Banks sought foreign workers

Major U.S. banks sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers into the country for high-paying jobs even as the financial system was melting down last year and Americans were getting laid ...

[Norm Silver]

After becoming familiar with the situtaion leading up to the current fiscal crisis in the US this revelation doesn't surprise me. The same outfits that jacked up credit cards fees and interest rates and got into the mortgage scandals would stop at nothing to enhance their bottom line. If an indepth investigation is conducted I'll bet the underhanded actions list will get larger.

[Engineer]

Large corporations have for years misused and abused the immigration laws to import workers. As an engineer I saw this in action as foreign engineers would be hired and become virtual slaves of the corporation. Once here, they cannot leave the employment of the corporation without violating their visa and are thus powerless to speak or act out against low pay, excessive work hours, low pay or any other working condition. It is such a good deal for the corporations that they routinely lobby Congress to expand the number of jobs available under the H1-B limit on foreign workers. The corporations can spend hundreds of thousand of dollars lobbying for expandng thse limits while U.S. engineers cannot.

It is sad, but for the most part the foreign engineers were so glad to be here where they could earn so much more than the country they came from that they never complained about the injustice. So, I do not speak against them. They are just people trying to do the best for themselves and their families. It is the unbridled coporate greed that I speak against.

[Nobelo]

Any bank that participated in this practice should be boycotted and denied any bailout money. The corporate greed in this country is almost beyond belief. We are all to blame by not being more vigilant as to how companies and the government are doing business. I hope that we have all learned lessons from this debacle.

Maybe I will just keep the little money I have left in my mattress, at least it won't go into the greedy hands of corporate America.

[Fred in Vacaville]

Here's another slap in the face for the United States of America. This time from the IBM Corporation...

From the Seattle times: "Report: IBM offering to relocate laid off workers to India, China, Brazil"

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtra...

I don't know if bashing corporations is or is not against the TOPIX & Reporter Terms of Service but here goes. IBM, which at one time, manufactured quality typewriters, main frame and mini computers, PCs and laptops now, makes an wretchedly inferior product and cannot even begin to compete with the likes of Dell or Hewlett-Packard.

This act by the corporation clearly defines the true meaning of the company name IBM as "Ive Been Moved!"

To use an all too often asked question to the IBM Corporation: Why do you hate America?

FinVV

[Engineer]

Fred in Vacaville wrote:

Here's another slap in the face for the United States of America. This time from the IBM Corporation...
From the Seattle times: "Report: IBM offering to relocate laid off workers to India, China, Brazil"
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtra...
I don't know if bashing corporations is or is not against the TOPIX & Reporter Terms of Service but here goes. IBM, which at one time, manufactured quality typewriters, main frame and mini computers, PCs and laptops now, makes an wretchedly inferior product and cannot even begin to compete with the likes of Dell or Hewlett-Packard.
This act by the corporation clearly defines the true meaning of the company name IBM as "Ive Been Moved!"
To use an all too often asked question to the IBM Corporation: Why do you hate America?
FinVV

Thank you for your pointer to the IBM worker relocation information. That is the ultimate insult to laid off Americans.

However, IBM has not sold PCs for at least 4 years. They sold their PC operations to Lenovo, a Chinese company in December 2004. Prior to that they made an OK, if somewhat expensive, product.

[Phoebe]

With the current economic crisis, I'd suggest issuing no more H1B visas to foreign nationals. There are plenty of Americans with sufficient skills currently seeking employment, and the H1B system has been used as a way of keeping down domestic labor rates for years.

We should be trying to attract the brightest and the best, but the H1B visa system lets in people for routine positions and acts as a disincentive for Americans to enter professions such as IT and the sciences.

[Phoebe]

Engineer wrote:

It is sad, but for the most part the foreign engineers were so glad to be here where they could earn so much more than the country they came from that they never complained about the injustice. So, I do not speak against them. They are just people trying to do the best for themselves and their families. It is the unbridled coporate greed that I speak against.

Exactly... after all, this is their American Dream.