To summarize the situation, Hyatt housekeepers were forced to train their foreign replacements. A union called “Unite Here“ offered to help these workers by organizing protests and boycotts.

Unite Here comes up with all sorts of reasons the Hyatt 100 lost their job, but immigration isn’t one of them. Notice how they mention outsourcing but conveniently ignored the fact that the replacement workers used by the bodyshop are immigrants.

Hyatt fired 100 housekeepers from its three Boston-area hotels after asking the workers to train their replacements from an outsourcing agency.

The union is correct that the economy is being used an excuse by Hyatt, but the reason they can actually do what they are doing is IMMIGRATION.

Hyatt is using the economy as an excuse to dramatically lower the living standards of hotel workers in other cities as well.

The same thing is happening to Hyatt workers in San Francisco and Chicago. Not surprisingly Unite Here and the AFL-CIO are claiming to do something about the problem while ignoring the real issue: IMMIGRATION.

The unions decided to protest the Boston situation by encouraging participants to chant things like “Sí, se puede”. That Spanish expression is used by the pro-amnesty crowds and Obama followers, who are often one and the same. Not a word was said about the reason Hyatt was able to replace American workers who are perceived to be more expensive — IMMIGRATION!

In the previous blog I wrote: “the immigration angle of this story is being swept under the rug by the mainstream media”, which is just what happened. Local media like the Boston Globe dropped any connections that the Hyatt story had with immigration by simply failing to mention it was ever an issue. In contrast, their early articles on Hyatt did mention immigration without giving specifics.

So, how did things work out for those housekeepers that were replaced by cheap foreign laborers?

The Hyatt offered some of them jobs back but the terms were terrible. So far only 6 of 98 housekeepers have gone for the deal. I don’t mean to seem callous, but it’s actually kind of funny that Hyatt offered to hire the workers back but only if they agree to work for an outsourcing company called United Service Companies. How ironic is that?

The union and the ex-workers of Hyatt could make immigration an issue, which might lead to a different outcome than the miserable one they are getting now, but of course they won’t because probably none of them understand how Einstein’s famous statement about repeating errors and getting the same result applies to their failure to mention immigration. The unions would rather lose than be politically incorrect, and Hyatt management will be more than happy to accommodate them. Those Hyatt workers are more alone than they realize because even their “friends” aren’t going to help to solve the real problem.

Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, is portrayed in a recent Education Next puff piece as a modern day Braveheart in high heels because of the way she ruthlessly chops the jobs of union teachers.

Most of her layoff victims are older teachers. Suspiciously, the race or ethnicity of the teachers who lost their jobs is not yet available. The rumor mill has it that most of the teachers who were cut were black women over the age of 40. The racial mix can be seen in these two youtube videos of a protest march (here and here and here). In addition to lots of people with gray hair there are a few black and white males, perhaps a Hispanic or two — BUT NO ASIANS!

DC schools are following the same pattern I have observed in many states, Louisiana being the most recent example:

1. First, a shortage of teachers is declared. Rhee was hired by DCPS to solve the shortage. But many feel that chancellor Michele Rhee caused the shortage by firing teachers because it served the purpose of her former organization (Teach for America) which was supposedly going to solve a shortage problem that didn’t exist.
2. Then layoffs of a few hundred older teachers takes place. It’s a shell game designed to replace older teachers with younger teachers and American teachers with younger H-1Bs.
3. Foreign teachers on H-1B visas are hired once most of the Americans have been let go. It’s a sure bet that Rhee, who was born in the USA to South Korean immigrants, will be hiring mostly Asians.Labor Condition Applications can be viewed by going to the DOL FLC data center. It reveals that Rhee wants H-1Bs for jobs that could obviously be filled by Americans:

District of Columbia Public Schools  SECONDARY TEACHER  $73,844/yr

District of Columbia Public Schools  ESL TEACHER $44,988/yr

Rhee claims that the Oct. 2 layoffs of 266 teachers and educators were needed to help pay for $43.9 million budget deficit for 2010. Union leaders have denounced the action as an illegal mass firing designed to purge older educators. The two sides have taken the dispute to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (WASHINGTON TEACHERS’ UNION, LOCAL # 6, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFL-CIO).

