CT Techworker Coalition

For years, we have seen the India-based IT outsourcing firms take more and more jobs at our workplaces. Now we finally have some data to show just how much damage has been done.

The above graphic from the Institute for Sound Public Policy, the umbrella organization over US Techworkers, shows that there are almost as many foreign-born and non-citizen programmers in CT as there are American coders.

This data is sourced from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, an annual demographics survey program used by many public-sector, private-sector, and not-for-profit stakeholders to allocate funding, track shifting demographics, plan for emergencies, and learn about local communities

I have to say these numbers really surprised me When I started coding, there just a few people who were NON-American. I actually forget how they started working for our company. But I do remember when things changed…

Right after the DOT-COM bubble burst, I started seeing IT managers bringing in more and more workers from India. At one company I worked at, I saw an entire IT department of 350 Americans replaced with workers from an India-based IT oursourcing firm. Working there was really stressful. You never knew when HR was going to show up with a pink slip for you. When it finally happened, the results were a typical pattern of pain and loss. First the divorce came, then the forclosed home, followed by some sort of new substance abuse (alcohol or painkillers).

It’s not as if these people didn’t have the skills. In all actuality, these people were very good at their job and very loyal to the company. But, the simple fact was that our immigration laws provided the company with options. And despite years of dedicated service, upper management always chose the cheaper workers.

In nearly all of these waves of layoffs, the companies usually suffered. the quality of the IT systems declined and it almost always costed the company extra money in the end, hiring more people to fix errors brought on by the new people. But that didn’t matter. By that point, the Indian outsourcing firm had an exclusive contract, which included hiring/firing power of the entire IT department.

In any case, back to the numbers …

If you compare CT to the rest of the country, it appears they have done a better job at replacing us than in other states. Across the entire US, we are ranked #8 for having the lowest percentage of US-born software developers.

I was able to find some county-wide numbers as well and it looks like its particularly bad for Tolland and Fairfield Counties. They are ranked in the top 36 counties in the country for having the lowest percentage of US-born software developers.

This government data paints a stark picture. If all this could happen over a 25-year period, what’s going to happen over the next 25? Will there be any jobs left for our children?

Across the workforce as a whole, you can see the replacement phenomenon at work. Using govenment data, this ZeroHedge news story shows that all the new job creation since Covid has gone to foreign workers.

But even before Covid, we knew the numbers just weren’t looking good for American workers. Since the 1930s, the country only creates 1.5 million jobs per year on average – but we import up to 10 million Visa workers some years.

It’s time we start reversing this trend. The first thing you can do to empower yourself is to join a group. And the best one out there at fighting for the rights of IT professionals is US Techworkers.

The Indian IT oursourcing firms are spearheading yet another push in Congress to expand Visa programs. US Techworkers has been successful in the past at leading efforts to defeat these offensives in the past – and they need your support to continue fighting this fight.

Please consider making a donation to this group, joining their call-in campaigns or simply sign up for their newsletter. At the very least, you’ll be in the company with people who can help you.

There are few media personalities in CT who represent – and promote – the interests of the average American. Lee Elci, known as the Voice of Freedom over the airwaves in CT, is someone who fearlessly defends ALL Americans – and fights back against the globalists who seek to destroy this country.

So, it was with great honor that myself and Kevin Lynn, the founder of CT Techworkers, appeared on the Lee Elci show to explain the sheer stupidity of Governor Ned Lamont’s deal $18 MILLION grant to Infosys. Listen here beginning at minute 91 to hear for yourself.

Like two champion tag-team wrestlers in the WWE squared circle, Kevin and I dismantled the logic of the deal, which rewards a company that specializes in shipping American IT operations to India.

Kevin set the table, by explaining the current racket, which actually creates an underclass of modern-day indentured servants that commonly work 80-100 hours a week

“People in India are desperate to get out … When they are here, they’re going to do whatever they told because they told because they want that company to eventually sponsor them for a green card,” Lynn said.

Infosys is an H1-B dependent company that harnesses this dynamic. But it ultimately creates a race-to-the-bottom workplace culture that ultimately undermines the average American tech worker. In fact, Lynn pointed out another Visa program that has no minimum wage protections for workers. Even worse, the employer doesn’t have to pay withholding tax on the employee’s wages.

“If you think the H1-B Visa is bad, there is a thing called Optional Practical Training,” he said. “An employer can pay a worker on OPT anything they want to. Keep in mind that these people are competing with American college graduates in the STEM field.”

The OPT deal is way too good for an employer who is looking to maximize profits. Why would they ever hire an American with laws like that on the books?

