H-2B hospitality workers in Charleston

[JAT]

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JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
www.ZaZona.com
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This article mentions that many of the 30,000 or so hospitality jobs in
South Carolina are filled by foreigners on H-2B visas but it fails to
mention how many are working in the U.S. illegally. Many hotels prefer
illegal aliens over H-2B visa holders because they are even cheaper. It
also mentioned that South Carolina had about 3,556 temporary workers
from foreign countries last year, but that number also includes H-1Bs
and possibly L-1s.

The theme of this article seems to be a common one, especially for
those of us in the programming/IT business. It always goes like this:
WE CAN'T FIND AMERICANS FOR THESE JOBS

"(Americans) don't want these jobs in many cases, whereas
these people are happy to be here, making what money they can
and getting a taste of what democracy is like," said Duane
Parrish, head of the local hotel/motel association and general
manager at the Hampton Inn on Daniel Island.

Reporters never seem to think of asking the proper follow-up questions
such as why they aren't willing to pay an American worker a living
salary to do these jobs, and whether the low salary and lousy working
conditions have anything to do with their difficulty in finding
citizens to fill these positions.

- - - - - - - - - - - -


Gary Crossley, area director for the state Employment Security
Commission, said he doesn't get a lot of unemployed residents of
the state applying for restaurant jobs, partly because they can
get better-paying jobs and partly because they just aren't
interested.

Crossley really gave away the answer to the shortage question, but the
reporter just didn't seem to get it. What is really being said here is
that Americans aren't interested in jobs that pay third-world salaries,
and that's why companies that complain about shortages can't find
citizens for to fill these jobs.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The companies also have to go through an extensive approval
process, in which they must prove to state and federal labor
agencies that they couldn't fill the open positions with U.S.
citizens. South Carolina hotels and restaurants must post a
job notice within their company for 10 days, advertise in a
local newspaper for one week, contact every applicant within
14 days and explain their reasoning to state officials if they
turn an American down.

This is a totally false and misleading statement. H-2B visas are at
least as easy to obtain as H-1Bs and they don't require employers to
consider American citizens. Journalists always seem to believe this
corporate PR myth.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Dawn Teo's feelings on foreign labor were so strong that she and
her husband recently founded Rescue American Jobs, a nonprofit
lobbying group bent on keeping American borders closed to
international
job seekers.

Teo, a Mesa, Ariz., resident, bankrolled most of the
organization's
start-up cost with savings.

The journalist who wrote this story sure did a bad job with the
common-sense test on this one. Dawn's husband is a Chinese-Singaporean
immigrant who is in the process of becoming a naturalized citizen, so
Dawn obviously doesn't believe that the borders should be shut to
foreign job seekers. She wants to limit the abuse of nonimmigrant visas
and offshoring, not to close our borders to international job seekers.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's about saving America, because we're exporting jobs, we're
importing
workers and it's depressing wages," she said. "(Hospitality
leaders) are
lying if they tell you that they can't fill positions with
Americans.
They're not jumping through hoops to hire U.S. citizens when
actual
unemployment is well over 10 percent and they're still hiring
foreigners."

Teo, a Mesa, Ariz., resident, bankrolled most of the
organization's
start-up cost with savings.

It seemed very out-of-character for Dawn Teo to say that employers were
lying - it sounded more like something I would say! I became suspicious
that the reporter got something else wrong so I called her via
telephone today to get a clarification. She explained that it's a
mis-quote, because what she actually said is that employers can't find
American citizens for these jobs because they aren't willing to pay
enough - not because there is a shortage of people in this country that
want and/or need these jobs. Dawn said that employers aren't lying
because they are creating their own shortage by choosing low paid
foreign workers over American citizens.

Dawn Teo and her husband started "Rescue American Jobs" to address the
issues of nonimmigrant visas, offshoring, and job loss in America.
Since this article was published, their efforts have blossomed into a
full-fledged organization with local chapters.
Go to the website at:
http://www.rescueamericanjobs.org

FYI: Dawn Teo operates out of Mesa, Ariz., about 30 minutes from my
office in Chandler, Arizona.

------------------------------------

http://www.charleston.net/stories/09...9foreign.shtml

The global hunt for hospitality workers

Hotels and restaurants fill job openings with employees from abroad
BY KYLE STOCK
Of The Post and Courier Staff

While more than 80 percent of Charleston's tourists drive to get here,
many of the people who work in its restaurants and hotels need a
passport to get to their jobs.
The local hospitality industry has become dependent on a steady stream
of workers from Mexico, Eastern Europe and Jamaica. With work visas
that let these recruits stay between six and 10 months, the temporary,
foreign labor pool helps to fill jobs that hoteliers and restaurateurs
say would otherwise go unfilled.

