Save American JOBS! Abolish the J-1 Visa!

The J-1 Visa was created in 1961 under the John F. Kennedy Administration with good intentions, to allow student guest workers from developing countries a chance to practice in their chosen field and develop new technologies and business practices to help their countrymen and improve their living conditions. For example, a student from India who was studying hydroengineering could work with an engineering firm here in the US for a few months and bring back valuable experience to be shared with his fellow countrymen in applying such technologies in his home village, improving the quality of life for many; a noble cause. 

However, the J-1 Visa has shifted focus from enriching the lives of workers from poor, developing countries to providing an "excuse" for greedy corporations to bring in hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage workers and DISPLACE just as many American citizens in jobs that had once paid decent wages and provided health benefits in the recent past. Those  Americans who are currently employed in the service industry are experiencing record stagnation in wage growth, deep paycuts and an unprecedented increase in costs to maintain diminishing healthcare coverage for themselves and their families. This is simply NOT acceptable! ALL wages suffer, except for those privileged, elite few in the executive suites of multi-billion dollar corporations.

The J-1 Visa hurts American workers with the following key strategies:

1) "Poison Pill"- The jobs of service workers have experienced downward pressure in terms of wages and benefits simply because the natural market forces of supply and demand have been short-circuited by bringing in thousands of foreign workers willing to work at minimum wage and NO health benefits. (Haven't you noticed at the absence of American workers at ski resorts and theme parks, lately?) The few Americans that ARE hired at sub-par, lackluster wages are often rude, sloppy, lack basic work ethics and are so under-motivated that employers point their crooked fingers at them and say, "You see? This is WHY we hire foreign workers!" Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy of "engineered obsolescence" so sneaky employers can justify their cheap labor programs, rather than pay competitive, fair-market wages for the best American workers. In addition, turnover or "churn" is accelerated to keep labor costs (aka wages and benefits) down.

2) War of Attrition: American workers are finding themselves pitted against a wall, with American service industry bosses firing American workers in record numbers and back-filling with J-1 Visa workers. "Don't call in sick anymore or you'll be fired!" Despite record unemployment not seen since the Great Depression, the tourism industry is doing quite well; ski resorts and theme parks are packed, despite lackluster per-capita spending, THOUSANDS of applications for employment are being swept under the carpet while large corporations routinely send out recruiters overseas for J-1 Visa employees. A large American entertainment company was recently in Shanghai for a 3 week recruitment trip for its Florida theme park operations and reportedly interviewed more than 600 applicants each day! The lines of applicants was wrapped around city blocks.

3) Currency Exchange Differences: This is REALLY what it's about. Why else would 600 Chinese applicants line up each day to take minimum-wage service jobs in America? Let's say a J-1 Visa student worker from China works at a Florida theme park for $7 an hour, minimum wage, living expenses deducted, with no benefits. He does his 6 month stint, signing up for as much overtime he can handle. He eats frugally, often with peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He saves $4,000 to take back home to China. When he gets home, he immediately takes his savings of $4,000 USD to a local bank and gets the exchange rate of 6.83 Chinese dollars, or Yuan, for EACH US dollar. That small $4,000 sum is now cashed in for a whopping $27, 320!!! Those Chinese student workers selling popcorn and serving fastfood at your favorite theme park and ski resorts are making the equivilent of $49.10 an hour! Now you see why they line up to take American service jobs? It's not just Chinese; it's Mexican, Brazillian, Eastern Europeans and other countries' students that are being tapped as a cheap supply of labor at American worker expense.

Sign this petition. More importantly, organize grass-roots petitions in your home cities and towns, especially those affected heavily by the local service industry. Write and call your local Congressmen, call in to radio talk shows to bring local and national awareness to this problem.

This is not exclusively a blue-collar problem. This type of corporate greed also affects white-collar workers with the H1B Visa program that outsources high-tech computer industry jobs. That's another petition and battle to be fought.

