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Title: Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow Bolder
Source:
NY Times
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/u ... ps-on-way-out-grow-bolder.html
Published: Jun 12, 2016
Author: JULIA PRESTON
Post Date: 2016-06-12 09:11:51 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 7752
Comments: 45
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. — American corporations are under new scrutiny from federal lawmakers after well-publicized episodes in which the companies laid off American workers and gave the jobs to foreigners on temporary visas. But while corporate executives have been outspoken in defending their labor practices before Congress and the public, the American workers who lost jobs to global outsourcing companies have been largely silent. Until recently. Now some of the workers who were displaced are starting to speak out, despite severance agreements prohibiting them from criticizing their former employers. Marco Peña was among about 150 technology workers who were laid off in April by Abbott Laboratories, a global health care conglomerate with headquarters here. They handed in their badges and computer passwords, and turned over their work to a company based in India. But Mr. Peña, who had worked at Abbott for 12 years, said he had decided not to sign the agreement that was given to all departing employees, which included a nondisparagement clause. Mr. Peña said his choice cost him at least $10,000 in severance pay. But on an April evening after he walked out of Abbott’s tree-lined campus here for the last time, he spent a few hours in a local bar at a gathering organized by technology worker advocates, speaking his mind about a job he had loved and lost. “I just didn’t feel right about signing,” Mr. Peña said. “The clauses were pretty blanket. I felt like they were eroding my rights.” Leading members of Congress from both major parties have questioned the nondisparagement agreements, which are commonly used by corporations but can prohibit ousted workers from raising complaints about what they see as a misuse of temporary visas. Lawmakers, including Richard Durbin of Illinois, the second-highest-ranking Senate Democrat, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, have proposed revisions to visa laws to include measures allowing former employees to contest their layoffs. “I have heard from workers who are fearful of retaliation,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut. “They are told they can say whatever they want, except they can’t say anything negative about being fired.” Lawyers said the paragraph Mr. Peña and other workers object to in their separation agreements is routine in final contracts with employees who are paid severance as they leave, whether they were laid off or resigned voluntarily. “It’s a very, very common practice,” said Sheena R. Hamilton, an employment lawyer at Dowd Bennett in St. Louis who represents companies in workplace cases. “I’ve never recommended a settlement that didn’t have a clause like that.” But former Abbott employees said the provisions had stopped them from speaking openly with elected officials or appearing at congressional hearings. “It is very frustrating that you can’t share your story with the public,” said one former Abbott manager, who had worked for the company for 13 years, rising to an important supervisory position. He had prepared a 90-page manual for his foreign replacements showing how to perform every detail of his work. With a disabled child who requires medical care, he said he had to take his severance and its nondisparagement clause, since it extended his medical benefits. So he asked to remain anonymous. “I’ve been laid off before, I can understand that,” he said. “But these visas were meant to fill in gaps for resources that are hard to find. This time the company actually asked me to transfer my knowledge to somebody else. That changes the equation.” According to federal rules, temporary visas known as H-1Bs are for foreigners with “a body of specialized knowledge” not readily available in the labor market. The visas should be granted only when they will not undercut the wages or “adversely affect the working conditions” of Americans. But in the past five years, through loopholes in the rules, tens of thousands of American workers have been replaced by foreigners on H-1B and other temporary visas, according to Prof. Hal Salzman, a labor force expert at Rutgers University. In March, two Americans who had been laid off in 2014 by a New England power company, Eversource Energy, spoke at a news conference in Hartford even though they had signed nondisparagement agreements. Craig Diangelo, 63, and Judy Konopka, 56, said most of the 220 people facing dismissal had been required as part of their severance to train Indian immigrants with H-1B and other visas. In a