I followed up by pointing out that Infosys has been fined MILLIONS of dollars for both abusing the American Visa program and for discriminating against Americans in the workplace.

On top of all of this, the lion’s share of Infosys’ profits are made from Business Process Outsourcing. This means moving IT operations from the US to India. The company has been responsible for the loss of quite literally MILLIONS of American jobs.

You really have to wonder why Gov. Lamont would do business with a firm like this. It won’t grow jobs … in fact it will shrink them . This is the exact opposite of what economic development is supposed to achieve.

Prof. Bob Swick has been observing this deal, along with many others made by Gov. Lamont’s DECD and it seems to fit into a category of other recent grants – to act as a slush fund for Lamont’s cronies.

Infosys actually defaulted on the grant agreement with the state during Covid but was then given a $20 MILLION no bid contract to handle some IT services for the state soon later.

All told, Infosys will collect $38 MILLION from state taxpayers! Not a bad payday for them but the state taxpayers are on the hook for yet another bad deal that will not serve their interests and put them further into debt.

The interview was shorter than both of us wanted. There is a long list of reasons of why Infosys and companies like it are bad for this state and country. But we realize that there are time constraints for Lee, who is a veritable Super Star in state media circles. We were grateful for his time!

I’ve got to send a SHOUT OUT to Professor Bob Swick.

I used to think I knew everything about how Infosys swindled grant money from states/cities who are desperate for economic development. But then I read his latest blog post.

It turns out that Infosys scammed the city of Indianapolis for $56 MILLION in a deal that was supposed to bring 3,000 jobs to the city by the end of 2023. So far, it looks like the Indian company appears to have delivered NONE of those jobs!

”I’d like to know where the three thousand jobs are at,” Evans said, noting that their new building is barely used.

Indianapolis City County Councilor Jared Evans

It almost makes the CT DECD look good, in comparison. At least their contract with Infosys included language that doled out portions of the grant, only if they met hiring quotas by certain dates.

It’s not clear how many American citizens have been hired at the Hartford Infosys office (we have been waiting 7 months for a response to our latest FOIA request). But the employees they have hired, think it’s a crummy place to work – and little, if anything gets done there.

All in all, Infosys raked in A HUNDRED MILLIONS DOLLARS from states and cities across the US in 2018 alone. But the company doesn’t look like it’s provided any return on this investment.

Thanks for broadening our horizons, Professor Swick!!!

Following an explosive leak of an internal video showing IBM CEO Arvind Krishna advising his managers to hire more minorities – and less white and asian workers, a whistleblower group has filed a Federal Civil Rights Complaint against the company.

America First Legal’s (AFL) Center for Legal Equality filed the complaint last week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after seeing the IBM CEO say he will fire, demote or strip bonuses from execs who don’t hire enough blacks, Hispanics — or hire too many Asians in the video, acquired by the O’Keefe Media Group.

Also in the same video, Paul Cormier, the chairman of RedHat (a subsidiary of IBM) seemed to reinforce these ideas, admitting that his company has already fired people who failed to meet these race-based hiring metrics.

America First Legal said making hiring decisions based on race is illegal, according to US EEOC laws. It is not clear how many employees IBM has terminated or discriminated against in the hiring process but the victims could collect $300,000 each from the company in compensatory damages. The company could also be facing millions in fines.

“The evidence strongly suggests IBM’s management has created a culture of systemic racism. IBM’s 2022 ESG Report includes information about IBM’s Annual Incentive Program, which vows to continue to include a diversity modifier to close the gap in executive representation in these key areas. IBM does so by providing executives additional compensation if they reach their targets.”

America First Legal complaint

The CEO’s comments came soon after the company pulled ads from X (the company formerly called Twitter), claiming that the platform promoted racist ads.

IBM, once a symbol of America’s worldwide leadership in tech, is now more of a services company that rarely produces innovative products. It currently has more employees in India than it does in the US.

During the hiring process in the US, most companies display language claiming they don’t make hiring decisions based on race, national origin, etc. but the video was proof positive that this practice is alive and well.

IBM wasn’t the only large corporation caught urging managers to hire certain minority groups. Sanofi executive Carole Huntsman was caught in a leaked video saying “one in Five Hires NEEDS to be a Black Employee”

Infosys has had numerous EEOC complaints filed against them. One recent complaint filed by a group of women said they “experienced a similar pattern of discrimination and marginalization in which male and Indian employees received preferential assignments and were routinely allowed to take credit for women’s work.”

I’ve got a confession to make.

We could have been looking at the $18 MILLION grant to Infosys in the wrong way.

