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Author Topic: Stimulus Money & H2B Visas - Oregon Loggers  (Read 2703 times)
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WhiskeyGirl
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« on: March 08, 2012, 02:57:40 PM »

Wow.  Aren't there any unemployed loggers in Oregon?

Quote
Federal Stimulus money went to hire foreign workers before Americans as KVAL-TV (Eugene, OR) reports.

Reportedly, four companies in Oregon used nearly $7 million in taxpayer-funded stimulus money for a job that hired 250 foreign workers. The companies were able to exploit a loophole that allowed them to hire workers using the H-2B visa system.

source & video - http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/03/08/stimulus_money_used_to_hire_foreign_workers_over_americans.html

Where are the jobs for Americans?  How many jobs have GM & Chrysler located outside the US?  In Mexico?  China?  Elsewhere?

No jobs for you American worker!!!

Thousands of pipeline jobs - poof!

Thousands of potential UNION jobs related to an iron ore mine in Wisconsin - poof!

What's wrong with Washington?  The White House?

Where are the jobs for Americans?
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All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2012, 03:17:10 PM »

Quote
In 2009, when the program’s contracts were approved, Oregon was home to the nation’s third-highest unemployment rate (11.1 percent), with joblessness in many rural areas surpassing 15 percent. In addressing the state’s economic woes, the Obama administration said that the funds were aimed to produce hundreds of forest clean-up jobs in central Oregon. But despite severe job shortages, contractors professed that they wrestled to attract local workers in the area, and did so "unsuccessfully." However, the OIG reported:

Only two Oregonians were listed on the employer recruitment reports, indicating that workers in Oregon were likely unaware these job opportunities were available. In fact, although 146 U.S. workers were contacted by the three employers regarding possible employment, none were [sic] hired. Instead, 254 foreign workers were brought into the country for these jobs.

Workers in the area notified federal investigators that they "spoke with two workers who reported that the employer used discouraging language, such as references to age and the ability to speak another language, which are not valid conditions of employment." Reported The Oregonian,

I wonder if that woman from Obama's town hall ever found a job for her husband with Obama's help?  Maybe he competes with companies like the ones above?

read more here - http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/9506-stimulus-project-in-oregon-hired-only-foreign-workers?tmpl=component&layout=default&page=
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All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2012, 03:21:45 PM »

Quote
Mike Wheelock, owner of Grayback Forestry in Merlin, said his competiors were able to under-bid him for jobs by using foreign workers. While the wages for each worker were similar, he said that companies using foreign workers would hire fewer workers, pay less for health insurance and not offer 401k plans and other benefits.

Quote
"Rural Oregon, which in some areas has seen 15 percent to 20 percent unemployment rates, has been the hardest hit by these abuses of our well intended system," he said. "Grayback Forestry hires hundreds of workers in rural Oregon, paying family wage jobs with health insurance and retirement benefits. Sadly, companies like ours were adversely impacted by negligent efforts to enforce the H-2B regulations."

read more here - http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/merkley_and_defazio_move_to_pl.html

Quote
Here’s how it worked

The H-2B visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers if they can establish that no Americans are qualified or available for the work. But the rules do not necessarily require that companies advertise open positions in the states where the work actually occurs. The report showed that no Oregonians applied for the jobs because the employers only advertised the positions in California, Washington, and Wyoming.

Here are the companies named in the report: Medford Cutting Edge Forestry, Summitt Forestry, Inc. and Ponderosa Reforestations, Inc.

So I’m guessing if they had work in Idaho, these same companies didn’t advertise here either. If you know something about this e-mail me.

Merkley wants the Director of each State Workforce Agency approve of each H-2B application and attest that the employer has complied with all program rules. Currently, all H-2B applications are certified by the Department of Labor out of its national processing office in Chicago.

Read more here: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2011/12/02/rockybarker/stimulus_program_created_forest_jobs_only_they_went_foreign_work#storylink=cpy
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All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2012, 03:27:59 PM »

Quote
Approval process

...

