- Programmers Guild
Infobox Union
name = Programmers Guild
country =United States
members = 400
founded = 1998
office = Summit,New Jersey
people =John Miano , FounderKim Berry , President
website = [http://www.programmersguild.org/ www.programmersguild.org] The Programmers Guild is an American non-profit corporation that advocates against corporateoutsourcing , the H1-B visa program and related topics. The Guild was founded in 1998 by John Miano, a New Jersey programmer. The current president is Kim Berry, aSacramento based activist on outsourcing and family court issues. As of August 1999, the Programmers Guild had 400 members. [cite news | first=John | last=Miano| title=Testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims |date=August 5th, 1999 |url=http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/articles/miano_testimony.html] The Programmers Guild is incorporated as a 501(c)4 non-profit corporation inNew Jersey .Mission
The stated mission of the Programmers Guild is to advance the interests of technical and professional workers in
information technology (IT) fields and to improve the work and the workplaces of technical professionals across the spectrum of IT fields and disciplines.The organization stands in opposition to:
* Replacement by H-1B and L-1 visa workers
* Outsourcing jobs to offshore contractors
* Shifting jobs to overseas facilities
* False claims of a labor shortage in IT professions
* Conversion of pensions to cash balance plans
* Age discrimination
* Job ads drafted with intent to exclude U.S. applicants
* Lack of respect for training, experience, knowledge, and past achievementsActions
The Programmers Guild claims that the use of guest worker programmers depresses wages in the computer industry [cite news | first=Liz | last=Peck| title=Should the U.S. Be Training Its Competitors?|date=February 5, 2008 |url=http://www.nysun.com/article/70731] . The Programmers Guild circulated the notorious Cohen & Grigsby video in which representatives of the firm explained to employers how "Not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker." [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU YouTube - PERM Fake Job Ads defraud Americans to secure green cards fo ] ] This video got picked up by CNN's
Lou Dobbs [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx--jNQYNgA&feature=related YouTube - Lou Dobbs: Law Firm teaches how to avoid hiring Americans ] ] andGlenn Beck [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqGBIHmv7jo&feature=related YouTube - Glenn Beck - Cohen&Grigsby seminar 6/26/2007 ] ] among others. Founder, and nowattorney , John Miano researches and writes on the usage of the H-1B visa program [cite news | first=John|last=Miano|title=Low Salaries for Low Skills: Wages and Skill Levels for H-1B Computer Workers, 2005|url=http://www.cis.org/articles/2007/back407.html [cite news | first=John|last=Miano|title=The Bottom of the Pay Scale: Wages for H-1B Computer Programmers |url=http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/back1305.html]* On
May 2 2008 acivil court judge sided with the Programmers Guild in their complaint against aPittsburgh computer consulting company and ordered it to pay $45,000 in penalties for discriminating against legal US residents by advertising only for developers on H-1B visas. The case was brought against iGate Mastech for placing an advertisement for thirty computer programmers in2006 "that expressly favored H-1B visa holders to the exclusion ofUS citizen s, lawful permanent citizens and other legal US workers" according to theUS Department of Justice . [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/02/h1_b_discrimination_doj_fine/ DoJ beats up tech firm for H-1B only job ads | The Register ] ]ee also
*
Outsourcing
*Offshoring
*Anti-Globalism
*Offshoring IT Services
*Offshore software R&D
*SKIL Bill
*Computer programming
*Decline and Fall of the American Programmer External links
*Official site: [http://www.programmersguild.org http://www.programmersguild.org]
*USCIS site: [http://www.uscis.gov http://www.uscis.gov]References
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