protest, departing employees posted American flags outside their cubicles. As they left, they took the flags down. Mr. Diangelo took a photograph of the flags in his final days at the utility. At the time, he and Ms. Konopka spoke with reporters, including from The New York Times, but they did not want to be quoted, even without their names. In January, Senator Blumenthal spotted the photograph in an article in Computerworld, a tech industry publication, and was dismayed to learn of the layoffs so long after they happened. In a letter to the company, the senator questioned whether the dismissals were “accomplished through apparent abuses” of visas, and he demanded assurances that former employees would not be sued if they spoke with government officials. In a forceful reply, the Eversource general counsel, Gregory B. Butler, said the company had not violated any laws, and its nondisparagement provisions were a “standard form release” that did not restrict former employees from discussing their layoffs “with you or anyone else.” Mr. Diangelo said he was not so sure the company would refrain from legal action if he spoke to the news media. But, he said, “I finally got to the point where I am tired of hiding in the shadows.” Two years later, his work with a local tech contracting company pays $45,000 a year less than his Eversource salary. Many of his former co-workers are also struggling, Mr. Diangelo said, but stay quiet to avoid provoking the company. At Abbott, executives announced in February that technology jobs would be taken over by the Indian company Wipro. Senator Durbin, who is from Illinois, criticized the layoffs and said Abbott’s nondisparagement clause was “overly broad.” According to a copy of the agreement, that clause read, in part: “You agree to make every effort to maintain and protect the reputation of Abbott and its products and agents.” A spokesman for Abbott, Scott Stoffel, said the changes were part of its efforts to “remain globally competitive and a strong U.S. employer.” He said the company would retain “the vast majority” of its tech jobs in the United States. Nondisparagement clauses like Abbott’s are “very common” in severance agreements, he said. Mr. Peña said he could afford to turn down his severance payment because he is single and has no children. “I was the only one with the ability to put my foot down,” he said. He received consistently positive work reviews, and a merit raise weeks before his layoff, he said. With no indication that poor performance was a factor, he believed it was a measure to cut costs. “Anything that had to deal with technology and resolving problems, that was my satisfaction, my passion,” Mr. Peña said. “But these days that has no bearing on the decision making of the executives in the higher positions.” Abbott tried to reduce the role of foreigners in the layoffs. Only about 20 percent of the workers brought in by Wipro would be foreigners on H-1B visas, Mr. Stoffel said, while the rest would be American workers. Mr. Peña said he had been told at first that he would train his Wipro replacements. But after Senator Durbin’s rebuke, Wipro workers were trained only by employees who would be remaining with Abbott, he said. He and 13 other former Abbott employees filed federal claims saying they faced discrimination because of their ages and American citizenship, said Sara Blackwell, a lawyer representing them. Those claims are confidential. Ms. Blackwell organized the tavern meeting where Abbott workers were invited to mourn their jobs. Of the small group that came, only Mr. Peña spoke up. On April 20, about two dozen employees of EmblemHealth, a health insurer, protested outside its offices in Manhattan after the company announced that it would transfer about 200 tech jobs to Cognizant, another technology outsourcing company. Even though they were in the street holding signs, the employees declined to have their names used in news reports.
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#5. To: ConservingFreedom (#4)
Blowhard Trump isn't going to do jack-squat to stop chinese slave labor from undercutting American Middle Class jobs. He'll just flap his mouth and then rubberstamp anything Paul Ryan & Mitch McConnell tell him to. It's the same old globalist horseshit, just a different assclown at the helm.
Blowhard Trump isn't going to do jack-squat to stop chinese slave labor from undercutting American Middle Class jobs. He'll just flap his mouth and then rubberstamp anything Paul Ryan & Mitch McConnell tell him to. It's the same old globalist horseshit, just a different assclown at the helm. I didn't say Trump's formal platform meant more than a fart in a hurricane - but a Trumpanzee like FireIsland will never admit that. A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them. And then we wonder what's wrong with the American economy.
That's why he's playing kissy-face with Boris on my bozo.
