Washtech Message on India Times Article

Date: Friday, April 04, 2003 11:59 PM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

I received this letter from Mike Blain shortly after the newsletter
"Washington state joins BPO ban-wagon". See the article at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=39202355

The Washington bill is an attempt at giving workers a warning before
their employment is terminated. It doesn't seem like much, but the
Washington legislature seems to think that companies should have the
right to fire employees without notice.

This India Times article is highly inaccurate, and significantly
mischaracterizes this WA bill, which WashTech helped to draft and
introduce.

The bill says nothing about outsourcing. It would simply require
employers in WA to give soon-to-be laid-off workers adequate notice. If
a side effect is that it slows down outsourcing, sure, it might affect
outsourcing. But it is really all about warning of mass layoffs.

More info:

Bill Aims to Give WA Workers Better Warning of Mass Layoffs
http://www.washtech.org/wt/news/legislative/display.php?ID_Content=447

This WA layoff warning bill is also now effectively dead in current WA
legislative session.

None of this is to say that WashTech would not support a bill similar
to the one in NJ right now. :-)

If you could pass this info on to your list, that would be great.

Thanks,

Mike Blain
Editor
WashTech/CWA

February 27, 2003

Bill Aims to Give WA Workers Better Warning of Mass Layoffs
WashTech News

Take Action!

Tell your Washington State House representative to support passage of
HB 1944.
Olympia WA In response to a wave of complaints from Washington State
workers who have lost their jobs without any notice, a bill introduced
this week in the Washington State House would mandate that companies
give employees at least 60 days notice before a mass firing.

The bill, HB 1944, aims to close loopholes in existing federal laws
which require companies to give such notice before conducting mass
layoffs.

I have worked for almost 20 years as a coder in the software business.
I have been laid off five times and the majority of those cases have
been without any notice, said Dan Dileva, an unemployed tech worker who
favors the legislation.

In the past two years, Washington State has shed 86,500 jobs. An
estimated 20,000 of those job losses have come in the hard-hit
technology sector, where some of the worst cases of no-notice layoffs
have been reported. Last year alone, 4,500 technology employees in King
County lost their jobs without any warning, according to the King
County Rapid Response Team, which helps employees make the transition
from regular employment to the jobless ranks.

The prime sponsor of the bill is Washington State Rep. Zack Hudgins
(D-Tukwila), who serves on the House Commerce and Labor Committee. This
means any company with more than 75 employees, which wants to let more
than 50 of them go within a 30-day period, will have to tell workers
they will lose their jobs at least 60 days in advance. It will really
soften the blow for workers, said Hudgins.

Hudgins knows of what he speaks. He was let go with 15 minutes notice
by Internet retailing giant Amazon.com in the companys famous black
Tuesday layoffs in January 2001. On that day, the company fired almost
10 percent of its workforce in a single afternoon. Hudgins spent nearly
four years at the company.

Another provision in the bill gives former employees the right to
recover damages if the company fails to comply with the law. Such
damages could include back pay, benefits and attorneys fees. The
bill would also give the Washington State Department of Labor and
Industries enforcement powers that would allow it to examine relevant
employer records and impose fines of up to $500 a day. California
passed a similar law last year.

A hearing has been scheduled for the bill Thursday afternoon in the
House Commerce and Labor Committee in Olympia.

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