being funded by Mary Peters DOT, was being pushed into operation directly by President Bush to have had a start date of Labor Day 2007.
There is a war against the workers here in the United States and using Labor Day to push our faces in it is showing you just how brazen they are. I don't think if you add all the facts you could come to any other conclusion. Rick Berman, who this site got it's name from, has now launched a new agenda, to find the worst unionized teacher, in the same week here in New York the United Federation of Teachers is fighting for the city to keep its funding for students. Yeah those bad teachers fighting for kids. What a bunch of bullies.
"he estimated 500,000 people in the U.S. on H-1Bs are by definition citizens of other nations, and they're usually beholden to employers that can transfer them home at will."- BusinessWeek 1-31-08
H1B Visa Abuse Do as we say or get deported From the green building in which I recently left, where the entire environmental controls will be monitored from the desk of another country, to the tech support jobs that Dell led the way into the Indian nation, the brighter of our countrymen, the Techie geeks, are under attack. Not just from the threat of offshoring, but by the threat of misuse of H1B Visa's by unscrupulous employers on our own shores. It is called the PERM process and the following video made by Immigration attorneys from Cohen & Grigsby explains just how to disqualify qualified US Workers in favor of foreign workers, who by the way must keep their job at all costs or be deported. Sounds like a new form of slavery.
Immigration attorneys from Cohen & Grigsby explains how they assist employers in running classified ads with the goal of NOT finding any qualified applicants, and the steps they go through to disqualify even the most qualified Americans in order to secure green cards for H-1b workers. See what Bush and Congress really mean by a "shortage of skilled U.S. workers." Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, and thousands of other companies are running fake ads in Sunday newspapers across the country each week.
Cisco caught in maelstrom over fake job ads to hire H-1B visa holders Submitted by Brad Reese on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 2:04pm.
Patrick Thibodeau reported in Computerworld, that Cisco may have advertised for a U.S. job position that really wasn't open to American citizens. June 28, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Cisco Systems Inc. placed a help wanted ad for a network consulting engineer in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, June 3, and David Huber, a networking professional who lives in Chicago, was interested in the job.
The ad copy read, "No phone calls please." But Huber, a University of Chicago graduate whose prior work included being the lead LAN/WAN network engineer for NASA's aborted X-33 rocket plane project, called Cisco and asked for the person named in the ad.
"Before I send my resume into a black hole, I always like to talk to the recruiter first," he said this week. A Cisco telephone operator gave Huber the phone number of an immigration law firm in Santa Clara, Calif. "Why would I be talking with somebody at an immigration law firm about this?" he wondered.
Huber said his question was answered a couple of weeks later when he saw the controversial YouTube video that shows an attorney from a Pittsburgh law firm providing advice to employers on how to deal with government requirements for seeking U.S. workers to fill jobs before hiring foreign workers.
"It seems obvious to me after that video what's going on," Huber said.
This isn't just an isolated incident, most if not all of the major companies are doing this and lobbying to get more H1B visa allowances pushed through Legislature. In fact a recent bill which was supposedly for border enforcement contained wording to increase the allowed H1B Visa's annual cap to increase from from 65,000 to between 130,000 and 195,000(*See Below). The companies keep saying the same old bullshit to allow this, but according to Information Week story entitled No, The Tech Skills Shortage Doesn't Exist:
none of the indicators demonstrates a systemic shortage. While exceptional talent or skills in emerging technologies will always, by definition, be in short supply, the most relevant market indicators--wages and employee risk--clearly show there's no broad-based scarcity of U.S. IT workers. In their zeal to enlist government help to expand the supply of tech workers through foreign guest worker programs, employers are misrepresenting IT labor market conditions.
BusinessWeek points out how many foreign companies are accused of underpaying foreigners on work visas and hurting US wages in the process in the article: Are H1B workers getting bilked?
But this was no dream job come true. Goel's base salary was $23,310, about half the $44,000 that Patni had said it would pay on the visa application, according to a lawsuit he has filed against the company. When Goel complained, one official said that Patni would brand him a "troublemaker" and that his parents in India would be harassed unless he stopped, the suit alleges.
How do the candidates feel about the subject? Heres a CNN story with Hillary from 6/2/07, none of the other front runners seem to have an opinion.