(more…)

The Las Vegas Sun published an article that is stirring a lot of interest. In addition to telling a Veteran’s Day story this newsletter will explain why the article is mostly sensationalism

According to that article, the economy is so bad that U.S. citizens are joining illegal aliens at day labor centers in order to find some temporary work. It sounded fishy to me so I decided to ask an expert on the day labor centers in the Phoenix metro area. Nobody would know better than Buffalo Rick Galeener because he has spent many years observing day labor sites — and writing down license numbers of people who pick up the laborers. He has done vigils of the centers daily starting early in the morning and lasting nearly all day, and he has done it for months at a time.

To see a short video clip with Buffalo go here:

Buffalo told me that in all the years he has observed day labor centers he has only seen 2 or 3 white guys try to find work at them. In each case they were chased away by militant community organizers like Salvador Reza.

To see a short animated video clip of Salvador Reza go here.

So, based on Buffalo’s information which I consider very reliable and credible, this article is mostly bunk. Of course there is always the possibility that the Phoenix economy is so much better than Las Vegas that white guys aren’t yet desperate to resort to standing on street corners to look for work.

There are a few other things about the Las Vegas article that bug me besides the fact that most of it is probably not true. This brainless attack on Lou Dobbs does have one ounce of truth — if Americans do start showing up at day labor centers, expect conflict — and riots. The militant Hispanics that run the labor centers are racist and hostile and that will add up to a witches brew of trouble as these groups clash with each.

If the numbers of citizens among the day laborers in cities across the country continue to grow, it’s likely to increase the ire of followers of TV host Lou Dobbs and others who will see illegal immigrants as stealing food off the tables of the nation’s native-born or naturalized poor. Workers at all the sites said the presence of the americanos hasn’t made work scarcer or produced any conflict.[ The new faces of day labor U.S. citizens are joining immigrants in store parking lots By Timothy Pratt, November 2, 2009 ]

The following blooper is really funny if you stop to think about it. Buchanan, a white guy, couldn’t get work at the day labor center — but he did get a sunburn. Eventually he got work, but only because his skin was probably dark enough to pass as a Mexican. He probably started wearing a straw hat and learned some Spanish also.

One July day, Buchanan gave it a try. At first, he got nothing but sunburn. But then he started to get work. Now he’s at the Home Depot six days most weeks.

This last one seems very racist, and explains why white guys probably shouldn’t bother showing up at the day labor centers until their numbers are large enough to defend themselves. If you have any doubts about how the U.S. is becoming Balkanized, this should clue you in.

Workers at all the sites said the presence of the americanos hasn’t made work scarcer or produced any conflict. Some suggested that people hiring day laborers prefer Hispanics anyway, because of their reputation as hard workers.

SHORT VETERAN’S DAY STORY

Since it’s Veteran’s Day, let me diverge to tell all a little more about Buffalo Rick Galeener, who I consider to be a real life hero and patriot. Buffalo Rick is a Vietnam War Veteran that served the Navy on the USS Enterprise. They call themselves the “blue water navy” because our government arbitrarily decided not to treat them for health problems they suffered as a result of Agent Orange exposure. If you are wondering about how nationalized health care works, Buffalo could tell ya!

More about Buffalo’s activism on the Agent Orange issue .

Galeener said his battle against the adverse heath effects of the toxin has been made difficult by a recently enacted policy that precludes veterans who were not in a combat zone when they were exposed to Agent Orange from receiving long-term heath care.

“If your boots never hit the ground, not only will you not be compensated for Agent Orange but they won’t even recognize you,” Galeener said during a ceremony honoring the veterans. “They will treat your cancer and then they’ll cut you loose.”

