Monday, September 19, 2016

An American Engineer Wonders Why Belgium Cares About Laid-off Workers, But America Doesn’t


From: An American Engineer [Email him]
American companies Caterpillar (which makes tractors ) and Dell (which makes computers) both decided recently to lay off hundreds (in the case of Caterpillar) or thousands (in the case of Dell) of professional American workers and replace them with cheap H-1B labor.
The American government makes no protest; in fact, it allows this practice to continue despite the obvious fact that technical visa programs like the H-1B and L-1 are being used not to serve a need for workers, but rather serve a need forcheap workers who will work for wages below those in the U.S. labor market (and for the possibility of getting a green card).
Caterpillar has also apparently decided to close a plant in Belgium employing two thousand plus workers, and Belgian government has taken exception:
My question is: why is this kind of government outrage not happening in this country when similar American employees are terminated?  It’s a sad day when you have to look to the governments in small, European countries for examples of pro-worker policies and corporate oversight.

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