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So. Cal. Edison’s IT layoffs are ‘heartless,’ says Sen. Grassley
ComputerWorld ^ | Patrick Thibodeau

Posted on 02/26/2015 2:48:44 PM PST by ObamahatesPACoal

Southern California Edison (SCE) IT workers replaced by H-1B contractors have become the latest Exhibit A in Congress for reformers of the visa program.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has long advocated for changes to the H-1B program to protect U.S. workers, said the Edison layoffs illustrate how some employers "are potentially using legal avenues to import foreign workers, lay-off qualified Americans, and then export jobs overseas.

"I was shocked by the heartless manner in which U.S. workers were injured," said Grassley in a Senate floor speech Wednesday.

(SNIP)

"The sponsors of the bill claim it will 'boost our competitiveness in the global economy,'" said Grassley. "This bill only makes the problem worse. It doesn't plug the loopholes. It doesn't make sure that American workers are put before foreign workers."

(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Iowa
KEYWORDS: brat; cantor; grassley; jeff; king; sessions; steve; zuckerberg

1 posted on 02/26/2015 2:48:44 PM PST by ObamahatesPACoal
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

Welcome to the party pal.


2 posted on 02/26/2015 2:52:50 PM PST by DownInFlames
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

I’d love to sympathize, but didn’t just about everybody in California vote for His Imperial Highness, Emperor Obama?


3 posted on 02/26/2015 2:53:57 PM PST by Jack Hammer
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

“Heartless”? The whole world is heartless. Welcome to reality.


4 posted on 02/26/2015 2:54:01 PM PST by Politicalkiddo ("He repays everyone for what they have done; he brings on them what their conduct deserves.")
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To: ObamahatesPACoal
"The sponsors of the bill claim it will 'boost our competitiveness in the global economy,'"

SCE is a public utility. They have no competition and their rates are set by the PUCC. How can they justify importing workers?

5 posted on 02/26/2015 2:55:28 PM PST by P-Marlowe (Saying that ISIL is not Islamic is like saying Obama is not an Idiot.)
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

Like this is New?? Hell you never heard of NAFTA? Congress has been doing everything possible to offshore American Jobs in favor of cheap, slave labor for over 20 years, all while importing cheap slave labor to take what jobs are left. In other words SENATOR, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.


6 posted on 02/26/2015 3:02:32 PM PST by eyeamok
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

I have a question...

Are H1-B visa holders counted as full-time employees and thus under ‘Obamacare’ or are they in that weird gray area that allows them to work full-time yet claim no benefits?


7 posted on 02/26/2015 3:08:07 PM PST by The Working Man
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

The Prince of FR, Ted Cruz, supports this crap.


8 posted on 02/26/2015 3:12:29 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
"The Prince of FR, Ted Cruz, supports this crap."

Just about everybody (especially the GOPe) supports expanding this corporate handout, with the exception of Grassley and Jeff Sessions (AL).
9 posted on 02/26/2015 3:21:44 PM PST by indthkr
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To: Jack Hammer
"I’d love to sympathize, but didn’t just about everybody in California vote for His Imperial Highness, Emperor Obama?"

I would be surprised if Jim Robinson did.

10 posted on 02/26/2015 3:39:48 PM PST by Neanderthal
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To: Neanderthal

Me and about 3 million others didn’t.

Quite frankly, that was an ignorant comment.


11 posted on 02/26/2015 3:57:50 PM PST by crusher2013
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To: Jack Hammer
I’d love to sympathize, but didn’t just about everybody in California vote for His Imperial Highness, Emperor Obama?

Some of the strongest proponents of increasing the number of H-1Bs are Republicans. So I guess the IT workers were screwed no matter who they voted for.

12 posted on 02/26/2015 4:00:24 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: The Working Man
Are H1-B visa holders counted as full-time employees and thus under ‘Obamacare’ or are they in that weird gray area that allows them to work full-time yet claim no benefits?

In most cases they are probably classified as independent contractors placed at So. Cal. Edison by an outsourcing company. Which means they get an hourly rate and no benefits.

13 posted on 02/26/2015 4:02:11 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: The Working Man

Contractors, mostly employed by Indian companies, and thus not covered under OZeroCare provisions.


