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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Feb 7, 2009 23:24:23 GMT -6
It looks like the American people finally won one, thanks to Senators Bernie Sanders and Charles Grassley. The Senate passed an amendment to restrict the hiring of H1B workers by banksters receiving bailout money. The Amendment was sponsored by Senators Sanders and Grassley. Below is the story from Senator Sanders' site: Senate Approves Sanders-Grassley Amendment " As unemployment rose and the worst recession since the Great Depression worsened, the Senate today voted to prohibit banks that take taxpayer bailout funds from replacing laid off workers with foreign guest workers. "Wall Street caused the crisis, millions of people lost jobs, including 100,000 in financial institutions. Now they want to bring in foreign workers," Senator Bernie Sanders said. "Talk about adding insult to injury." An investigation by The Associated Press found that a dozen banks now receiving more than $150 billion in bailouts requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past 6 years to replace laid-off American employees.
Legislation by Senators Sanders (I-Vt.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) would require bailed-out banks where there have been layoffs to hire only Americans for 2 years. On a voice vote, the Senate added the Sanders-Grassley Amendment to an economic recovery bill.
“The very least we can do is to make sure that banks receiving a taxpayer bailout are not allowed to import cheaper labor from overseas while they are laying off American workers,” Sanders said.
Layoffs at banks are part of a dramatically shrinking American workforce. The U.S. economy lost 598,000 jobs in January, as the jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent, bringing total job losses since the recession started in December 2007 to 3.6 million, the Department of Labor reported today." www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=307862
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Feb 8, 2009 0:33:30 GMT -6
from Yahoo News Senators seek H-1B hiring ban for cos receiving govt money by Lalit K Jha Feb 6, 2009 " In what could be a cause of worry for Indian IT professionals, two US Senators have introduced amendments to the economic stimulus bill, which if passed would prevent US companies receiving the federal bailout money, from hiring H-1B visa holders. The amendment if approved by the Senate would have an immediate impact on Indian IT professionals, as it is they who are the major beneficiaries of the H-1B visa programme. An amendment in this regard has been co-sponsored by the Republican Senator from Iowa, Chuck Grassley and the Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. Introducing the amendment on the floor of the Senate, Senator Sanders said: "It is essentially saying that there would be a suspension of H-1B programme of any institution, which would be receiving TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Programme) funds for just one year." Seeking bi-partisan support to his amendment, Sanders said: "I firmly believe that companies going through layoffs that employ H-1B visas (holding workers) have a moral obligation to protect American workers by putting them first during these difficult times." Sanders also quoted a recent media report that said that the American banking industry had requested for more than 21,000 visas for foreign guest workers over the last 6 years. "
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Feb 8, 2009 14:21:11 GMT -6
Below is the latest information on the Sanders-Grassley Amendment, from Google.com Senate approves restriction on foreign hiresBy FRANK BASS and RITA BEAMISH (Feb. 6th or 7th, 2009) " The Senate voted Friday to restrict the hiring of foreign workers by banks that are receiving government bailout funds while undergoing vast layoffs.
The legislation by Sens. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would require the banks to seek American workers before turning to foreign nationals when they're hiring. It aims to prevent replacement of Americans by foreigners working under the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to bring in workers for high-skilled and advanced-degree jobs.
The measure has a 2-year life and if signed into law would apply to the more than 300 banks that are receiving money from the taxpayer-funded Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The Senate added the restriction as part of the massive economic stimulus package lawmakers are crafting as part of President Barack Obama's plan to reinvigorate the economy.
If it becomes law, banks seeking visas to bring in foreign workers would be barred from displacing or replacing American employees for 3 months before and 3 months after petitioning the government for the visas.
To win votes, Sanders and Grassley softened what they had originally proposed, a flat-out 1-year ban on hiring foreign-visa workers, but extended the measure to 2 years. They made the banks subject to restrictions that apply to employers whose work force is made up of more than 15% foreign visa workers, a category that normally would not include banks.
Sanders said the measure effectively would "make sure that banks receiving a taxpayer bailout are not allowed to import cheaper labor from overseas while they are laying off American workers."....
If it becomes law...banks will be hard-pressed to hire foreign nationals or extend visas of current employees for 2 years....
Sanders and Grassley introduced the legislation after an Associated Press investigation found the dozen banks now receiving the lion's share of taxpayer bailout funds had sought a Department of Labor green light for 21,800 foreign worker visa slots over the past 6 years...." www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ ALeqM5j12gXSzWKTzk0O24mMSt2lttObRQD966FES80This sounds like a small number, but it could be many times that if bailed out banks started hiring H1Bs to replace the thousands of Americans they have already laid off. It's really telling that Sanders & Grassley couldn't get enough support to pass a 1-year ban H1B visa hiring by the banks receiving bailout money. This follows a year where the US lost -4.2 million jobs. And yet the Senate could not find it's way to pass a 1-year ban that was limited to banks receiving bailout money. Amazing. And disgusting.
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Post by kramer on Feb 8, 2009 17:38:21 GMT -6
You know what, I can see things like this (banks receiving bailout funds and then turning around and hiring foriegn workers) leading to civil unrest with the violence directed at bankers and the executives who are sending our manufacturing and IT jobs overseas. If this does happen, I can also see violence directed at the politicians who helped set the conditions that caused this mess.
Kramer
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Feb 9, 2009 4:04:08 GMT -6
You know what, I can see things like this (banks receiving bailout funds and then turning around and hiring foriegn workers) leading to civil unrest with the violence directed at bankers and the executives who are sending our manufacturing and IT jobs overseas. If this does happen, I can also see violence directed at the politicians who helped set the conditions that caused this mess. Kramer I see the same thing. With the exception of extending unemployment and food stamps, the Obama pseudo-stimulus bill is nothing but a giveaway program to rich special interests. Obama can't even support the buy-American part of the bill.
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