These war vets are denied a lot of other compensation benefits but this one is one of the toughest to swallow:

Because the Department of Defense has determined those wounded by Agent Orange do not qualify for The Purple Heart, the Order of Silver Rose is instead awarded to recognize the courage and heroism of veterans.

Labor activist Ken Hamidi was brutally mobbed by union goons from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). See a CBS13 report on the incident here.

Apparently Hamidi was attacked while filming a TV show at a meeting of the SEIU. To see some of his videos go to the “Shout TV” website.

Over the years Ken Hamidi has been a tireless advocate for workers. I first found out about him when I was searching for information on age discrimination in big corporations. His pioneering website at FaceIntel exposed how Intel combined H-1B with a “Ranking and Rating” system to harass and discriminate against their older employees. For me finding FaceIntel helped me to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Hamidi’s Pony E-mail express to Intel was pure theater and is an example of the “no guts no glory” attitude he has. See some pictures here.

Go here for some pictures of Hamidi at the Bank of America protest over Kevin Flanagan’s death by suicide.

Hamidi is an Iranian immigrant who has fearlessly fought for many aspects of labor advocacy and he even ran for Governor of California! I haven’t had much contact with Hamidi after he ran for Governor, and assumed that he was going to lay low. This video report at KCRA proves otherwise, but a warning — it’s kind of bloody!

This isn’t the first time that the SEIU has resorted to violence. Be sure to read this commentary by David Horowitz. So, it seems that the brown shirters at SEIU are the ones to worry about — not the Tea Party Express patriots or War Veterans that Obama and Napolitano seem to fear so much. Considering that the SEIU had a prominent role in the election of President Obama, and he has made no bones about his support for that union, we can only hope that Obama is equally enthusiastic about condemning the violence of the SEIU. Don’t hold your breath though, because Obama seems to give a wink and a nod to left wing extremists.

FaceIntel means a lot to me. In 1998 I wrote my first public article “We have to Support Senator Harkin he is under enormous pressure” was published on that website. Writing that op-ed was definitely a turning point for me in terms of increasing my activism.

Lots of stories and speculations are circulating about India’s crackdown on business visas. In many cases H-1B activists are incorrectly concluding that this is an example of India’s restrictive policies on employment visas, and then drawing parallels to our generous H-1B program. A closer examination of India’s nonimmigrant visa programs indicates that the current issue has more to do with illegal immigration of Chinese into India.

The controversy in India began when violence broke out between Chinese contractors working in India (more…)

Noor Faleh Almaleki died Monday of injuries she suffered when her own father ran over her October 20 in a parking lot in a Phoenix suburb of Peoria, Arizona.

Noor was killed by her father because in his words, she was “too Westernized“.

Daddy sure solved that problem! Now he has another. ABC 15 video report

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48 fled to Mexico after he ran over Noor. His escape was aided by family members who undoubtedly approved of his actions. Not surprisingly nobody seems to know how he got across the border without being detected. He got all the way to London before he was apprehended. Faleh is back in Arizona, thanks to British police who seemed to be more on the ball than our border patrol.

Faleh has been charged for two cases of aggravated assault. The other charge was for hitting  the mother of Noor’s boyfriend, Amal Khalaf with his Jeep Cherokee as he was running over his daughter. Amal is expected to live but is in serious condition.

Faleh is being held on Phoenix on $5 million bail.

I have yet to find out for sure, but I suspect that Faleh Almaleki came to Arizona as an Iraqi war refugee. President Bush dumped hundreds of them in Arizona. Read the Washington Post article titled: “Iraqi Refugees in Arizona, Many Families Find Adjustment Tough, Even Though the Southwest Reminds Them of Home.” That subtitle from the 2007 article seems very ironic now.

An immigration attorney named Kelly Einstein Darwin Giles and two others were arrested on suspicion of selling dozens of fake H-1B visas for $6,000 to $50,000. According to the LA Times and Law.com they laundered the profits by buying vacant burial plots. The two co-conspirators are Joseph Wai-man Wu and his wife May Yin-man Wu.

