The loss of more than 2 million jobs so far in the Bush administration has been a particular source of anger among Democrats. This was highlighted in early October with an announcement by air-conditioner maker Carrier that it was moving 1,200 jobs from Syracuse overseas—a major blow to that upstate New York city. Continued job losses during what is supposed to… return to article
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Reader Comments (12)Page 1 of 1 pagesMy colleague and I have often debated the merits of IT professionals becoming organized, perhaps in the form of a Guild. What’s clear is that there is not a unified voice in Congress representing white collar workers.
I encourage concerned readers to visit www.naea.us—an organization dedicated to stemming this tide.
Posted by Paul on Oct 22, 2003 at 10:38 PM we need to wake up and build a big wall (figurative of course). no more jobs going out. no more foreign stuff coming in. free trade is killing us.
thanks for the information. i see all jobs leaving america if this corporate greed continues.
Posted by Chet on Oct 23, 2003 at 4:28 PM ěCongress and elected officials just have failed to grasp that this is a threat to Americaís middle class,î Courtney said. ěThis is not about free trade; itís about job exportation.î
Free trade and job exportation amount to the same thing. They just affect different classes. One group that has managed to protect itself is the doctors. They have enough political clout to restrict the number of foreign doctors allowed in the U.S.
Posted by Paul Tracy on Oct 23, 2003 at 7:00 PM To follow up on my comments of yesterday, I do want to commend our local Congressman, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, for taking action on this subject. I am more of a moderate Republican, but this democrat has my respect!!
Posted by Paul on Oct 23, 2003 at 10:24 PM As much as I applaud the efforts of those organizations that want to stem this tide, there has to be more discussion at a more fundamental level. Reality—and the working reality—is more “liquid” now because of computers and how quickly and steathily capital moves around the world nowadays. The current capitalists are multinational and could care less about local communities. So, when the factory moves work overseas and is able to do so, it’s looking to cut costs—which is also well within the dictates of “capitalism,” and which those displaced white-collar workers would support as well. After all, wouldn’t those plucky entrepreneurs pride themselves on starting a business “on a shoestring,” and have that business be service-oriented instead of manufacturing-oriented?
This trend is here to stay, unfortunately, so the task at hand is to reframe the debate about what constitutes a society in this “globalized” and “liquified” age. Perhaps there should be talk about either rejecting exploitative capitalism outright, or taming the beast. As we can see with the loss of jobs, “liquid” and more exploitative capitalism, with the zero-sum and “winner-take-all” mentality, will wreak more havoc and trying to be somewhat isolationist about it won’t make matters any better. Indeed, Congress is clueless because they don’t understand the larger movements, which are globalized. Also, there are quite a few in Congress who benefit from “liquid” reality, so why would they act against it?
Posted by TK on Oct 29, 2003 at 11:19 PM No need to worry, we can all work at Wal-Mart, well at least until being replaced by illegal aliens. Gotta get those quarterly earnings up.
Posted by e sorensen on Oct 31, 2003 at 5:53 PM What do we do? They are ALL in IT!
When will this Madness STOP?
What will it take to wake America up?
Who is going to Help the unemployed?
Where are Lawyers for US?
How far will they go?
I Guess Until Whole USA becomes a State of India or China.What can we do:
1) Boycott, Boycott, Boycott every Corporation who Boycotts Americans.
2) Call all your elected officals and ask them straight “WHERE DO THEY STAND ON H-1B/L1 and OUTSOURCING?” Its only a YES or NO question with no BUT.
If they say Yes, throw the BUMS out. If they say NO! Support them.
Ask ALL your Family, Friends and Neighbors to Help you, make them aware of all of “What’s Going On”!
Ask everyone to: Write, Call, email the Politicians, Media and antone else who can help!
Stick Together! and We WILL Start to WIN!United We Stand, We the People!
Thank You Dave Lindorff for Excellent Article.
Posted by Replaced By H-1B on Nov 1, 2003 at 4:14 PM Great article. i am researching the topic of the increasing exportation of MAerican jobs. If you could point me in the direction of any good resources for anecdotes, stats. ..etc, I’d appreciate it! M.MacCord
Posted by Marie MacCord on Nov 2, 2003 at 4:58 AM I have another thought - why don’t we, the citizens of the United States, form our own lobby. After all, it seems that money is the only source of persuation in Wash D.C.
Posted by Marie MacCord on Nov 2, 2003 at 5:02 AM TK,...your post is thoughtful and poignant. I agree that a more fundamental consideration of whether or not exploitative capitalism is choking our country rather than strengthening must take place SOON! Marie, if the kind of organizing necessary to establish a nationwide citizen’s lobbying effort were to take hold, that would be fabulous. I used to believe that changes in both the political system and for our country could best be pursued on the inside. Now, I have both reconsidered and changed my position. At this time in our history, it appears the necessary reform will have to be dealt with by the American people.
Posted by Just Me on Nov 3, 2003 at 8:22 PM Aint it funny how poor schmoes like myself have been losing jobs for years and now all of a sudden my supervisor is loosing his job and its a big deal.
These same white collar workers will probably still vote for Bush.
Wasnt it Bill Clinton and his buddies that signed NAFTA and GATT??
In 1979 more americans had jobs than ever. In the TWENTY YEARS that followed we lost 2.5 million jobs. We’ve also lost 2.5 million jobs since Bush junior has been president. IN THREE YEARS! Go figure.
White collar workers talking about getting organized? I laughed so hard I fell off my chair. No unified voice in congress representing white collar workers? Whos running congress these days? are you joking? The reps repsresent you, you just dont like the plan.
Ever notice how every time a factory closes near your town a wal-mart opens soon after? Alot of the times they’re selling the same thing that you used to make!
One last thought….When Bush became our president I was disappointed in one way but in another way it was good. I figured if we were stupid enough to believe his bullshit than perhaps we’ve all had it too good for too long. Maybe a little suffering and turmoil would be good for us and wake us up to realize what we’ve got to loose. Kinda like how your really nice to your neighbor after the tornado comes through town. How wrong I was.
Stolen election…...nothing
3000 dead….nothing
Tax cuts for the rich….nothing
war on the world…..nothing
An ecomomy in shambles….nothing
Jobs evaporating and still….nothingWhats it gonna take???
Four more years perhaps???
Posted by shawn p murphy on Nov 8, 2003 at 1:44 AM why shouldn’t indians and chinese get our knowledge-type jobs - especially if they can do them cheaper and better than we can? is it because equality is great, but just not for us?
Posted by frank freeman on Nov 8, 2003 at 1:59 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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