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| I found this on the net and it makes me sick ....
My name is Toni L. Chester. I am a forty two (42) year old female
American technical worker with one son who I have raised alone. I have
over seventeen (17) years of technical industry experience. My academic
background entails a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics,
a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics; I am four courses shy of a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science. My academic focus was
on engineering and computer science in addition to my specified majors.
Today, I share my story, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of American
Technical Workers.
At the age of nine (9), I was so engrossed and in love with Mathematics
that I purchased my first algebra books at a flea market in
Massachusetts. My love of math continued in High School where I
excelled pursing an advanced program of study.
In my senior year, I had planned to go to college and become a
Mathematics Professor. I was pulled aside by my physics teacher. He
introduced me to the discipline of engineering. He encouraged me to
pursue a career and education in Engineering. After all, it was the
future of this country.
>From here, I went to college and obtained my degrees. I had my son. I
went to work.
I worked in the engineering discipline for seven and one half years.
During this time, I became much more heavily involved with computers
and programming. Although my academic background contained extensive
work in the programming disciplines, I had not had the opportunity to
fully utilize the skills. With my background in programming, I quickly
moved from Steam Turbine Engineering to Software Development, a field
in which I excelled.
I was quickly given increasing responsibility, frequently being named
team lead for my assignments. I worked primarily as a contract employee
for many leading companies including AT&T, Pricewaterhouse Coopers,
Lucent Technologies, Ernst & Young.
My first experience with the H-1B Visa program occurred at AT&T in
Piscattaway, New Jersey. The development team I was on, was comprised
of two American developers and three H-1B contract developers. Through
conversation with my teammates, I learned that Noel Desouza, Ramkumar
(Ram) and Subramanian (Subu) were in the United States through the H-1B
guest worker program. Ram and Subu were young men lacking experience.
Noel was a few years older, male and experienced. They all made
significantly less than me. Through various discussions, I learned that
Ram and Subu were paid around $40,000 annually whereas Noel was paid a
bit higher. At the time, my salary was $65,000 per year with benefits.
Subu barely spoke English and assignments had to be dictated down to
the algorithm (step-by-step instruction) level. This took time and
energy. Another programmer could complete the work in the time that it
took to provide the instruction to him. Subu and Ram were soon replaced
for nonperformance and failing to report to work. The replacements,
Sagar and Kalyan, were once again young, male H-1B visa holders in
their 20s. Our team spent a great amount of time together. We often
discussed our backgrounds and how my teammates had come to work in the
United States. There were no Americans considered for the positions. I
am aware that no Americans were considered for the positions because I
was among the team of developers conducting the interviews.
Many times, I was put in a position to mentor or train my H-1B peers.
At the time, I had no idea that they were in my country to be my
replacements. Nor did I realize that the program afforded corporations
a means to rapidly escalate the off-shore outsourcing process. The H-1B
Visa program is the CATALYST to off-shore outsourcing. Workers are
brought to the United States, trained by their American peers, taught
project details. The Americans are terminated and the jobs are lost. In
the summer of 2003, I read an article concerning my area of expertise
and how the positions had been moved primarily to India.
I was terminated from my contract assignment on the Agere Systems spin
project while two young, male, h-1B guest workers from India, Permjit
Ghotra and Vic, more than 10 years my junior were retained. This
decision was based on the recommendations of an employee, Charanjit
Momi. The customer of my services had no input into the decision. The
only remaining female, the only remaining American on the team was
discharged. At the time, I had just turned 38 years old, I had
significantly more experience than my peers and I was the only United
States citizen. My skills were not inferior, as I was leading most of
the effort. I was often contacted by Vic to assist in his job. When I
learned that my contract was ending, I was told to be professional and
to train my peer in the work I was doing. My last day was August 31,
2001.
I was aware that both men were here on an H-1B Visa due to
conversations between us. Permjit had returned to India during the
course of the project. At that time, he was required to renew his visa,
and was thus detained. During this time, he did not communicate with
us, so I proceeded with the work alone, having no knowledge of the
status of his tasks. Vic joined the IBM team in the Spring of 2001.
There were no American workers considered for position. Through
conversation, I learned that Vic had been on an assignment in
California prior to his arrival in Pennsylvania. He had not been in the
country very long. We spoke quite frequently because I was his source
of transportation for his visits to the Berkeley Heights, NJ location
of Agere Systems.
Permjit and I were brought on this project to migrate computer
applications from Lucent Technologies to enable Agere Systems to move
forward toward their IPO. I joined the project first. Second came
Permjit, a young man with whom I had worked in the past. We had the
mission to complete the work quickly and without flaw. Upon his return,
the project had to move quickly. We had limited time to migrate all the
code and the data contained within the Lucent application. As this
computer system addressed the Intellectual Property of the corporation,
the data migration had to be completed with diligence to allow for the
physical separation of the two companies.
In the meantime, my direct management changed. I was not introduced to
the new manager, nor was he introduced to me. Permjit was introduced to
the new manager by Charanjit Momi. He was engaged immediately. I was
told that the new manager was too busy and didn't have time to meet
with me. Several months later, I introduced myself. That was all the
contact I had with him until w s before my contract was terminated.
On the afternoon of Monday, August 20, 2001, I was phoned by my
consulting firm. I learned in that conversation that my contract would
end on August 31, 2001. The H-1B guest worker, Permjit Ghotra, was
being retained.
In the coming ws, I would learn that jobs were not so easily found.
This was the first time in my life that I filed for unemployment.
