Posted on 05/13/2014 7:09:15 PM PDT by Whenifhow
A major business group said Monday that U.S. manufacturers are hoping an immigration bill will let them give hundreds of thousands of jobs to foreign workers.
Jay Timmons, the president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, said he believes an immigration bill will pass near the end of this year. He said creating some pathway to citizenship for non-legal residents is “absolutely essential” for manufacturers to help bring skilled workers to the United States.
“There are 600,000 jobs in manufacturing that are going unfilled today. This immigration bill can go a long way toward helping us fill those positions,” Timmons said. (See video here.)
Timmons’ comments put the National Association of Manufacturers at odds with many Republicans in the House and Senate who are worried that a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants would only reward their illegal residency, and make it harder for U.S. citizens to find jobs.
But the organization seems to hold a position that’s consistent with that of the Obama administration. Just last week, the administration announced it would grant work authorization to 100,000 spouses of skilled non-U.S. workers, which Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said would only take jobs away from the millions of U.S. workers who need a job.
Timmons spoke on the same panel with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue, who said he is “optimistic” that an immigration bill could be done this year. He suggested that the House should take up the Senate-passed bill.
“I do believe that we’re absolutely crazy if we don’t take advantage of having passed an immigration bill out of the Senate… and do something rational in the House, and put it together and let’s get the three or four things we really need there,” he said.
Donohue said the Chamber would be pressuring members to pass a bill later this year, and warned that Republicans would stumble in the 2016 presidential election in 2016 if they don’t pass something.
“If Republicans don’t do it they shouldn’t bother to run candidate in 2016,” he said.
Please excuse all the awful typeos. I am posting from phone.
Wait till they demand a retirement plan...
It’s called chasing the unicorn. They write the job description requiring a, b, c, d, e, and f. If you have a, b, d, e, and f they you don’t qualify and they cry about not being able to find people.
“There are 600,000 jobs in manufacturing that are going unfilled today”
There has to be much more to this. If there were that many manufacturing jobs out there, we would have many more people looking for things to buy than are available. Industry couldn’t keep up with demand, and it would be a seller’s market. That’s just not the case. My understanding is that until manufacturers starting cutting back a bit - because the demand wasn’t there for their products, they we running inventory surpluses. This isn’t what happens when there is a great unmet need for workers.
I would wager that what they really mean is that there is a need to pump 600,000 people into the system that will work for significantly lower wages than industry is used to paying in the US. They want a flood of new workers such that they drive down the cost of American labor.
Don’t think for a second the Unions are’nt in on this action. They would love a new base, only they are playing with fire..
Hmmm. How many Americans that CAN but will NOT work are on welfare? What if we reform welfare...as in drug testing, time limitations...and see how many of these jobs can go to our citizens?
Funny what folks will do to put food in their tables.
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That is true - and there are also those who are out of work who don’t take welfare that would like an opportunity to make a living.
They recently increased the number of H1B visas too (to bring engineers/ IT workers from overseas).
Exactly. They want cheap labor like what Steve Jobs used to build his Iphones.
ex: “a quarter of the employees live in the dormitories, and many of them work up to 12 hours a day for 6 days each week.”
This is what they want to bring to the US
what about all the Americans who do not have employment? Do US companies not care?
Worried about work ethic? Ever think of hiring a vet? How about older adults who were taught by the greatest generation? Lots to pick from Mr. Timmons.
What a crock...
Impossible to tell from this poorly written story.
America needs jobs.
Jobs.
You are right. We do not need immigrants. We do not need to import crap, or anything else we are currently trying.
What we need is to bring back jobs to America.
Now.
I just went through the same scenario recently. Applicants have to pass a spelling test, correct the grammar and sentence structure in a simple paragraph, do simple math equations involving percentages without a calculator and be able to look at a listing of numbers and determine if the answer is reasonable or not. Still looking.
Couldn’t believe the applicants that would come by without a resume and dressed in short shorts and thongs for a semi-professional office job. First question too many asked was “How much does the job pay?”.
I'm not 100% on board with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on this one, but I would not be surprised if you heard the same stories repeated in other industries all over the U.S.
I COMPLETELY agree with your observation.
America needs to bring back jobs right here.
The alternative is unacceptable. Our government needs to stop supporting foreign companies.
Our government needs to build in structures to support American businesses.
You got it, chief ...
"There are 600,000 jobs in manufacturing that are going unfilled today."
It sounds like America doesn't need jobs, it doesn't need immigrants, and it doesn't need "anything else we are currently trying." What it needs is a psychiatric examination coupled with a major reality-check ... to deal with what is obviously a complete disconnect here between industry, citizens and politicians.
Meet Grams A and CableGuyMN. You found two employers right here on a single FreeRepublic thread ... and they can't even find Americans with the basic skills to do the damn jobs they're offering.
Apple didn't need to hire "cheap labor" to build those iPhones. In Apple's high-tech operations the labor costs are a very small piece of the costs of producing and shipping the phones.
There was a fascinating story in the New York Times a while back about the challenge Apple faced in producing the special glass that was used in the first generation of iPhones. Apple actually got the lowest bid from Corning to produce the glass, and Corning was going to manufacture the glass iPhone faces in one of their facilities in upstate New York -- which happens to have some of the highest labor costs and most ridiculous labor regulations anywhere in the U.S.
Corning lost the bid because they couldn't upgrade their facilities fast enough to meet Apple's needs. It was going to take them at least 3-4 months to deal with an endless series of New York State and Federal environmental, construction and development permits.
The Chinese company that won the bid had their factory up and running in less than a week.
No manufacturer ignores labor costs, even Apple. Saving a dime per unit translated into millions of dollars in increased profits down the road.
Jobs said these kind of tech jobs would never return to the US, and he was right.
One is the cost of US labor, but the big one (as you mentioned) is the enormous cost of complying with US laws and regulations.
England did the same thing years ago.
Don't believe a word of that. 600,000 vacancies and no one to fill them? Where are these jobs. What specific firms? Where are they being advertised?
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