Sure, the deal is a taxpayer funded way to export jobs in CT back to India. Everyone knows this is the case – it’s even in the global company’s Annual Report!

Wherever Infosys sets up shop, American jobs evaporate.

But after reading a report authored by a CT Economic professor, I found out this deal is just one in a larger collection that demonstrate how our state leaders are either completely inept at growing business in our state – or are simply downright corrupt.

In Prof. Bob Swick’s blog post, entitled “The Destruction of Connecticut, as Brought to You via the Department of Economic and Community Development,” readers find out how the state has doled out literally billions in grants and somehow the state is still ranked almost dead last in economic growth.

“This past budget featured over $823 million dollars spent for ‘economic development’ in the 49^th worst economic state in the union, and it looks that Connecticut has nothing to show for almost $1 billion dollars being spent by the carefree, unaccountable, and politically connected Cracker Jack box known as the DECD. “

Prof. Bob Swick

Prof. Swick stops short of calling the agency’s actions criminal but he does advocate for a full audit of the DECD, which should include real consequences for its leadership’s “malfeasant” behavior.

This is not just a case of a stage agency falling short of their mandated mission. It’s a textbook example of how our inept and corrupt leadership have wasted millions of badly needed tax dollars and returned little or nothing to its constituents. And in the case of this Infosys grant, taxpayer dollars are literally being used to eliminate jobs in CT.

“There is no clear ascertainment to this day with the overstatement of the number of jobs created and/or retained along with the financial and economic impact of these same programs, further, there is scant due diligence of business borrowers, and in some cases there is no explanation for second loans granted even though the companies did not meet job creation requirements and/or were not making payments on their initial loans.  What are the real goals of the DECD?  To pay off Democrat Party politically connected businesses? To buy votes at taxpayer expense? To glad-hand and photo-op in the inner cities where money is only a temporary balm and false hope for these poor people that never fix the burn as politicians and panderers continue to lie right between their eyes? Truly, no one seems to know. (And worse, no one seems to care).”

Prof. Bob Swick

Prof. Swick also references the grants the state has bestowed on the Governor’s wife. Annie Lamont’s company SEMA4 received a total of $25.6 MILLION in “sweetheart” loans during his time in office. SEMA4 was also awarded exclusive no-bid contracts to perform Covid testing during the pandemic. As masked CT residents lined up to be tested, the company racked up millions more.

All of this drove up the companies stock price and made her a fortune. The Governor’s wife made $66 million when the company went public in July 2021! But even with all this state support, SEMA4’s headquarters was moved from their Stamford headquarters to Nashville!

When pressed about the move, Lamont threw up his hands and said its simply easier to do business in other states

You’ve got to seriously worry about the future of our state with people like this at the helm.

We have $150 BILLION in unfunded liabilites, the state is squandering billions in attracting new employers and he admits that CT isn’t the right state for even his own wife to run a business.

Why has it all come to this? Prof. Swick seem to know …

“Politicians and candidates of whatever party always seem to line up and support the people in charge. One can only conclude that the political will to throw money as a feelgood by a Connecticut official is far greater than the political will to exercise proper fiduciary responsibility by that same individual. But this type of glad-handing practice is standard operating procedure in Connecticut.”

Prof. Bob Swick

I have to sign off for today. I am disgusted.

Kurush Mistry and Shailja Gupta girlfriend were caught in NYC last Thursday night ripping down posters, which featured pictures of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.

Their actions, foul language and bigotry were on full display – and the scene ended up being seen by millions, as video of the incident was captured in a video posted to X (the web site formerly known as Twitter).

When asked by a passerby what they were doing, Mistry flipped him off with his middle finger and flashed a sign that said “Israel is an Apartheid State and Commits Genocide” and “Occupiers Face Consequences.”

His girlfriend added: “None of your f___ing business, dude. F__ off.!”

This altercation was one of many playing out all over the country, as American Jews put up posters seeking help locating loved ones captured in the recent Hamas raid on Israeli territory – and Anti Semites try to foil their attempts by ripping them down.

This particular incident ended up going viral after Andy Ngo, a best-selling author and civil rights crusader, positivvely identified Mistry and Gupta. Word eventually leaked to Mistry’s employer – Stamford-based Freepoint Commodities – and he was soon out of a job.

“Freepoint is committed to fostering a culture of mutual respect and tolerance.  We welcome the diversity of views and opinions held by our employees, but Freepoint does not tolerate discrimination and hate speech directed against any group.  We are aware of the recent antisemitic incident reported on social media, and the individual involved is no longer associated with Freepoint.” – Freepoint company web site.