Of course a filthy liberal racist like you would put me on "bozo". lol It's quite common for liberals to lack tolerance for others. Too bad you can't outlaw my opinion like some states did with the confederate flag. Carry on with your douchebag liberal buddy, ConservingAnarchy. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
How am I a liberal - because I agree with Trump that globalist corporations should not be replacing American workers with Third World serfs? A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them. Because you and Willie suck each other off real nice like on the chit chat channel. Willie is a known bleeding heart. You are known by the company you keep. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
It's the same old globalist horseshit, just a different assclown at the helm. There were findings from a Pew Research Center report regarding American exceptionalism that gave importance to a consideration that Americans are far more prone to say their culture is superior to others than are the citizens of Germany, Britian, France or Spain. There was one finding in the report that went almost unnoticed and may be something to carefully consider. It was about our cultural attitudes toward achieving success. It honed in on the remarkable train of thought we Americans possess showing that out of all the nationalities polled … read carefully now … we Americans are least likely to believe that success in our lives is determined by forces outside our control. Meaning, of course, we are least fatalistic. The poll showed that only one third of Americans believed in this fatalistic outlook statement, while the greatest majority of their compadres are strong believers in self-determination. This all means that we Americans are not surprisingly more likely to harbor the belief in the dream to "Make America Great Again." The report revealed something I also found somewhat interesting. It showed that 22 percent of college grads believe they have little to no control over their fate, while 41 percent of Americans without a college degree are optimistic. These findings are particularly interesting when I try to juxtapose them with the outlook attitudes towards Trump after he becomes our next president. One can be fatalistic and believe “it’s going to be the same old globalist horseshit with just a different ass clown at the helm” … or one can be optimistic and hope the days ahead will be much better for America than those we are leaving behind. I prefer to be the latter and remain optimistic.
Global population growth will put an excessive strain on fundamental resources... air/water pollution, food production, disease... I see no reason for optimism for anybody's future no matter where they live or what kind of political system governs them... Future generations are doomed to stuggle in a squalid cesspit of their own overpopulated waste products. Civilization has had it's golden age and will suffer great upheaval trying to cope with these severe global conditions.
Better watch it with your gay-sex obsession, FireIsland ... ISIS is gunning for fags like you. A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them. So gay of you.
The survey contains no instances of the words "optimism" or "optimistic" or any variant, because that attitude is orthogonal to the one reported - one can be an optimistic fatalist ("forces beyond my control are going to give me a great life") or a pessimistic self-determinist ("my destiny is in my own hands and boy am I screwed"). A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them. The Declaration of Independence says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." [emphasis added] In reality, what we are seeing is that some are more equal than others. Our illegal open-doors policy in illegals entering this country and outsourcing those jobs to foreigners. Not only is it evident that there exist this imbalance of equality for native Americans but also holds true for violations of our constitution regarding commercial treaties with other nations. http://law.justia.com/constituti...ions-on-treaty-power.html
CREATED equal doesn't mean we stay or remain equal. Two newly born babies are equal. Both being dependent upon mommy equally... but when they grow up, one might be less dependent than the other. One might contribute more than the other. We aren't equal and we shouldn't treat people equally. We should treat them FAIRLY. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
No it means exactly as the Founding Fathers meant for it to be. We are all equal. What those like yourself are attempting to do is use wordplay to misconstrue its actual meaning. And how dare you use the word "fairly" when our own laws are unfairly used against Americans.
You word play what you think our founding fathers meant. Equality is a liberal platform staple... not reality. Enjoy your dillussional libtardness. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
No, Equality is what our Founding Fathers wanted for this nation for all men/women. That is why they drew up and signed unto the Declaration of Independence and that is why the Fourteenth Amendment also exist. It is to remind us native Americans about what it really means to be an American and that the Constitution and laws apply to all people and that we do not live in a nobility caste system. And that the Constitution forbids from the taking of titles of nobility for that is treason. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_of_Nobility_Clause
That might be what they wanted... but it's not really REALITY, now is it? We are not all equal. We shouldn't treat people equally. Some people are smart. Some hard working.... while others stupid and lazy. We aren't equal no matter how many times you think the forefathers suggest such bullshit. We shouldn't treat people equally, liberal. We should treat them fairly. Not all the 5th graders on the hockey team deserve a trophy, award or prize. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
It's not just what they wanted but what this country was founded under. Equality for all men/women. How can you treat your fellow man fairly when you choose to not treat them as equals? Oh I get it now. Some are more important and equal than others when it comes to the law. That's not living in a fair society. That's called democracy where the country is ruled by the mob.
You didn't answer my question, bimbo. It's not really REALITY to think all people are equal, is it? Why aren't females drafted as football players in the NFL if we are equal? Stupid ass I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
And how did we go from equality to "mob rule"? You trying to impress the angry Paultards with your liberal logic?
