Sun Layoffs Draw Federal Scrutiny
U.S. Investigating Claims Sun Layoffs Favored Foreign Workers
Federal authorities are investigating claims that Sun Microsystems Inc. favored U.S.-based foreign workers over American citizens during a recent round of layoffs.
The Justice and Labor departments launched their probes after a complaint filed in April by Guy Santiglia, who lost his Sun engineering job in October along with 3,900 other employees.
Santiglia, 36, said the Unix server giant favored holders of H-1B visas because those engineers may be paid less. The visa program was expanded in 2000 to help fill the ranks of workers during the high-tech boom.
Now, Santiglia and others claim, the program allows companies to hire lower-paid and more pliable workers at the expense of U.S. citizens.
The federal agencies declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Sun confirmed it has been asked for documents related to Santiglia's claims and is cooperating. [Yahoo Finance]
Even if Sun is found to be innocent, this case could help expose one of the dirty realities in the hi-tech industry. H-1B visas have been abused for years. Yes, they do provide need labor, but in an economy that is flooded with out-of-work hi-tech workers, why are we still deluged with visa holders?
Just one example is that of ABI, who 'forced' one of its locked out employees back to work [with only a promise of getting paid], by threatening to try and get him deported. In some places and times this would have been called indentured servitude. H-1B is a tool and one that companies can now use as a weapon to drive down wages, by expanding the pool of talent available for a job...mj
9:08:55 AM 
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