We have not yet received confirmation from his employer that he is here in the US working on a Visa – but company employees, who wished to remain anonymous, said this was the case.

“He always had such an attitude, like he was better than other people,” said a woman who has been working for the company for 10 years. “Quite frankly, I’m glad he’s gone.”

As of this writing, Mistry still listed Freepoint as his employer on LinkedIn. His profile shows his work record in the US, after he graduated from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 2003. He’s also worked at Barclay’s Capital and Morgan Stanley Capital International.

The arrogance and entitlement shown by Mistry and Gupta caused many Stamford residents to visibly cringe when shown the video. Jeff, from the Cove section of town, couldn’t believe what he saw in the video.

“This is America. We are all entitled to free speech” he said. “Who the hell are these people to be ripping down posters like that? Someone like that is going to get punched if they try doing that around here.”

Some others were left scratching their heads over why people like Mistry were ever allowed to work in America.

“This guy has had great jobs in America over the last 20 years,” said Sheila, a local Administrative Assistant. ” He’s basically lived a charmed life since he’s lived here. Why would he want to deny other people’s rights?”

It’s not a pretty scene out there.

Tech jobs are drying up and there are more and more American workers out there looking for work.

We had this report from siliconvalley.com this week, which revealed that hundreds of jobs in the defense, microchip and green-energy sectors all issued pink slips. Some due to the slowing economy but others are having difficulty getting capital (in this new higher interest-rate world).

Then there was another story of 1,200 layoffs at Qualcomm. This announcement came despite positive news about a new deal with Apple.

2023 hasn’t been a great year for tech employment. If you want to get a big-picture view of what’s been happening, TechCrunch has been compiling a list of all the layoffs.

With all this bad news, we wonder if the tech firms will continue claiming that they can’t find skilled workers – and call for even more H1-B and other Visa workers.

In past downturns, US tech firms ratcheted up the hiring of foreign workers – and fired US workers – to save money. We can only hope that doesn’t repeat itself this time around.

The following are some recent posts on Glassdoor, a networking site where employees grade their employers anonymously, about the Infosys office in Hartford. It doesn’t paint a great picture of the company that Governor Ned Lamont is paying millions in taxpayer dollars to, in a very weak attempt at “economic development.”

There are very few people who have helped the American IT worker more than John Miano.

He had a successful career as a computer programmer for years – and even wrote a few books on the topic. But the direction of his life changed decades ago, after he saw companies displacing colleagues with foreign-born workers. He realized that there were few lawyers out there that specialized in the new immigration laws being passed by Congress – so he decided to enroll in law school and fight the system himself.

Fast-foward 30 years later, John is arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court. He’s an expert that Washington DC Think Tanks rely on for immigration law expertise – and muscle. He’s also published a book, alongside media personality Michelle Malkin, which won national acclaim for shining a spotlight on corruption in US high-tech immigration.

To US IT workers who have been displaced by a foreign Visa worker, the book was groundbreaking, in that it offered stark proof of what was happening in the industry. Before it was published, no one could believe that anyone could lose a job in a sector worth trillions of dollars. The book showed how companies schemed behind the scenes to fire Americans, destroying the lives of thousands upon thousands of families. It also showed the other side of the coin – how the new Visa laws enabled a forced indentured servitude for the new foreign Visa workers, who willingly complied to work endless hours over decades for minimal pay, in hopes of climbing the ladder (being granted H1-B Visa – and eventually a Green Card).

In IT, many Americans try to code their way around a setback like a pink slip. They look to invent new things, create a new web-based startup or simply learn a new programming language that will give them a leg up in the workplace. But this doesn’t necessarily work if you live in a small town with not a lot of industry nearby – or don’t have access to capital, to get your idea off the ground.

After you’ve been in this business a while, it becomes a numbers game. And if employers have access to cheap foreign workers, who are willing to spend 14 hours a day at the office for a quarter of the salary a typical American would get, the companies will ultimately hire the foreign worker.

That’s why John stepped into the arena with the big corporations and their paid lobbyists in DC. He knew that it was the legislation that was enabling all of this. And, like the true Action Hero that he is, he knew exactly how to fight this fight.

Throughout the years, he’s been the go-to legal mind behind many legislative counter-offensives.

Jessica Vaughn, the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said John’s work with her group has been “absolutely essential to the Center’s ability to educate the public, and especially lawmakers, on the problems in the H-1B program and the consequences for U.S. workers.”