Surprisingly the website for the Law Offices of Kelly Giles hasn’t died yet. Besides fraud, they specialize in immigration to the U.S. and Canada. Email them.

Yesterday I went on the Chuck Wilder talk radio show as planned. Much to my surprise, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords answered my challenge to go on the radio show with me so that she could explain why she should would sponsor a bill that would triple the H-1B cap.

Giffords didn’t actually call in, but her press secretary CJ Karamargin called before the show started. He declined to go on the air but he assured Chuck Wilder that there is no truth to the “rumor” that Giffords has re-introduced her “Innovation Employment Act” of 2008.

That very good news greeted me when I went on the show, and Wilder and I talked about what it really all means. After the show I decided to call Karamargin to confirm what Wilder heard. In short, this is what I found out:

• Giffords will not introduce a bill to the 111th Congress to increase the H-1B cap.
• There was no guarantee about the 112th Congress which begins January of 2011.
• Karamargin wouldn’t confirm or deny that the bill was sent to the Judiciary Committee.
• No explanation was given why the three staffers I talked to in the Washington DC office all confirmed to me that the bill was sent to the Judiciary and will be introduced very soon.

I found it surprising that the press secretary was in Tucson, Arizona this time of year, and it was somewhat troubling that the two offices had such different versions of the status of the bill because conflicting stories often mean trouble.

Karamargin mentioned that there is a huge “buzz” in the blogosphere over this story and thought that I could help dampen the rumors. I explained to him that the firestorm that occurred should be a strong warning to Giffords that the public isn’t going to tolerate an increase of H-1B. We very much disagreed on the merits of the H-1B program.

Chuck Wilder concluded the show by saying this:

Rob, my position is this: is that I’m going to believe what they told me that it’s not in the judiciary, and you and are are just going to sit back and see, and if they lied to us, then heaven help them if they did lie!

I agree with Wilder. Considering the fact that Karamargin is Rep. Giffords’ official spokesman, we can be somewhat safe to assume that Giffords hasn’t introduced a bill to raise the H-1B cap and doesn’t intend on doing so anytime soon. If Giffords introduces an H-1B increase bill then we can use this incident as a talking point to pressure her.

My theory, for whatever it’s worth is that Giffords felt a lot of heat over the bill and told the Judiciary to table it. Of course it could be a matter of the left foot not knowing where the right is going. There is a possibility that the Washington DC office was as confused as Computerworld — the magazine that printed a 2008 article by Grant Gross but dated it 2009. Since the controversy began, Computerworld, CIO, and several other publications corrected their date. If you see the same article with a 2009 date it is a mistake!

I seriously doubt Giffords would introduce a new bill for the 112th Congress. That’s an election year, and even though she panders to Bill Gates and the high tech industry, she still needs to get elected. Not even a liberal globalist like Giffords is going to gamble an election away to expand the H-1B program.

Listen to a podcast of that radio show.

The Caddo Parish school district in Louisiana didn’t read the fine print when they hired H-1B teachers from the Philippines — and that big mistake that will cost them some big money.

Based on my latest research for VDARE.com the Recovery School District saves about $6,300 a year by hiring the Filipinos over American teachers. The cost per “unit of labor” sounded like a good deal for Caddo but what they didn’t realize is that there were hidden costs, like for instance, Caddo charged each Filipino teacher $1,660 for their visa (some stories say that the bodyshop, Universal Placement International, charged the Filipinos). H-1B regulations require the employer to pay the visa fees, not the foreign worker. So, now that Caddo is in trouble with the feds, they are going to have to pay the teachers back. That still gives the Filipinos a per unit $4,640 price advantage over American teachers — which is quite a cost savings considering they hired at least 43 H-1Bs.

What the school board of Caddo Parish didn’t understand is that cheap labor can get very expensive when the hidden costs are factored in to the equation.

Icess Fernandez at the Shreveport Times published a new article that sheds some light on those hidden costs. The Big Kahuna is a $400,000 reimbursement fund that the immigration attorney on Caddo’s payroll advised them to set up so that Caddo can pay claims that are won by the Pinoy teachers.
To see the immigration attorney’s website click this link, and for more on the firm Fernandez wrote an Oct 12 article.

