Posted on 09/11/2013 11:35:34 AM PDT by markomalley
On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging quick passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The officials represent companies with a vast array of business interests: General Electric, The Walt Disney Company, Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, McDonald's Corporation, The Wendy's Company, Coca-Cola, The Cheesecake Factory, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications, Hewlett-Packard, General Mills, and many more. All want to see increases in immigration levels for low-skill as well as high-skill workers, in addition to a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants currently in the U.S. illegally.
A new immigration law, the corporate officers say, "would be a long overdue step toward aligning our nation's immigration policies with its workforce needs at all skill levels to ensure U.S. global competitiveness." The officials cite a publication of their trade group, the HR Policy Association, which calls for immigration reform to "address the reality that there is a global war for talent." The way for the United States to win that war for talent, they say, is more immigration.
Of course, the U.S. unemployment rate is at 7.3 percent, with millions of American workers at all skill levels out of work, and millions more so discouraged that they have left the work force altogether. In addition, at the same time the corporate officers seek higher numbers of immigrants, both low-skill and high-skill, many of their companies are laying off thousands of workers.
For example, Hewlett-Packard, whose Executive Vice President for Human Resources Tracy Keogh signed the letter, laid off 29,000 employees in 2012. In August of this year, Cisco Systems, whose Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Kathleen Weslock signed the letter, announced plans to lay off 4,000 — in addition to 8,000 cut in the last two years. United Technologies, whose Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Elizabeth B. Amato signed the letter, announced layoffs of 3,000 this year. American Express, whose Chief Human Resources Officer L. Kevin Cox signed the letter, cut 5,400 jobs this year. Procter & Gamble, whose Chief Human Resources Officer Mark F. Biegger signed the letter, announced plans to cut 5,700 jobs in 2012.
Those are just a few of the layoffs at companies whose officials signed the letter. A few more: T-Mobile announced 2,250 layoffs in 2012. Archer-Daniels-Midland laid off 1,200. Texas Instruments, nearly 2,000. Cigna, 1,300. Verizon sought to cut 1,700 jobs by buyouts and layoffs. Marriott announced "hundreds" of layoffs this year. International Paper has closed plants and laid off dozens. And General Mills, in what the Minneapolis Star-Tribune called a "rare mass layoff," laid off 850 people last year.
There are more still. In all, it's fair to say a large number of the corporate signers of the letter demanding more labor from abroad have actually laid off workers at home in recent years. Together, their actions have a significant effect on the economy. According to a recent Reuters report, U.S. employers announced 50,462 layoffs in August, up 34 percent from the previous month and up 57 percent from August 2012.
"It is difficult to understand how these companies can feel justified in demanding the importation of cheap labor with a straight face at a time when tens of millions of Americans are unemployed," writes the Center for Immigration Studies, which strongly opposes the Senate Gang of Eight bill and similar measures. "The companies claim the bill is an 'opportunity to level the playing field for U.S. employers' but it is more of an effort to level the wages of American citizens."
I’d say at the very least, repeal the 1965 Immigration Act and the programs that it has created/enabled to exist (such as H1-b, L-1, and the like). It has only served to create an opportunity for fraud, since no amount of enforcement will be enough.
These companies want the H1B numbers DOUBLED and in addition a whole new class of visas for low-skilled workers with a massive number of recipients.
God help us if thats so.
A company's goal should be money tempered by a self of civic responsibility. Crapping in your nest is not responsible behavior, and demanding runaway immigration for cheap labor while ignoring its societal effects among your customer base definitely fits that description.
So they just want permission to make the fire worse in order to put it out? That’s about what they’re saying that they want to do.
Such a measure(increasing guest workers) doesn’t make sense when US citizens could capably perform this work - whether they are employed(wanting better work) or short/long-term unemployed.
That, and their use of “global competitiveness” doesn’t make it any more valid.
“Obamacare, immigration reform may make immigrants cheaper to hire than citizens”
If Congress approves a Senate bill that creates a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, those immigrants would be granted legal status as “Registered Provisional Immigrants.” They would be legal but barred from collecting health care benefits available under Obamacare. And because the Affordable Care Act also requires businesses with more than 50 employees to provide health benefits at a capped price, it could be cheaper for those companies to hire newly legalized immigrants rather than citizens who are eligible for Obamacare benefits.