For more info:
http://www.numbersusa.org/

The J-1 Visa was created in 1961 under the John F. Kennedy Administration with good intentions, to allow student guest workers from developing countries a chance to practice in their chosen field and develop new technologies and business practices to help their countrymen and improve their living conditions. For example, a student from India who was studying hydroengineering could work with an engineering firm here in the US for a few months and bring back valuable experience to be shared with his fellow countrymen in applying such technologies in his home village, improving the quality of life for many; a noble cause. 

However, the J-1 Visa has shifted focus from enriching the lives of workers from poor, developing countries to providing an "excuse" for greedy corporations to bring in hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage workers and DISPLACE just as many American citizens in jobs that had once paid decent wages and provided health benefits in the recent past. Those  Americans who are currently employed in the service industry are experiencing record stagnation in wage growth, deep paycuts and an unprecedented increase in costs to maintain diminishing healthcare coverage for themselves and their families. This is simply NOT acceptable! ALL wages suffer, except for those privileged, elite few in the executive suites of multi-billion dollar corporations.

The J-1 Visa hurts American workers with the following key strategies:

1) "Poison Pill"- The jobs of service workers have experienced downward pressure in terms of wages and benefits simply because the natural market forces of supply and demand have been short-circuited by bringing in thousands of foreign workers willing to work at minimum wage and NO health benefits. (Haven't you noticed at the absence of American workers at ski resorts and theme parks, lately?) The few Americans that ARE hired at sub-par, lackluster wages are often rude, sloppy, lack basic work ethics and are so under-motivated that employers point their crooked fingers at them and say, "You see? This is WHY we hire foreign workers!" Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy of "engineered obsolescence" so sneaky employers can justify their cheap labor programs, rather than pay competitive, fair-market wages for the best American workers. In addition, turnover or "churn" is accelerated to keep labor costs (aka wages and benefits) down.

2) War of Attrition: American workers are finding themselves pitted against a wall, with American service industry bosses firing American workers in record numbers and back-filling with J-1 Visa workers. "Don't call in sick anymore or you'll be fired!" Despite record unemployment not seen since the Great Depression, the tourism industry is doing quite well; ski resorts and theme parks are packed, despite lackluster per-capita spending, THOUSANDS of applications for employment are being swept under the carpet while large corporations routinely send out recruiters overseas for J-1 Visa employees. A large American entertainment company was recently in Shanghai for a 3 week recruitment trip for its Florida theme park operations and reportedly interviewed more than 600 applicants each day! The lines of applicants was wrapped around city blocks.

3) Currency Exchange Differences: This is REALLY what it's about. Why else would 600 Chinese applicants line up each day to take minimum-wage service jobs in America? Let's say a J-1 Visa student worker from China works at a Florida theme park for $7 an hour, minimum wage, living expenses deducted, with no benefits. He does his 6 month stint, signing up for as much overtime he can handle. He eats frugally, often with peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He saves $4,000 to take back home to China. When he gets home, he immediately takes his savings of $4,000 USD to a local bank and gets the exchange rate of 6.83 Chinese dollars, or Yuan, for EACH US dollar. That small $4,000 sum is now cashed in for a whopping $27, 320!!! Those Chinese student workers selling popcorn and serving fastfood at your favorite theme park and ski resorts are making the equivilent of $49.10 an hour! Now you see why they line up to take American service jobs? It's not just Chinese; it's Mexican, Brazillian, Eastern Europeans and other countries' students that are being tapped as a cheap supply of labor at American worker expense.

Sign this petition. More importantly, organize grass-roots petitions in your home cities and towns, especially those affected heavily by the local service industry. Write and call your local Congressmen, call in to radio talk shows to bring local and national awareness to this problem.

This is not exclusively a blue-collar problem. This type of corporate greed also affects white-collar workers with the H1B Visa program that outsources high-tech computer industry jobs. That's another petition and battle to be fought.

For more info:
http://www.numbersusa.org/

We the undersigned are asking for nationwide awareness of corporations using the J-1 Visa to obtain cheap student labor at the expense of American citizens who need jobs.

The J-1 Visa cheapens service industry jobs in world-class American ski resorts and theme parks that once paid decent wages and provided affordable health benefits.

American workers suffer and only wealthy corporate executives and business owners benefit from selling their fellow Americans "down the river."

End the J-1 Visa now!