Keeping American jobs American

Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 12:55 AM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Pay particular attention to what Guzzardi says about the TN visa.

http://www.lodinews.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2003/March/15-725-01_guzzardi_030315.txt

March 15, 2003

Keeping American jobs American

The Lodi News-Sentinel's headline Feb. 28 told a sad but familiar tale.

In his story titled "Lodians to lose jobs," reporter Ryan Campbell
wrote about the closing of two Interlake Material Handling plants that
would cost 180 workers their jobs within the next 60 days.

Interlake's announcement that workers would be laid off is its third
dismissal notice during the last two years. In June 2001, 40 workers
were fired; in December 2002, 54 employees were terminated.

That the local Interlake plant would shut April 30 and that many of the
jobs would be performed at the company's factory in Matamoros, Mexico,
is an ongoing saga being played out across the country.

February was the nation's worst month for job losses since the
October/November period immediately following 9/11. In all, 308,000
jobs were lost in February as the unemployment rate inched up to 5.8
percent from January's 5.7 percent.

Economists noted that the latest statistics are negative across the
board. Payrolls are down in every sector. And most alarming is the
unabated job loss in manufacturing.

In February, manufacturing jobs, in seasonally adjusted terms, dropped
below 11 million for the first time since February 1946.

The immediate outlook is bleak since consumers are not demonstrating
any eagerness to spend.

For the laid off Lodians who wonder what awaits them, their future is
cloudy. And for those in Matamoros who might be hired, I advise them
not to get too comfortable.

These days, globalists consider Matamoros an expensive location to
operate. In the race to find the cheapest labor costs, China and Sri
Lanka are much more attractive.

While Treasury Secretary John W. Snow insisted that February's
unemployment statistics were proof that President Bush's tax cut plan
be enacted immediately, leading Democrats disagreed.

Presidential candidate Richard Gephardt said Bush "has left the country
unprepared for the economy of the future and without a strategy for
meaningful economic growth."

And Senate minority leader Tom Daschle accused Bush of turning the
economy into "a job-destroying machine."

While it is very convenient and politically expedient for Gephardt and
Daschle to make Bush their target, the truth is that one of the biggest
threats to continued job loss -- the H-1B, the L-1 and the TN visas --
need to be dismantled immediately by Congress.

Moving jobs offshore, as Interlake has just done, is old hat. And while
jobs have being going overseas for years, so have workers been imported
to displace Americans. For the last decade, the H-1B visa has been the
vehicle of choice to bring overseas workers to America.

But the H-1B visa legislation will sunset this year. And the program --
which issues up to 195,000 visas annually -- has been the subject of
much harsh and deserved criticism. An additional disadvantage to the
H-1B under current economic conditions is that it is hard to make a
case that the U.S. needs to keep the H-1B visa program going to import
"desperately needed" software engineers in light of the dot com crash.

With the spotlight is on the H-1B visa, what better strategy for
employers than to turn to the L-1.

The L-1 visa is used as an intra-company transfer that allows U.S.
companies to "transfer" employees from the parent company, foreign
subsidiaries or affiliates to the U.S. for up to seven years. Unlike
the H-1B visa, there is no limit on the number of L-1 visas that can be
issued or on the numbers of workers who can be imported at any one
time.

According to a recent Business Week article, 350,000 L-1 visa holders
have taken American jobs.

Take Interlake, owned by the Sydney, Australia-based Brambles
Industries Ltd., as an example of how the L-1 works. Brambles operates
in 40 countries on six continents. Under L-1 visa provisions, any
Brambles employee in any plant or division could come to the United
States to replace a U.S. worker.

Not only do we have to worry about the L-1 visa, there is also the TN
visa. If you are a professional or if your job requires a college
diploma, look out.

After 2005, pursuant to the NAFTA agreement, the U.S. will allow open
borders for licensed professionals practicing in Mexico to work in the
U.S -- without quotas and without the nuisance of having to secure a
visa. All he will have to do is hang up his shingle.

No one's job is safe. For American to have any kind of chance to
maintain itself, the H-1B, the L-1 and the TN visas must be abolished.

Every time I hear President Bush say he is committed to protecting
Americans, referring to Iraq, I wonder if he ever gives our workers a
moment's thought.

Judging by current economic conditions, it doesn't appear that he does.

Joe Guzzardi, an instructor at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing
a weekly opinion column since 1988. He can be reached via e-mail.

Help to Keep ZaZona.com Online

Donate to the Cause at
http://www.zazona.com/Donations.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubcribe send an email to

Back to archives