CNN Interview with Donna Conroy, Director
Cook County Urges H1-B Reform
One of the largest county governments in the nation voted on Tuesday to open the H-1B visa-hiring program to US citizens and legal residents – in opposition to 13 governors who earlier this week urged Congress to expand the program, without ever requiring employers to seek local talent for top-dollar, white-collar jobs. more...
::: BFJ In Print :::
NYT:"Court Orders Three H1-B Sites Disabled," Dec. 29, 2009 The routine intimidation of Indian tech workers has now been directed at American tech workers who wouldn't snitch on an Indian tech worker, threatening all Americans' free speech on the Internet.
New Jersey and Free Speech: "The action has labor rights activists, free speech activists, and even some beneficiaries of the H1-B visa program united in voicing opposition to the court decision," according to an editorial in the Oakland Journal, a local New Jersey paper.
Businessweek:"Jobs and Protectionism in the Stimulus Package," February 16, 2009 Critics of the H-1B program hailed the inclusion of the amendment as a victory. "The demand to reform corporate recruiting policies that ignore highly skilled local talent now moves center stage," says Donna Conroy, director of Brightfuturejobs.com, a lobbying group for visa reform.
Businessweek: "H-1b Visa Season is Here", March 31, 2009: On Mar. 31, Bright Future Jobs, a U.S. tech worker lobbying group, posted on its Web site 13 advertisements for jobs in which the employer designated a preference for H-1B visa workers or targeted them specifically for the positions, according to the Web site.
Businessweek:"H-1B Visa Law: Trying Again", April 24.2009: U.S. tech worker advocates praised these and other provisions in the bill. "We're thrilled that Senators Durbin and Grassley are requiring employers to seek local talent first," says Donna Conroy, executive director of Bright Future Jobs, a lobbying group for U.S. tech workers. "They recognize that American IT professionals have the talent, knowhow, and experience to push America's economic recovery into high gear."
Businessweek: "An Academic's Labor Helps Fight H-1B Visas," June 28, 2009
Anti-H-1B activists say they're worried less about academic research and more about shaping policy. "The thing that's missing in Norm Matloff's strategy is fighting for a seat at the table," says Donna Conroy, executive director of Bright Future Jobs, a lobbying group that advocates restricting the H-1B visa program. "We need a political movement that allows us to help craft legislation. All the numbers [Matloff] crunches won't have nearly the impact as American technical professionals standing up for themselves."
CIO MAGAZINE: "H-1b Reform Bill Could Complicate Offshore Outsourcing,"
Many rank-and-file IT professionals laud the legislation. "The Durbin bill will put a stop to the outsourcing of American jobs and the discrimination against American IT professionals," says Donna Conroy, a former IT professional and director of Bright Future Jobs, a grassroots lobbying group for American IT workers. "This bill was written for us."
Nat'l Education Decries Labor Contracting
Most think that tech companies are the only employers that bypass local talent for their job openings. A new article in the American Spectator reveals the extent to which these guest worker hiring programs have penetrated K-12 education.
The author argues for the expansion of these hiring programs. Why ? He writes " ...the underlying reason behind Corporate America's global talent search is America's woeful public schools."
It's About Labor Contracting
But the National Education Association (NEA) got it right 5 years ago when they identified labor contractors as a culprit in bypassing teaching talent in their 2003 report, “ Trends in Foreign Teacher Recruitment.”. ”A private firm, Visiting International Faculty, is the largest single sponsor of nonimmigrant teachers, " according to the report.
Foreign labor contractors, mostly from the Philippines, will contract with K-12 school districts and place their H-1b or J-1 employees on-site in the classroom. This is the identical business relationship that tech firms have establish with their labor contractors, called bodyshops in IT lingo. The report opposes the use of labor contractors and recommends that teachers “be an employee of the school district, not of a third-party sponsor or agency.”
NEA recommends adherence to EEO
BFJ agrees with NEA’s recommendations that school districts adhere to EEO guidelines so that teachers can compete for open positions. Here’s two of their sensible recommendations:
Require local boards to make a good faith effort to employ state-certified teachers and document the process before hiring from another country.
A requirement that the board only hire foreign teachers after job openings have been posted and no other applications from domestic applicants are on file.
Durbin’s reform bill (S 1035) will require all labor contractors to compete their job openings on the local job market. In addition, labor contractors will be cut-off from the H-1b hiring program when more than 50% of their workforce are on these visas.
Don’t get trapped by performance mythology While the American Spectator article implies that foreign teachers are better than US citizen and green card teachers, resist the thought. It is the presumption of inferiority that always accompanies and justifies discrimination–in this case legal discrimination.
In a letter dated April 1, 2008 Senators Durbin and Grassley, who had introduced bipartisan legislation last year to prevent H-1B and L-1 Visa abuses, wrote to the top 25 recipients of H-1B visas in 2007 stating, “Most companies can explicitly discriminate against American workers by recruiting and hiring only H-1B visa holders. As the U.S Department of Labor (DOL) has said: "H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of a foreign worker."
Now forward this to every school board member, PTA member and teacher you know.
Most think that tech companies are the only employers that bypass local talent for their job openings. A new article in the 
While the American Spectator article implies that foreign teachers are better than US citizen and green card teachers, resist the thought. It is the presumption of inferiority that always accompanies and justifies discrimination–in this case legal discrimination. 
