An H-1B response: Time to unionize!
Congress won’t listen to American citizens who have lost and are losing their jobs to foreign workers. I have written to my two Senators and Congressman. They all have the same basic unsatisfactory answers. Congress should ask Americans to testify about what is really happening as a result of the inflated number of foreign workers allowed into the country. But our concerns aren’t being heard over the calculators counting the money flowing from corporate America into campaign funds.
I am upset because I am 57 and have 30-plus years in the IT field. In essence, I am having to beg for crumb jobs in other cities and states while younger foreign workers, who have not put anything into building America, are reaping the benefits of this country that others spent a lifetime working to build. I work on contract when and where I can find work. At my last contract, most of the contractors were over 50 years of age.
In addition, I now have to be concerned with taxes. With a long-term contract away from home that lasts more that a year, I can’t claim where I am working as a secondary residence, and I will lose thousands of dollars in tax deductions just to have a job. Tax laws regarding tax deductions for contract workers need to be brought up to date for the job market today. The allowance of these foreign workers into the country put us into this situation.
Older workers feel betrayed because we worked all our lives, paid taxes, contributed to our country’s prosperity, and now Corporate America doesn't want us for our knowledge and experience. Is this what we get for all the years we contributed to the system and helped build this country?
Those who don't think they will ever feel this way are in for a rude awakening. In my years in this field, I have seen and learned a lot about technology changes. Why, all of a sudden, am I considered too stupid to learn? Why does Corporate America have to hire foreign workers with the excuse they have the technical skills?
Corporations have abused the legislation regarding foreign workers by manipulating job descriptions to justify hiring foreign workers over American workers. I have heard all of the rhetoric about a global economy, etc., etc. I heard the same things years ago.
Department of Labor law indicates American workers cannot be displaced by workers on H-1B Visas. Why isn't this law enforced? Why should I have to file a suit that will cost taxpayers time and money when there is a law that only needs enforcement? If these corporate CEO's and management personnel were held accountable for breaking laws, perhaps they may think twice before replacing Americans with foreign workers.
I am disappointed with my elected representatives and now have difficulty seeing the difference between a Republican and Democrat. I see all the representatives as one interchangeable unit, with money from corporate America, PAC's and the wealthy carrying more weight than the needs of American workers. It appears the people who have not lived here to help build this country are more important than us because they will work for less and dilute the market so corporate America can make more money for larger campaign contributions.
If bringing in these foreign workers is such a good deal for America, why don't these politicians in Congress replace their staffs with foreign workers? I am sure that would be well received by staff person’s friends and relatives when they are sent home jobless.
I know the word union is not a popular word, but looking back (Before Reagan and Bush) to when there were strong unions, we all had better benefits because of union contracts. We didn't pay for health insurance, we didn't have co-pays or HMO's, and we were sought after for long-term careers. This was because the strong union influence provided a balance in the Congress.
Unions were our lobbyists, in addition to labor. Unions prevented a mass influx of foreign workers into this country. So I say, as bad as we may think they were, we in the IT field should unionize.
Imagine corporate America without IT professionals when immediate system problems need to be fixed, when downtime for employees increases because there is no one to fix the problem, when there are work delays for enhancing and designing new systems.
We, as a group, can be masters of our own destiny. This would be the most powerful union ever created because computers run about everything. Businesses are reliant on computers, and this country, as well as the world, is dependent on computers.
You know corporate America is going to do everything in its power to eliminate high salaries, including importing foreign workers, to the point the entire job market is diluted in their favor. IT professionals, in general, are in denial if they don’t think they will be affected in the near future.
IT professionals think if they try to unionize they will lose their jobs, but what they don't realize is they will anyway--unless we band together and act now before it is too late to secure our futures, as well as the futures of generations of Americans to come.
Bio: Dante Vignaroli is a systems analyst and programmer who has been working in the computer field since 1963.