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Because people like you seem to think that we should treat others "fairly" but not equal.
I don't care about football. I'm talking about the discussion about this zip lip case concerning laid-off employees. And I'm not a bimbo, infidel.
Of course you don't care about football... because you don't care about reality. Carry on spreading the unrealistic lie you were taught as a libtard tot... but know this. WE AIN'T EQUAL... and there is no Santa Clause. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
It is those like yourself, who would sell this country out without thinking twice. You'd sell out your country to illegal foreigners for jobs. To those like you, America is nothing but a dollar sign. For sale. 'nuf said, infidel.
Seriously? Football is "reality"? Someone doesn't like football, so they are a "libtard"? WTF is wrong with you man? You have nothing but your bullshit to base your bullshit on. Libtard. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
What does this libtard not liking football have anything to do with having enough fucking brains to know that a female is not equal to a male on the defensive line of an NFL team? Stfu, Puketard. We aren't all equal... we shouldn't treat people equally. We should treat people FAIRLY. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Thanks for pointing that out Captain obvious. Now why don't you address the topic of the article instead of acting like your usual asshole self? What do you think about employees being fired and replaced with foreigners, then having to train those workers, and then being told to STFU about it? That really makes no difference to a psycho like you - you treat everyone as if they are some kind of criminal. Will FireIsland give a direct answer to this straightforward question? Time will tell. A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them. I'm not a liberal. I'm not a bimbo. What I presented to you regarding what this country was founded under in reference to the Declaration of Independence was fact and not opinion. All men are created equal. With that said, you cannot treat somebody fairly without treating them as equals.
Why don't you show some kind of realistic proof that we are all equal, besides the words of a 200+ year old document.... and stop defending your "everyone is equal" libtard platform and friends. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
You are basing your opinion on a document written by men over 200 years ago when they stated we are equal except for niggers, woman and Indians. Slap yourself. We weren't equal then and we aren't equal now. Some people are better, stronger, smarter, faster, more productive, healthier... more common sense... MORE SANE. Making one blanket of equality gives some an unearned boost while others no reason to excell. Shut the hell up with your (D) platform equality bullshit. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
I haven’t followed the exchange between you two. I ran across your post here and I will comment on your statement. Right on! Bingo! You nailed it!! When ole Thomas wrote that into the Declaration, he at that time owned hundreds of slaves. And when he died, the only slaves he emancipated were two sons of his black slave mistress, Sally Hemmings. There can be no argument that when Jefferson used the word “men” he meant only “white men” with money were equal. Because only white men with property could vote and poor white men, all women, all Native Americans and all enslaved African-Americans could not vote. That is true. Some of us are unique, special and different. Some of us are smarter than others. Some of us are better looking than others. We all have different abilities, and different preferences in life. There is nothing wrong with differences. If we were all the same, what a bland and monotonous world we’d live in. We could all be Paultard libertarians. While we are not all equal, we all do have the equal right to happiness, the equal right to pursue opportunities to succeed, and the equal right to use our “trump card” (pun intended) to prosper as human beings. In this society it is wrong to claim everyone is equal. We are not. When someone says we are, they are confusing equality with rights.
We're not all equal. We should all be treated equally under the law though.
I'll proudly tell you what Donald Trump thinks about the H1-B program. He says: “It’s unfair to our workers and we should end it.” He will do so within oe to two years after he takes office. Yet ANOTHER one of the many reasons you should support and VOTE FOR Donald Trump.
I Agree. No special treatment or preference should be given to any individual or group simply because of their race, gender or ethnicity. To do so will result in illegal and unconstitutional discrimination. I oppose all forms of preferential treatment and all forms of discrimination including so-called reverse discrimination. There should be NO special treatment under the law ... INDICT HILLARY!!!
I agree also... but we are not equal. Why is it that so many LF posters can't or won't find the courage or wisdom to state what you posted? The LF cup runneth over with closet liberals. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Will FireIsland give a direct answer to this straightforward question? Post #37 has the answer: Hell, no, she won't. A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them. He says: “It’s unfair to our workers and we should end it.” Good for you and for Trump. Why won't FireIsland tell us what she thinks - or even acknowledge Trump's position (which was posted to her in post #1)? A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.