14 posted on 02/26/2015 4:19:13 PM PST by Ingtar (Mourning for Freedom. I knew her well.)
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As I said before, you are being REPLACED. At the job, at the voting booth, and in your own country.


15 posted on 02/26/2015 4:35:12 PM PST by Captainpaintball (Immigration without assimilation is the death of a nation -- FUJB!!!)
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

I hear that sucking sound.


16 posted on 02/26/2015 4:41:18 PM PST by Veggie Todd (The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. TJ)
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To: P-Marlowe
The sponsors of the bill claim it will 'boost our competitiveness in the global economy,'" SCE is a public utility. They have no competition and their rates are set by the PUCC. How can they justify importing workers?

******

The sponsors of the bill claim it will 'boost our competitiveness in the global economy,'" SCE is a public utility. They have no competition and their rates are set by the PUCC. How can they justify importing workers?

******

Let me see if I understand this ridiculous and out-of-control HB situation correctly: We import highly-skilled technical workers mainly from such Asian countries like India, China, Taiwan, Pakistan. and Korea so that we can compete in the world market with highly-skilled scientists and technicians in Asian countries like India, China,Taiwan, Pakistan and Korea. it makes no sense.

My question is this: If the best and the brightest scientists and technical workers in India,China, Taiwan, Pakistan, and South Korea remain in their countries, then what level of workers is the United States importing from those Asian countries?

Such distorted logic and reasoning on the part of American technical firms like Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook makes no sense.

Have these greedy technical companies forgotten that America was made great by such programs like apprentice programs and internships? How do these technical companies think that American plumbers,electricians, and air-conditioning technicians learned their skills: Through apprentice programs.

We should encourage, maybe even demand, that technical companies like Microsoft, Apple, and FaceBooke develop strong apprentice and intern programs so that they wouldn't have to depend so much on HB technical workers from India, China, Taiwan, Pakistan, and South Korea.

I believe that the HB program should be immediately and drastically reduced or abolished completely.

my point is this: The HB program has done more harm than good to the developing of technical skills among future American young people. The HB program is slowly destroying rather than helping America to compete in the global market.

The severe problem of getting American young people to pursue technical skills goes something like this:

1. Schools throughout the country are working hard to encourage young people to enter the technical fields like working with computers.

2. Many young Americans are enthusiastic about entering the technical field.

3. But these same students look around and see that they have to compete not only with their fellow Americans but with technical workers imported from foreign countries, mostly Asian countries---for instance, you don't see a flood of HB workers coming from,say, Spain and England.

4. So what do these bright students end up doing? They become discouraged. They give up on their dreams to entire the fast growing technical field, and so they decide to go into some line of easier work where they don't have to compete with foreign technical workers.

5. Then what happens? What happens is that the United States demand for technical workers ends up caught in a vicious circle.

6. The vicious circle goes something like this: Now that more and more smart American students are discouraged from pursuing studies in the scientific and technical fields by such horrible self-defeating programs like the HB program, American companies claim that they can't find enough skilled American workers to meet their increasing demand for skilled technical workers.

7. So, argue American companies, they have no choice but to beg Congress to allow them to import more and more foreign technical workers from such Asian countries as India, China, Taiwan,Pakistan and South Korea so that they can compete on the global market with the highly skilled technical workers in Asian countries like India, China, Taiwan, Pakistan, and South Korea. Huh? Am I missing something here?

8. And round-and-round we go with no end in sight to this terrible, self-defeating HB foreign workers problem.

9. Meanwhile, executives at technical and rich companies like Microsoft , Apple, and FaceBook run all the way to the bank to deposit all the money they saved by bypassing highly-qualified American technical workers for foreign HB workers.

10. Yes. Let's drastically reduce or abolish the HB foreign workers program so that we can give American youths the chance to develop the technical skills that America will need for a long, long time.

17 posted on 02/26/2015 4:49:24 PM PST by john mirse
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To: crusher2013

Don’t complain to me. That wasn’t my comment.


18 posted on 02/27/2015 6:08:09 PM PST by Neanderthal
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