Layoffs at Sun prompt inquiry over H-1B visas

San Jose Mercury ^ | Sun, Jun. 23, 2002 | By Jennifer Bjorhus

[KneelBeforeZod]

The Justice Department is investigating whether Sun Microsystems has discriminated against U.S. citizens in favor of foreign workers here on temporary H-1B work visas.

The investigation was prompted by a complaint in April by a laid-off Sun engineer, Guy Santiglia of Santa Clara. Santiglia, 36, lost his job when Sun laid off 3,900 in October. The Santa Clara company makes Unix-based servers that run corporate computer networks and Web sites.

[goody2shooz]

My brother-in-law worked as a maintenance man for a bakery in Portland, Oregon. He was laid off by the bakery's manager, a woman from Cambodia. She replaced him with two green-card Cambodian immigrants.

Turns out that our government, in its infinite wisdom, would pay the wages of one of the two new employess. This was according to a labor lawyer my brother-in-law talked to after this incident. The firing, though technically unsubstantiated, was due to new legislation voted through in an effort to persuade employers to high immigrants who had been on welfare. Democrats and Republicans working together in this instance was NOT a beautiful thing!

I myself am an electrical engineering specialist who has been unable to find work since 1993. It sucks.

What this Congress must do is make it impossible to import poor people. I know it is impossible to stop exporting jobs but blocking the immigration of millions of people is doable.

[goody2shooz]

high = hire

Sorry!

[GailA]

Technical folks who have been laid off are having a very rough time finding employment..unless they are willing to take drastic pay cuts. These imports are getting the jobs at much lower pay.

[NormsRevenge]

Companies in the Valley are shameless about these kind of things.

The group I worked in was made up of mostly H-1B visa workers. In a recent layoff, I and 3 others went out the door. All the H-1Bs stayed.

It was done for economic reasons and the bottom line, altho the usual spiels were stated about business needs changing, eliminating positions, etc.


I wholeheartedly support a review of the facts in this case and hope it helps to start a new awakening of where the good jobs have gone and who gets the good ones here, sometimes in less then fair ways.

To all those out there looking as I, GOOD LUCK n Hang in There.