> Came across the posting below on a local job board. It's interesting > to see the same issues from blue collar labor unions concerned about
Even the blue collar labor unions are modifying their anti-immigrant stances. With the reality that a huge percentage of manual labor positions are, and will continue to be filled by immigrants, many of the larger unions are now recruiting heavily among mexican and south-east asian american communities. The rationale is that improving having the union workers and the immigrant workers at each others throats only helps the big corporations who can play them off against each other. Representing both local and immigrant groups gives unions much more power. The other reality is that union memberships within the US are fairly stagnant, and much like the corporations they are supposedly fighting, they have to continue to grow to survive. A massive pool of millions of unrepresented workers pretty enticing. > foreign labor coming up in the high tech sector. Rather than > exporting the work as the manufacturing sector does to the third > world, the high tech sector imports its cheap labor. I wonder why As in other sectors, they do both. Ask anyone who works for a development firm if they've ever lost a bid to India, Maylasia, or Thailand. > that is. Perhaps because the tech workers are paid a living wage, > they can afford to live in the U.S. and spend their earnings here, > whereas as a third world factory worker could not afford to live here > on what they make. > Or maybe it's more important for high tech labor to be close to the > heart of things. This brings up again a paradox of the high tech A large amount of them send their wages back to their homelands to support their families. But that wasn't really your point. As to why they bring workers here, rather than export labor, i think it is just the first step. There is a fair amount of infrastructure needed to support a large tech sector that is still growing in third world countries. Things like access to computers, fast internet connections, and stable electricity. As those things have improved, more and more jobs are being transferred overseas. I don't think there's anything intrinsic about the tech sector that prevents it from being exported. It's certainly easier to ship code than cars. > valley. Why are Nike and the Gap happy to ship their factories > abroad, but big information technology players like HP concentrating > their workforce in pricey Santa Clara? > HP is a distinct case in that they have until recently been reputed to be an excellent place to work. They treated their employees very well, had a low turnover, etc. So they are not really indicative of the whole industry. Most chips are fab'ed in Asia, Apple, Dell and everyone else, has their laptops assembled in China or Thailand. In fact i think most hardware in general is produced in Asia, but i could be wrong. As for the article, i really hate these 'close the door' mindsets. Indian and russian programmers are losing their jobs too, and it sucks even worse for them. You can't collect unemployment, you definately can't get a new job, i mean who's gonna shell out $1,000 for a new H1-B application for you when they might have to lay you off in 3-4 months? A lot of these guys have been living here for years, and have homes and families here, in addition to supporting relatives in their home countries. Now they have to pick up and leave, and try to find a job under way worse conditions than California. I've talked to dudes who were only a couple of months away from getting their citizenships. I get annoyed at people who feel they have a more intrisic right to work, just because they're grandfather immigrated here instead of their father. The problem is not how many H1-b visas are alowed in, it is that companies are allowed to pay them less, and work them harder in the same jobs. If people of the same skill level, were payed the same regardless of background, there wouldn't be a huge desire to import foreign labor. So in a sense, the problem is not unique to the Tech industry, and is in fact the same problem the blue collar unions are facing. The only difference is the Blue collar guys are finally beginning to stop blaming the only people poorer than them. -Lkb _______________________________________________ Bits mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.sugoi.org/mailman/listinfo/bits
