Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow Bolder

[nightflight]

American corporations are under new scrutiny from federal lawmakers after well-publicized episodes in which the companies laid off American workers and gave the jobs to foreigners on temporary visas.

But while corporate executives have been outspoken in defending their labor practices before Congress and the public, the American workers who lost jobs to global outsourcing companies have been largely silent.

Until recently. Now some of the workers who were displaced are starting to speak out, despite severance agreements prohibiting them from criticizing their former employers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/u...-to-zip-lips-on-way-out-grow-bolder.html?_r=0

 

[seashale76]

I read that article earlier today. I think these companies need to be held legally accountable for purposefully not adhering to the H1B visa program as outlined. If the failing is in the legislation itself or a purposeful abuse of said legislation then it needs to be fixed either way. It's unacceptable. Americans that are qualified are being laid off and asked to train their less skilled counterparts. This is a flagrant abuse of the program. In reality, America has very few gaps for hard to find resources that could/should be filled by foreigners. This says it all:

“I’ve been laid off before, I can understand that,” he said. “But these visas were meant to fill in gaps for resources that are hard to find. This time the company actually asked me to transfer my knowledge to somebody else. That changes the equation.”

According to federal rules, temporary visas known as H-1Bs are for foreigners with “a body of specialized knowledge” not readily available in the labor market. The visas should be granted only when they will not undercut the wages or “adversely affect the working conditions” of Americans.

But in the past five years, through loopholes in the rules, tens of thousands of American workers have been replaced by foreigners on H-1B and other temporary visas, according to Prof. Hal Salzman, a labor force expert at Rutgers University.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I'd like to see whistleblower-like legislation that exempts these nondisparagement clauses from talking to public officials, law enforcement, or the press.