“Of course, the U.S. unemployment rate is at 7.3 percent”
Howls, Bruce. Howls of derisive laughter.
It’s been above 25% for years.
I’ve been in these corporate meetings and strategized with these folks, was one, and saw the value in what they were doing - future strength and shareholder value.
They just lost sight of the regular folk, the American. They don’t see it’s the Ford Principle in reverse and that they are cutting their country’s and their own throat. And if you said it while they are employed and still employable, they will look at you with a blank stare or as if you just boldly ‘flattulated’.
They just need to lose their jobs and be blackballed - and the compassion and understanding will flow right in - don’t give up on them!
This isn’t capitalism run amuck, it’s American Socialism growing up. Fortunately, like the Soviet Union had an arms race that brought the issues to a head, we had QE1,2,3, Obamacare and have the next 4 years.
Russia is coming back - we will....(que soundtrack and music..)like the six million dollar man..
We are a resource-poor country. Not enough cheap labor. We need people who can work, live 2-3 families in a house and drive and old car without insurance.
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That’s WALT DISNEY all over ,, they bring in interns from foreign countries and pay them minimal wages and then confiscate most of those wages to pay for the “provided” housing... plenty of profit for Disney in Obamacare and Gay weddings ... they currently have 70%+ of their full time costumed workers getting partner benefits for same sex ... if gay marriage is legal then they can cut off the partners unless they marry... they already starve their employees into submission with low wages and part time hours.
Unfortunately government’s spine seems to be inextricably linked to company wallets.
What they don’t realize is that with “Immigration Reform”, all those now here illegally and with at least the theoretical threat of deportation will no longer fear La Migra and demand full-retail wages.
Thus leading to a demand for more low-wage illegals.
We need a grass roots effort to identify each of the signers, find out where they live and start making their life pure hell by demonstrating outside their homes 24 hours a day for betraying American workers.
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Disney is low hanging fruit ,, they will have any protesters arrested (they own the “city” that contains all the Disney World land) but it would be effective. Time to look up REEDY CREEK laws... http://rcid.org/
I ran across a help-wanted ad a couple of years ago for what appeared to be an engineer to test the software that runs GPS receivers; not a trivial task.
The offered wage was $33 per hour.
In Los Angeles.
That’s not even “New Grad” pay; a legitimate offer for that task in that area would have been double the offered rate.
They were clearly developing documentation for a claim that it was a job that Americans just wouldn’t do, and they needed H1b visas for Ajit, Sanjay, Hitesh and Apu.
Who would all four bunk together in a studio apartment to split the rent four ways and hire an illegal Mexican housekeeper to clean and cook for them.
Any honest politician would have laughed in their faces...
This is true but not new. FDR did exactly this in the New Deal era. Read Amity Schlaes book The Forgotten Man. Fascinating documentation of the corruption at the core of the class warfare driving the New Deal.
I say that these chief human resources officers should be fired, arrested for treason, and jailed!
Replacing lawful citizens with illegal peasant labor is not “free market”, it’s scummy at best and outright traitorous at worst. And sooner or later some of the citizens are going to have to resort to making illegals untenable to hire by any means necessary because it is impossible to compete lawfully.
Seriously, try to point out that such a switch will result in a company’s product quality going down the toilet and them being despised and they’ll just blankly stare at you.
the article noted talent as a requirement.
those laid off and those unemployed lack the necessary ability or initiative to staff to the levels of corporate need.
The myth of equality in a world of educated needs is fallacious.
It is hard to make people understand that argument when they are all addicted to their devices which are made basically with slave labor and designer rags made from cheap sweat shop labor. We basically outlawed that kind of employee treatment but since we don’t see it because it is Mexico or Indonesia it is ok. Can you imagine the screams if they had to pay off-shore and illegals the same rate they pay US citizen labor? What would be their scapegoat then?
Don’t think I’m ignorant of this. It burns my biscuits that almost all the electronic equipment I work with comes from a nation that persecutes Christians and out-Stalined Stalin within living memory.
Unfortunately, the cold fact is slave labor makes the product very cheap if the labor doesn’t revolt, and since they’re halfway around the world even if they DID revolt (they won’t) we’d only have to deal with the indirect fallout. Slave-made goods are as addictive as cocaine and every bit as destructive to society.
And you’re 100% right about “out of sight, out of mind” - also, there’s the fact that liberals do NOT really care, it’s all PR stunts.
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