Indians: We are “indentured servants” for US corporations

It’s often been said in our movement that the outsourcing of US IT jobs here in America is just as bad for the Indians as it is for the Americans.

Sure, Americans lose their livelihoods, which often results in bankruptcy, divorce and the destruction of families. And we’ve spent a fair amount of time covering that. But here’s a recent video detailing this, in case you forgot.

But what is it like for the millions of workers who come to American on an alphabet soup of Visas (e.g., L-1, B-1, H-1B, OPT), to take the jobs from these displaced Americans?

We got a rare window into their plight during a rally this week in Chicago, where a few hundred members of an Indian lobby group gathered to protest against Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. The Chicago Democrat had objected to S386, a bill that would have granted Indian nationals > 90% of the Green Cards awarded by the US for the next 10 years. This had the effect of stopping the bill in its tracks, ending a $70 million effort by Immigration Voice, fwd.us and others.

At this rally, the protesters were holding the following sign …

I’ve drawn arrows to a specific spot of the sign, where they refer the H-1B program as “slavery and abuse” and refer to their work as “indentured servitude.”

Anyone who has ever worked alongside Indians know their bosses have them work a grueling schedule. 60 hours a week is the absolute minimum – but 80 to 100 hours is often common.

I worked alongside one gentleman, who worked a 10 hour day (from 7am to 5 pm) but then had to get up and call into the TCS headquarters in India from 11 pm to 2 am. And this was a good day! He was often made to work to 8 pm, to complete his assigned tasks. And, of course, he could often be seen in the office on weekends banging away on his keyboard.

I was training this person to take my job (a job that I sometimes worked 60 to 70 hours a week without complaint) and I really shouldn’t have sympathized with his situation- but I did. If he didn’t do what he was asked, TCS wouldn’t renew his contract. And worse, they wouldn’t sponsor him for an H-1B visa.

The end goal for many of these workers is to acquire a Green Card, a work status that basically gives them the same workplace protections as Americans. With this status, they could actually tell their boss that they need to leave the office to attend their son or daughter’s school play, for example. But without it, their only choice is to slave away and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel to arrive.

Given all of that, it’s perfectly understandable they don’t normally talk about all of this in public. After all, in many cases, any job in America is better than what they may have had in India.

Still, you have to wonder … Is a slave how eats better off than a free man that is often humgry?

The top 5 Indian outsourcing firms have turned to the L-1 and OPT Visas as a way to bring younger workers from India to the US. There are no caps on these Visas – meaning they can bring over as many workers as they want to the US. And here’s the part that management loves – there is no minimum pay requirement for these workers … That’s right, there are no minimum wage laws! Imagine how unscrupulous managers could take advantage of this?

The people here working on these Visas are running on a treadmill and their bosses have the speed cranked up the max setting. If they complain just once, their dreams of a better life in American can be dashed out, like a spent cigarette.

In their never-ending quest to boost profits, executives at US corporations all across America have done a great job at setting up a system that really does rely on a class of indentured servants to moderate Facebook chat groups, ensure 24-hour updates to our 401k accounts, man our help desks, facilitate the investment of US military personnel retirement accounts in China and many other things Americans take for granted.

We do indeed live in a crazy world!

THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF WORLD WE WANT FOR OUR CHILDREN.

THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF CAPITALISM WE WANT!

Shame on the executives who pay for the lobbyists that perpetuate this each and every day! Shame on the politicians that accept their campaign donations and enable this!

The lobbyists in DC are the masterminds of this system. They’ve created a really convenient problem for themselves. They’ve pushed through legislation that enables a system, where an underclass of people work 80-100 hours a week. They are complicit in dangling a carrot over the heads of these workers, giving hope that legislation would someday be passed that would amount to the most sweeping this country has ever seen (never before has it been proposed that a single country get over 90% of our nation’s Green Cards)!

Some might argue that we should grant Green Cards to the workers who have been gypped by this system. They might argue that this injustice requires that we essentially shut down immigration possibilities to citizens from other countries around the world. But this would only have the effect of clearing up the pipeline and allow millions more from India to take the place of those moving up the Visa ladder – and giving them the opportunity to be indentured servants too.

We were once a country that set workplace standards that put workers – and their families – first. We had the strongest economy in the world as well as strong neighborhoods and families. It’s been our relentless pursuit of profit that has led to our cities been hollowed out, our middle class decimated and our families destroyed.

Demanding strong workplace rules for everyone who works in our country would shut down Indian outsourcing firms – and the bodyshops that supply them with workers. Without having the luxury of literally enslaving their workers, their business model wouldn’t make sense and they wouldn’t be an option for American corporations.

Let me reiterate something here. We’ve always said that our country needs immigration. It’s a powerful force in creating a strong nation. Besides, our population is aging and we need more young people … And we don’t want to end up like Japan.

But immigration policies and legislation has been skewed by the lobbyists, who have created this slave class. It created a system where people are forced live and whisper in the shadows.

The good news is that there are organizations in our nation’s capital that are fighting against this unjust system. Progressives for Immigration Reform has been a leading force in fighting these lobbyists – and the politicians that endorse their legislation. They are pushing for a sustainable immigration system that will put an end to indentured servitude in this country and ensure our country’s healthy growth for years to come. Please consider helping this organization continue their fight!

Any politician that is not actively fighting to change this system effectively endorses the status quo. They approve of slavery in America.

It’s ironic that the Democratic party, a political machine that portrays themselves as friend of the working man, so often pushes for legislation that brings more and more foreign workers into the country for this indentured servitude – and sends so many Americans into the unemployment lines. Any objection to their votes is dismissed as racism – and any further discussion squashed.

We invite workers from any country that are abused at the workplace to share your stories with us. We have access to legal resources and will fight to protect you and your family. There is hope for a better tomorrow but you need the strength to reach out for help. Only together can we defeat this unjust system.