Make no mistake about it, that $400,000 fund is to be used to pay retribution for the money that RSD and the Caddo Parish ripped off from the Filipino teachers. Perhaps the payments will save the RSD and the bodyshop Universal Placement International (UPI) from having to endure costly lawsuits if the the Filipino teachers who have solid cases are willing to settle out of court.

Federal investigations will probably not be deterred, and any violations of immigration laws may be prosecuted. Ironically though, the potential civil penalties brought about by the Filipinos are more worrisome for Caddo and the UPI than anything the feds might do, because most of the regulations are so full of loopholes that defense lawyers will be able to get most charges reduced to mere pittances.

The $400,000 throws a new twist into the calculations used to compare the cost of American teachers versus the Pinoys. Most likely the entire sum won’t have to be paid out, but using that sum and dividing it by the 43 Filipino teachers in the district would mean that each one of those H-1Bs would cost another $9,300. Subtracting that number from the price advantage per American would mean that each Pinoy teacher would cost $4,640 more than his or her American competitor.

Coming out $4,640 in the hole just for hiring Filipino teachers sounds bad for the Caddo Parish, but the situation isn’t as bad as it sounds because it’s just a one time expense. Forty three H-1B teachers saves the district almost $200,000 per year (benefits not included), so assuming the teachers stay there for a three year visa the district still comes out ahead. There is no reason the teachers will leave after three years, and there is also good reason to believe they won’t get pay raises like most teachers do.

There is at least anecdotal evidence that, absent a collective bargaining agreement or law or policy, some school districts pay their nonimmigrant employees as new teachers, regardless of their experience and qualifications.
– Randy Barber, NEA, 2003

Caddo Parish and the Recovery School District still come out ahead although they will get some bad publicity from the entire episode. That’s assuming the feds don’t come down to heavy on them — sometimes employers are barred from hiring H-1Bs for a year or two, which is the ultimate punishment for employers who get too greedy.

Unmentioned in any of the articles are the other set of victims — the American teachers who were not hired because they were considered too expensive and/or too old. Jobless RSD teachers won’t get their jobs back and unless they file a risky class action lawsuit to complain about their replacement by H-1Bs they won’t get monetary compensation. It’s an all around screw job for Americans.

The Caddo story could become just another example why it’s not going to help American workers if H-1B laws are enforced better — the rules of the game are still not fair.

I will be on the Chuck Wilder talk-radio show on Wednesday October 28th 1:34 PM PST. I will be on until the top of the hour.

Wilder’s show is available online in streaming audio which can be listened to at the CRN website:

There is a toll free call-in telephone number if you want to chat with us:

1-800-336-2225

This is the show schedule:

CRN1 12-2pm PT (live)

CRN6 8-10pm PT (replay)

To listen to the show, click the box where it says “now playing, listen live” “CRN1″.

<<<<>>>>

We will talk about Rep. Giffords (D-AZ) bill to triple the H-1B cap. I emailed this invitation to her website.

Dear Rep. Gabrielle Giffords,

I will be on the Chuck Wilder radio show to discuss your new bill to the 111th Congress that will triple the cap on H-1B visas. I cordially invite you or one of your staff to call the radio show in order to explain why you want to guarantee that during the next economic recovery Americans will not reap the benefits by getting the jobs that they not only deserve but are qualified for. I’m also curious why you think that replacing more American workers during this time of severe unemployment will help this nation.

I will be on the show at 12:35 PST on Wednesday October 28. You can call toll free at 1-800-336-2225. Chuck’s producer will be notified to give your people a priority call because I think he is also curious why you are considering such a destructive bill.

Listen to the show online at this link:

http://www.crntalk.com/

My most recent articles can be read here:

VDARE.com’s Exclusive Breaking Story on H-1B

Rep. Giffords’ Bill To Triple H-1B Visa Cap