Vaughn said John wrote a study in 2005 that poked holes in the assumption that all H1-B workers are geniuses, who are essential for tech industry growth. He proved that most are, in fact, low-level workers (think: helpdesk).

“This study was critical to debunking the Big Tech-promoted myth that the H-1B program brings in essential skilled workers.  Countering this narrative has been one of the most challenging tasks in achieving reforms to the program, and it would be impossible without the facts and analysis that John provided.”

Jessica Vaughn on John Miano

Kevin Lynn, the founder of US Techworkers and the Executive Director of the Institute for Sound Public Policy estimates John has provided “tens of thousands of hours” to his group over the years – and his input has been vital to the cause.

“When you create a movement, you need activism, policy and litigation,” Lynn said. “When you call out bad players, you have to be able to drag them to the courthouse door. That’s what John has been able to do for us.”

Lynn said John has been very generous with his time for any individual or group who has been wronged by bad immigration policies. He regularly stays up late listening to workers who have no one else to turn to. For many, it’s a call they make in their final moments of desperation before losing their homes to bankruptcy or their families to divorce.

We were really grateful when John even disrupted his busy schedule to attend our rally in January 2019, to protest Governor Lamont’s plan to give taxpayer money to Infosys, an Indian outsourcing firm who has a long track record of displacing Americans.

He’s been listening to these stories for years, in hopes that the affected workers would somehow try to effect change in their workplace, go on strike – or do anything to fight back. With the exception of a few cases, they rarely do.

This has produced endless frustration to people like John. After all, he is someone who goes out in this world and gets things done. He changed his life to help the very people who rarely do anything to help themselves.

We simply don’t deserve him.

John recently suffered a setback in a Supreme Court case. He was questioning the legality of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) Visa, a major foreign worker scheme disguised as an educational program, created by President George Bush Sr as part of the 1990 Immigration Act. The OPT program, which includes no minimum wage protections for foreign workers, has never been approved by Congress.

John was the only person to challenge this program in the courts.

Vaughn said is one of a very tiny group of people in the US who have the knowledge and wherewithal to take this fight to the big corporations.

“Few understand how these programs work as John does, and even fewer have the legal credentials to challenge them in court.  It had to be done, since successive Congresses and presidential administrations failed to end the programs,” Vaughn said.

She said Miano derserves to be recognized for all his efforts.

“Bravo to John for taking these on, sticking with them, and if nothing else, at least exposing the shocking indifference of many public officials to the abuse of power and the resulting harm inflicted on their fellow Americans.  “

Despite having the admiration of so many average Americans as well as the smartest people in DC, it was probably hard for John to hear about the Supreme Court decision.

Lynn said it would be natural for any sane man to feel down after a defeat like this. But he assures that John is nowhere near finished with his mission.

“It’s really amazing. He’s one man up against millions of dollars in corporate interests and he just keeps going, Lynn said. “He’s a machine!”

Despite the loss, Lynn said the fight against OPT is not over. Congress Paul Gosar of Arizona has proposed legislation to scrap the program altogether. And, under a new House Speaker, Lynn said this legislation might just be approved by the House.

To find out more about John and what he does for the American IT worker, simply do a Google search. His exploits are the stuff of legends.

Let us all hope we can live our lives like John. He is truly a mover and shaker in this world. He is someone who does meaningful things that help real people and families.

Visa programs like OPT have had profound implications not only on the workplace but in neighborhoods across the country. To keep abreast of the situation, follow the US Techworkers Twitter stream.

When we reported on a phenomenon of Indians urinating on others back in March, we thought it was just a trend. But, given recent events, it looks like its more than that.

Four members of a lower-class Dalit neighborhood in Maharashtra were captured, hung upside down, beaten and urinated on, after being accused of stealing some pigeons and a goat. The men were also forced to lick their attackers shoes.

Four men have been arrested and are being charged in this attack and the victims were taken to the hospital. Soon after the incident, though, video of the ordeal leaded onto social media.

It is not clear what is driving Indian men to urinate on others but some think it’s a way to show dominance over others.

“I’m kind of ashamed to talk about this,” said one Indian citizen living in Stamford, CT. ” “Back home they think they can get away with anything. It’s considered the ultimate act of humiliation.”

Still, these acts could be part of the Indian fascination with urine.

The Indian caste system is a stain on a society that has, in some ways, led the world on human rights issues. But this horrible caste system lives on and has been exported to America.

These stories are told over and over again.

We haven’t heard of any stories, here in America, of upper-class Indians urinating on Dalits but we will keep an eye out. If this does indeed happen, perpetrators of this offense could actually be slapped with a felony sex crime.