#6. To: Willie Green (#5)
[CF to FireIsland:] "are you saying you support globalist corporations replacing American workers with Third World serfs? Did you know Trump's platform opposes that: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform?"
#7. To: Willie Green (#0)
(Edited)
a health insurer, protested outside its offices in Manhattan after the company announced that it would transfer about 200 tech jobs to Cognizant, another technology outsourcing company.
#8. To: ConservingFreedom (#6)
but a Trumpanzee like FireIsland will never admit that.
#9. To: Willie Green (#8)
#10. To: GrandIsland (#9)
your douchebag liberal buddy, ConservingAnarchy.
#11. To: ConservingFreedom (#10)
How am I a liberal
#12. To: Willie Green, ConservingFreedom (#5)
(Edited)
Blowhard Trump isn't going to do jack-squat to stop chinese slave labor from undercutting American Middle Class jobs. He'll just flap his mouth and then rubberstamp anything Paul Ryan & Mitch McConnell tell him to.
#13. To: Gatlin (#12)
#14. To: GrandIsland (#11)
suck each other off
#15. To: GrandIsland (#11)
suck each other off real nice
#16. To: Gatlin (#12)
41 percent of Americans without a college degree are optimistic.
#17. To: GrandIsland (#1)
We aren't equal, libtard Willie.
#18. To: goldilucky (#17)
Created equal
#19. To: GrandIsland (#18)
(Edited)
#20. To: goldilucky (#19)
#21. To: GrandIsland (#20)
(Edited)
#22. To: goldilucky (#21)
#23. To: GrandIsland (#22)
(Edited)
That might be what they wanted... but it's not really REALITY, now is it?
#24. To: goldilucky (#23)
#25. To: goldilucky (#23)
#26. To: GrandIsland (#25)
And how did we go from equality to "mob rule"?
#27. To: GrandIsland (#24)
(Edited)
#28. To: goldilucky (#27)
I don't care about football.
#29. To: GrandIsland (#28)
#30. To: GrandIsland, goldilucky (#28)
Of course you don't care about football... because you don't care about reality. Carry on spreading the unrealistic lie you were taught as a libtard tot...
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#31. To: goldilucky (#29)
It is those like yourself, who would sell this country out without thinking twice. You'd sell out your country to illegal foreigners for jobs. To those like you, America is nothing but a dollar sign. For sale.
#32. To: Deckard (#30)
Someone doesn't like football, so they are a "libtard"?
#33. To: GrandIsland (#32)
a female is not equal to a male on the defensive line of an NFL team?
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#34. To: GrandIsland (#32)
We aren't all equal... we shouldn't treat people equally. We should treat people FAIRLY.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#35. To: Deckard, GrandIsland (#33)
What do you think about employees being fired and replaced with foreigners, then having to train those workers, and then being told to STFU about it?
#36. To: GrandIsland (#31)
#37. To: Deckard (#33)
Now why don't you address the topic of the article instead of acting like your usual asshole self?
#38. To: goldilucky (#36)
#39. To: GrandIsland, goldilucky (#38)
You are basing your opinion on a document written by men over 200 years ago when they stated we are equal except for niggers, woman and Indians.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
We weren't equal then and we aren't equal now. Some people are better, stronger, smarter, faster, more productive, healthier... more common sense... MORE SANE.
#40. To: Gatlin (#39)
#41. To: Deckard, GrandIsland (#33)
What do you think about employees being fired and replaced with foreigners, then having to train those workers, and then being told to STFU about it?
#42. To: A K A Stone (#40)
We're not all equal. We should all be treated equally under the law though.
#43. To: A K A Stone (#40)
We should all be treated equally under the law though.
#44. To: Deckard, GrandIsland (#35)
[Post #33 to FireIsland:] "What do you think about employees being fired and replaced with foreigners, then having to train those workers, and then being told to STFU about it?"
#45. To: Gatlin, Deckard, GrandIsland (#41)
I'll proudly tell you what Donald Trump thinks about the H1-B program.
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