At the end of September, 2001, I landed an opportunity that took me
back years in my experience. I was no longer using my current skills.
Although I knew from the interview that the fit was not good, I had no
choice. I could not decline the job by law. If an offer is made, I had
a legal obligation to accept it. This position lasted just over a
month. In November 2001, I began my long term unemployment. I didn't
even have a chance to fight for a job. By January 2002, I was
submitting as many resumes as possible regardless of the location. Many
positions were only available for a window of two hours. There were so
many resume submissions that they could not address all the candidates.
Through conversations with local recruiters, I later learned that for
every position posted there was a minimum of a thousand resumes
presented.
Times were rough. I had quickly depleted my available funds.
Unemployment paid only a fraction of my mortgage. I could not pay my
bills. In July 2002, my unemployment compensation was exhausted. I had
obtained one extension. I had only worked three days since November
2001. Afterwards, I ended up living on my tax return. In September, I
landed a six w opportunity. The money was low, but it was better
than nothing. I was now making significantly less than before, had no
opportunity for overtime, had no vacation, holiday or sick pay. I had
to commute 75-80 miles each way. The project goals were unrealistic.
The company was Accenture.
After completing the assignment, I opened a new unemployment claim.
Over the duration of my unemployment, I had seen one particular job,
through Crimson Precision, pop up frequently. Each time, I submitted my
resume and received no response. Finally, in November 2002, I learned
that the project had gone awry and that the existing development team
was being replaced. The assignment was with Pricewaterhouse Coopers. I
heard nothing more. Just days before Christmas 2002, I saw the job
again. I contacted the company. I passed the technical interview, was
hired, started the following day. I learned that three foreign guests
had to be terminated for failure to produce. My role was technical
writer, with an hourly rate $25/hour less than my previous assignments.
I quickly escalated to the lead developer position. I was not offered
monetary compensation for the change in position. The assignment was in
Manhattan. My commute was 85-90 miles each direction and took hours. I
completed the application in 10 months, mostly alone. The project had
run several months prior to my arrival. During this time I was
unemployed despite being more than qualified to do the job. Once I was
given the opportunity I proved I was more than up to the challenge. My
employer just didn't think to offer it to me until they had exhausted
their supply of H-1Bs.
After completing this assignment in September 2003, I was again
unemployed. This time, I changed my approach. I sought out Indian based
consulting firms. I recalled that Indotronics had supplied the H-1B
guest workers to AT&T. Thus, I sent my resume to the Indian branch of
Indotronics. I was contacted quickly by recruiters across the country.
Discussions began. I was advised of an opportunity at Lucent
Technologies in Murray Hill, NJ. The hourly rate for the position was
between $28 and $30/ hour. The contract was offered through IBM INDIA.
The rates were as is, no benefits. Previously, I had been paid $70 -
75 /hour with benefits for a similar position at the same client. I
thanked them for contacting me and graciously declined.
My income has dropped dramatically. I have no vacation, no sick pay, no
holiday pay, no medical insurance. When afforded an opportunity, I must
work every day to barely make ends meet, which they frequently don't.
We have had no Christmas in years: Thanksgiving is just another day.
There is nothing to celebrate, no money for a celebration. In October
2002, my cable was disconnected. We have had no television since
October 2002.
This situation has adversely impacted my son's life. My son is a
vibrant, young, intelligent minority who wishes to someday pursue the
field of Electrical Engineering. He graduated from high school in June
2005 with honors. He passed both the AP Exam in Calculus and the AP
Exam in Chemistry. Today, he sits at home waiting for his chance. He
did not attend college this year because of my financial woes.
In the spring of 2002, while unemployed, having no prospects in site, I
had a long talk with my son. The reality had struck, my education and
experience was worthless. I told my son that a college education was
not a viable avenue or path to pursue. This discussion was very
devastating for me. I had to come to the conclusion that my career was
over and that my educational and career achievements had no value, at
least not in my country. At the time, he was 14 years old.
Today, I am forced to live my life in 3 day, 3 w, 2 month, 3 month
or 6 month intervals. Nothing is long term. Nothing pays as it had a
few years back. In order to survive, I must work every business day
that is available to me. I don't get vacation or sick time. My
commute is long and tedious. I pay the employers portion of Social
Security.
Every day, I live in fear. I can no longer answer my phone. I'm
afraid to pay my bills. Survival is all that I know today. I have no
idea how long an assignment will last, thus I have to hoard money in
preparation for another long term stay in the unemployment chain. This
is the life of an American Technical Worker.
For the past four and a half months I have been unemployed. The last
assignment paid $30/hour less than my going rate; the company, ISI, was
in the midst of off-shore outsourcing to India.
The H-1B program is being used to displace American Technical workers
from their opportunities. The H-1B program, in many cases, brings
young, less experienced, foreign, predominantly male workers into the
country. The American workers are told to train their replacements,
then dismissed. I know, because I have done it. I frequently see
opportunities listed on job boards sing only H-1B Visa holders. I
have contacted the firms. I have been told that there are no jobs. I
have contacted the firms about the FREE training they presumably offer.
Most times, they don't respond. When I ask to be offered the training
opportunities available, they never call back.
Five years ago I was one of the most qualified, most skilled and most
sought after IT professionals in the country. I have an excellent
education in mathematics, statistics and computer programming. My work
history is spotless. Yet I am unemployable. I hear that American
businesses want hundreds of thousands of H-1B workers next year to fill
jobs "no American can do.?? I am here. I can do these jobs.
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