WashTech exec on H-1B visas, displaced workers

18.04.2006
Labor unions don't have much of a presence in the hi-tech industry, something that hurts its white-collar workers, who are losing jobs to offshore outsourcing, according to Marcus Courtney, president of the Seattle-based Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, or WashTech. For instance, manufacturing workers -- with far more union representation than tech workers -- get extended unemployment, health insurance help and other benefits when they lose their jobs because of globalization. Programmers and other tech workers do not. In an interview with Computerworld, Courtney talked about some of the issues affecting tech workers, including the ongoing debate in Congress over immigration and the H-1B visa cap.

It's unclear whether Congress will increase the current H-1B cap. What's your outlook? If an immigration reform [bill] is to pass Congress, my expectation is they will most likely have some kind of provision in that bill to expand the H-1B visa cap. The ideal outcome is that we can begin generating enough grassroots activities among people in the tech community to get in touch with their member of Congress to let them know that they oppose any H-1B visa increase as part of the immigration reform. That is not the bill to be addressing the issues surrounding the H-1B visa.

The H-1B program is not about immigration; It's a guest worker program. It's dealing with technology and the immigration brought about between Mexico and the United States and not between the United States and Southeast Asia, where predominately the majority of H-1B visa holders come from.

Why is increasing the H-1B cap a bad thing? The H-1B visa is a specialty visa designed to fill spot market labor shortages for employers in very niche skills in the computer industry. It's a little bit broader than just technology, but predominantly it's the technology industry that uses this visa. When you look at the demand for hi-tech workers in the country, there are more workers seeking jobs than jobs available. The 65,000 should be adequate enough for employers to fill any spot market labor shortages.

What happens if the cap is raised? It becomes a U.S. worker replacement program.

What happens to displaced technology workers? It increases the competition for those workers for any jobs that are available in the market. It drives down wages.