U.S. Labor Department and Oregon Employment Department officials said corporations currently “self-attest,” or sign a form without providing other documentation, saying that they’ve been unable to find local workers willing or qualified for jobs. Several years ago, states had some oversight of H-2B workers, but today the U.S. Labor Department has sole responsibility, said Oregon Employment Department Legislative Manager Rebecca Nance.

“An H-2B employer doesn’t have to contact us like an (employer importing farmworkers) has to,” Nance said. “They can place their own job listing and self-attest to the outcome.”

Labor Department spokesman Michael Trupo wrote in an e-mail that the department audits some applications to ensure they’re meeting federal requirements. When The Bulletin asked to review the visa applications made by five companies that requested guest workers, Trupo wrote in an e-mail that the applications are available only by making a Freedom of Information Act request. The U.S. Forest Service was unable to determine whether complaints had been made against the four Oregon contractors with the most guest workers in a week’s time. Forest Service spokeswoman Valerie Baca did say that contractors must be in good standing when contracts are issued.

Quote
“(Local workers) do it, but they can’t do it at the same pace; they can’t put out the same work as the other employees,” Gomez said. “They’re pushed to keep up with the other employees, and that’s when they don’t want to do it.”

Because foreign workers are here just to work, Gomez said, they’re often more motivated than U.S. employees.

“I think they’re more motivated for that money,” he said. “They don’t have unemployment to go on. If they don’t work, they go back to Mexico.”

I wonder how many actually come from Mexico?  If you're advertising in California and other states, doesn't that suggest they are already here?  Perhaps working illegally?  On welfare?

A new means to launder the history of illegal aliens?  Put illegals at the front of the line?

read more here - http://chuonthis.typepad.com/blog/2010/08/stimulus-funds-for-foreign-workers.html
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All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
WhiskeyGirl
Monkey All Star Jr.
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Posts: 7754



« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2012, 03:29:14 PM »

Quote
Approval process

...

U.S. Labor Department and Oregon Employment Department officials said corporations currently “self-attest,” or sign a form without providing other documentation, saying that they’ve been unable to find local workers willing or qualified for jobs. Several years ago, states had some oversight of H-2B workers, but today the U.S. Labor Department has sole responsibility, said Oregon Employment Department Legislative Manager Rebecca Nance.

“An H-2B employer doesn’t have to contact us like an (employer importing farmworkers) has to,” Nance said. “They can place their own job listing and self-attest to the outcome.”

Labor Department spokesman Michael Trupo wrote in an e-mail that the department audits some applications to ensure they’re meeting federal requirements. When The Bulletin asked to review the visa applications made by five companies that requested guest workers, Trupo wrote in an e-mail that the applications are available only by making a Freedom of Information Act request. The U.S. Forest Service was unable to determine whether complaints had been made against the four Oregon contractors with the most guest workers in a week’s time. Forest Service spokeswoman Valerie Baca did say that contractors must be in good standing when contracts are issued.

Quote
“(Local workers) do it, but they can’t do it at the same pace; they can’t put out the same work as the other employees,” Gomez said. “They’re pushed to keep up with the other employees, and that’s when they don’t want to do it.”

Because foreign workers are here just to work, Gomez said, they’re often more motivated than U.S. employees.

“I think they’re more motivated for that money,” he said. “They don’t have unemployment to go on. If they don’t work, they go back to Mexico.”

I wonder how many actually come from Mexico?  If you're advertising in California and other states, doesn't that suggest they are already here?  Perhaps working illegally?  On welfare?

A new means to launder the history of illegal aliens?  Put illegals at the front of the line?

read more here - http://chuonthis.typepad.com/blog/2010/08/stimulus-funds-for-foreign-workers.html

from the same article -

Quote
Mike Wheelock, owner of Grayback Forestry in Merlin, said he used foreign workers in the middle part of the last decade, when the labor market was tight. But now he’s had no trouble finding willing workers.

“Right now, if I put an ad in, I could get anywhere from 200 to 400 applications from local workers,” Wheelock said.

Darst Atherly said he has so many inquiries from job seekers that he doesn’t need to advertise when a spot opens at his firm.

“I get three to five calls a week from people seeking employment, despite having no ads and despite telling people I’m not hiring,” Atherly said.
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All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
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