American resentment over outsourcing spills over to streets

Thursday, 04 September 2003, 19:30 IST
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WASHINGTON: Resentment in the U.S. against outsourcing technology jobs to countries like India is growing, with protests spilling over to American streets. About 40 technology workers, carrying placards that said "Will code for food", and "Outsourcing is stealing billions from America," staged a Labour Day protest against companies that send American jobs overseas and employ foreigners on work visas. The group of protesters, which included three candidates in California's recall election for governor, gathered on a street corner next to a Bank of America office complex in Concord, California, where about 3,500 people work. Bank of America was the target of the protest because in April, 41-year-old software engineer Kevin Flanagan committed suicide after being laid off from his job in Concord, according to his father. A loose network of laid-off technology workers blames Bank of America for Flanagan's death because the company has signed software contracts with several India-based consulting firms, according to a report in The San Mateo County Times, published from California. Many of the protesters were programmers and IT workers who are now jobless. They blamed the lack of Bay Area high-tech jobs on companies that send jobs offshore and bring in foreign workers on visas such as the H1-B and L-1. Several protesters said companies favour foreign workers on visas because they are easy to manage and can be paid less, even though the law mandates that they be paid wages equal to those of U.S. citizens.
Source: IANS