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[IP] more on Bush asks for more visas for high-tech workers]]





-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: [IP] more on Bush asks for more visas for high-tech workers]
Date:   Sat, 04 Feb 2006 18:41:07 -0500 (EST)
From:   EEkid@xxxxxxx
To:     dave@xxxxxxxxxx, radix42@xxxxxxxxx



Because the H-1B workers will work for less money and once here, often feel obligated to stay with their sponsor company, regardless of how they're treated. My wife was a juror in a court case where a local business was suing a ex- H-1B employee. The IT worker was being forced to work 7 days a week. He was given one week a year to take a vacation, if he didn't take his vacation during that week, he forfeited it. While on vacation, the company kept him on the phone constantly working from home. About half way through the week, a coworker called to tell him that the owner planned to fire him when he returned. So, the H-1B worker visited another company and was immediately hired. The original employer attempted to have the worker arrested and claimed that he stole a computer. When this scheme failed to stick, the company decided to sue him for damages.

As his coworkers testified in court, he did not steal the computer, he was required to take it home and work after hours. His coworkers testified that the owner and his wife often told the H-1B employee that since they brought him to the U.S., "We own you and we can send you back to that slum you came from any time we want".

The employees of the company testified that the owners took pleasure in referring to him as their slave in public including a busy restaurant and where infuriated when he left the company for another employer. My wife said after the trial at least one attorney approached the H-1B worker and offered to counter sue the ex-employer.
Jerry


In a message dated 2/4/2006 3:08:31 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, dave@xxxxxxxxxx writes:


   Dave, I'm just recently back on the job market after a spending the
   last couple of years in school again (having a baby on the way has
   shifted priorities!), and while the job market IS heating up again in
   high tech after the post bubble-burst slump, very few companies are
   still willing to pay for relocation costs for American workers
   (compared to the dot-com-boom days).  I'd think that getting
   American's who want those jobs moved to where they are would be a
   higher priority than importing cheaper temporary labor from overseas.
   If we can import Indian and Chinese tech workers, why won't more
   companies pay to move someone from one part of the country to another?

   Cheers,

   -David Mercer
   Tucson, AZ



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