[mrviking]

Originally Posted by Restrain

In Texas, American construction workers have pretty much been replaced by illegals out of Mexico. You have to speak Spanish to be a construction manager any more, and the site is prohibited by Federal regs from cracking down on the illegals.

As to H1-B workers, I have seen companies firing Us employees and bringing in H1-B workers. My son got caught up in an IT transition, hiring Indian contract workers at less than half of what they were paying US workers. And he had to help train the replacements as the US workers were escorted out of the building.

Agree but Sen Nelson is only looking into H1-B abuses, Nothing being proposed for the disappearance of Good Blue collar jobs. Selling out good american jobs for new dem voters.

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

^^^If the workers that he trained were located in India, then they weren't H1-B workers.

H1-B workers come into the USA legally to work. There are rules/processes involved when US companies hire H1-Bs. The article is regarding these rules, to make sure there wasn't fraud involved that bypassed the rules/process.

you can break any law in America when you know you won't be prosecuted for it.

[macrodome2]

Most of the H1B visas go to a handful of companies. Those companies- Tata, Infosys- then go and pitch "outsourcing" a department (typically IT) to them. So Disney now will "outsource" the function to, say Tata. Tata acquires the H1B visas required to bring over the foreign workers. These workers are now tied to Tata and can't leave Tata or they have to go home or find someone else to sponsor them. Although they are supposed to be here ONLY because local talent cannot be found AND they are supposed to be paid the same as an American worker, this is what has to be investigated. But this process gets the company dismissing the workers off the hook, because the replacements aren't employees. They are there under a contract with Tata.

My husband worked with a number of H1Bs in the late 80s/early 90s. At that time they all had Masters degrees, but could not find work at home. The sponsoring company would bring them over and put them 5-6 in an apartment. Almost like the iPhone factories in China. Then if a job changed, they could tell them to get on a plane and travel to another city where work was. They were all single, young, males. Not a lifestyle American workers aspires to.

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by macrodome2

Most of the H1B visas go to a handful of companies. Those companies- Tata, Infosys- then go and pitch "outsourcing" a department (typically IT) to them. So Disney now will "outsource" the function to, say Tata. Tata acquires the H1B visas required to bring over the foreign workers. These workers are now tied to Tata and can't leave Tata or they have to go home or find someone else to sponsor them. Although they are supposed to be here ONLY because local talent cannot be found AND they are supposed to be paid the same as an American worker, this is what has to be investigated. But this process gets the company dismissing the workers off the hook, because the replacements aren't employees. They are there under a contract with Tata.

Exactly. Often their company (Tata, Infosys) will start the process for the person to get a Green Card. This is the ultimate goal for most H1B Visa holders. There are attorney fees and costs for getting the green card, as well as long waits and lots of red tape. The employee is usually tied to the company while this process is taking place, usually a couple years. Often the employee takes a cut rate wage in order to get the job and ultimately, get the green card. If the employee moves to another firm, then the green card process could be in jeopardy or they could have to repay the former employer all attorney costs related to getting the green card.

I worked with a couple guys going through this process. They were paid peanuts compared to what other non H1B workers were getting (their consulting firm kept the difference, because the client was still paying good money for them).

When these guys came into the US on H1B visas, they signed contracts with their firm and part of this was that if they resigned, then they owed the firm all costs related to green card. One guy was so underpaid, that he found another job with another consulting firm making much more money. He had to get his H1B switched to the new firm which was a huge task for him. Else he would have to go back to his home country. Then only after he switched his H1B to the new company (sponsor) - then he gave his resignation notice to the old company. His old company told him he had to go back to his original country if he quit because they didn't know he already went to the border and changed the H1B visa. So they threatened him with deportation to get him to stay, but he already solved that situation. Then they charged him $5k+ for the fees they incurred in processing his green card, which he still didn't have. They withheld his remaining paychecks to cover the money he owed them. I think his green card got delayed because of this but he took that risk to make more money.

Once they get green cards then their live and work in USA going forward with no H1B quotas. So basically many or most H1Bs that come to the USA eventually get a Green Card. So the H1B quotas are a faucet of new people coming in and many eventually stay.

The consulting firms that hire then often get away with paying them low wages although the client firm (Disney, for example) pays market rate. It's the middle man consulting firm that pockets the difference. They are making tons of money on the H1Bs by paying them lower than market rate. And because the H1Bs want to get into the USA (and eventually get a Green Card), they are willing to work for lower than market rate for a few years until they get the Green Card.