Off Shoring Cheaper workers, do you see the savings? I think not! Heres a partial list of the job impact of off shoring by the people at TechsUnite.org who state:
Offshore Events Display most recent event: 02/01/2007 last updated: 09/22/2005
The offshore tracker is based upon news accounts and employees. It tracks instances of offshoring beginning in January 2001 and using a list of companies derived from media sources. The tracker is not scientific in determining the precise number of jobs lost, since media reports are not always accurate, we do not have access to all media reports, and many instances of offshoring go unreported. However, this tracker is the only source that accounts for and aggregates the number of jobs lost due to offshoring. In fact, we know the current totals are low. For that reason. we need your help to let us know which employers - companies and state agencies - are offshoring jobs. We will be updating the tracker regularly by encouraging individuals to submit new event information and by continuing to monitor the media
Top 10 Offshoring companies
Company------Most Recent---Jobs Offshored--Est. jobs lost
The complete list of Offshoring can be found here, I don't know what to tell anyone to do about it other than what I always do when confronted with a guy named "Sam" on the phone who obviously doesn't speak English very well, I tell him I would like to speak to someone who is English speaking as a first language, Most companies have a remaining call center in the states for obtuse people like myself. I stopped buying Dell and dropped Verizon DSL because of this exact problem of sending our jobs out of the country. Did it make a difference, probably not, but I refuse to knowingly give my hard earned money to a corporation who doesn't reinvest in our country. If there were more people like myself we wouldn't be in this predicament.
The fight for the tech workers is the same fight for the rest of us here in America, Joe's Union Review stands with you in your plight. Please feel free to give me any news to spread to the masses.
*The Programmers Guild, who is asking that people send a Fax to Congress to remove the H1B visa increases, which for some strange reason are attached into the text of H.R. 4065: Border Enforcement, Employment Verification, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, you can grab the letter to fax here(PDF file)
WashTech - Washington Alliance For Technology Workers - CWA Local 37083
Object - To buy a product cheaper, at any expense .
Using our money the DEP in New York gets MOST of it's manhole covers in India. Con Ed gets roughly 1/4 from India . “We can’t maintain the luxury of Europe and the United States, with all the boots and all that,” said Sunil Modi, director of Shakti Industries one of the companies which let the New York Times into their world .
Mark Daly, director of communications for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, said via e-mail to the Times that state law requires the city to buy the lowest-priced products available that fit its specifications.
Manhole covers can be 20-60% cheaper than those forged by Steelworkers in the United States . Indian workers make just a few dollars a day, work with only one safety stipulation (as far as we the reader can tell), that they wear safety goggles .
According to ConEd , who buys roughly 2,750 of it's manhole covers from India, "We were disturbed by the photo's" and "we take worker safety very seriously" and state that in newly rewritten international contracts there will be added the inclusion of safety requirements to “take appropriate actions to provide a safe and healthy workplace,”.
New York is not the only place that off shores it's manhole manufacturing , and India is not the only place that makes the covers. In searching for manhole images for this story, I came across quite a few made in China and Mexico, from here to LA .
This follows recent news, according to representatives of Sheetmetal workers Local 137, that the NYC MTA (Mass Transit Authority) in NY is building bus shelters, to the tune of $50,000,000 contract, with parts manufactured in China . Who's to say the conditions are any better there ? At least the Indian manhole covers proudly display "Made In India". When I was younger India was a quality manufacturer of dress shirts , in recently browsing in a local store I noticed that all the same brands from back then (Koman, etc) were now made in China. In asking the store owner about it he stated "India is more expensive, they all moved their factories to China"
I would like more info on where money we invest into our municipalities goes . Do they invest in the US anymore? When my mom worked for the Board Of Ed here in NY, they had a policy of reinvestment into our nation, the pencils were "Made In USA". Swingline Staple company was all they used. If you don't know, Swingline Staple Company , which was located in Long Island City jettisoned to Mexico directly after NAFTA was signed . They were Teamsters . They lost their jobs. When are we going to stand up and say "enough is enough", lets keep just a tiny scrap of industry here in the United States ? Why do we continuously lower our standards ? When will there actually be any kind of fair trade ? I have to admit that this is a story I had a problem writing. I feel that the Times story, while fascinating, only focuses on one tiny microcosm of our downward spiral to have the cheapest, crappiest products made in countries with the worst conditions at the cost of the entire American industry.
rom US Congress-members, labor and religious leaders, and thousands of labor and civil rights activists across the country.
the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (
INDIAN WORKERS TO LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE IN DC