"(Americans) don't want these jobs in many cases, whereas these people
are happy to be here, making what money they can and getting a taste of
what democracy is like," said Duane Parrish, head of the local
hotel/motel association and general manager at the Hampton Inn on
Daniel Island.

Parrish held a job fair about two years ago to fill some of the 30 or
so housecleaning positions that his hotel had open. When he failed to
get a single applicant willing to clean rooms, he turned to Easy
Staffing, a local company that hires out Eastern Europeans. Parrish
said about 15 to 20 other Charleston hotels have taken similar steps to
keep their rosters full.

Hyacinth Williams, a chef at Kiawah Island Resort, has spent more time
in the Lowcountry the past four years than she has in her native
Jamaica, where, according to the World Bank Group, the average annual
income is around $3,000. Williams is one of the 75 or so Jamaicans who
commute to the island resort every March for an eight-month stint.
About half of them return every year.

"It's a wonderful place to work with wonderful people," Williams said.
"I can make three times what I would make in Jamaica."

For Williams, the job is an opportunity to provide a better life for
her 11-year-old daughter even though it means she spends most of her
time away from her.

"My second family is here -- right here in this kitchen -- so I feel
loved," she said.

Although it's clear that Williams is proud of the cooking skills she's
learned and her ability to provide for her relatives in Jamaica, she
said she has no plans or desire to move to the United States full-time
and become a citizen.

Williams made her connection with Kiawah through one of the many
staffing firms along the East Coast that help hospitality companies
locate foreign workers and clear the federal hurdles of getting them in
the country and on a payroll.

After using these staffing firms for a year, Kiawah human resource
managers started going down to Jamaica to recruit workers themselves.
Theresa Silo, Kiawah's human resource director, said thousands of
Jamaicans show up "in their Sunday best" to try to secure one of the 35
or so new jobs she has to fill every year.

It's hard to figure out just how many of the 30,000 or so local
hospitality jobs are filled by foreigners, but it's clear that managers
at Charleston hotels and restaurants would be scrambling to get dishes
cleaned and linens changed if all of the non-U.S. citizens were
suddenly sent home.

"The industry as a whole is dependent on foreign labor," said Catherine
Sandlin, executive director of the local hotel/motel association.

Foreign workers aren't tracked by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce or
the state's employment and tourism agencies, but last year 86,987 H2B
visas were given out by the federal government. These are temporary
work permits for people with no specific training or skills. The
Department of Labor said about 16,500 of these applicants are hired by
hospitality companies around the country. While the construction and
forestry industries also rely on foreign laborers, only landscaping
outfits draw more temporary workers from other countries.

South Carolina had about 3,556 temporary workers from foreign countries
last year, according to the federal Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services, but that number includes trained employees, such
as medical professionals and engineers.

Although tourists aren't complaining, there has always been a strong
lobby in America against immigrant and foreign labor. Those voices have
gotten louder in the wake of the 9-11 attacks and the recession.

Dawn Teo's feelings on foreign labor were so strong that she and her
husband recently founded Rescue American Jobs, a nonprofit lobbying
group bent on keeping American borders closed to international job
seekers.

Teo, a Mesa, Ariz., resident, bankrolled most of the organization's
start-up cost with savings.

"It's about saving America, because we're exporting jobs, we're
importing workers and it's depressing wages," she said. "(Hospitality
leaders) are lying if they tell you that they can't fill positions with
Americans. They're not jumping through hoops to hire U.S. citizens when
actual unemployment is well over 10 percent and they're still hiring
foreigners."

Local hospitality leaders argue that, in fact, they don't save any
money by hiring overseas. Most hotels and restaurants pay the staffing
firms about $9 an hour per employee, a couple of dollars more than U.S.
workers may command. On the other hand, the hospitality companies don't
have to pay for insurance or benefits to temporary workers.

The companies also have to go through an extensive approval process, in
which they must prove to state and federal labor agencies that they
couldn't fill the open positions with U.S. citizens. South Carolina
hotels and restaurants must post a job notice within their company for
10 days, advertise in a local newspaper for one week, contact every
applicant within 14 days and explain their reasoning to state officials
if they turn an American down.

"It's a tedious process, and we fine-tooth-comb these applications,"
said Helene Law, who oversees the foreign labor certification process
for the state. "We are very careful about not skipping over U.S.
citizens."

Myrtle Beach hotels and restaurants, which also rely heavily on foreign
labor, got so strapped a few years ago that they started busing in
hundreds of workers from depressed areas hours inland.

Turning to foreign labor was a "last resort" for the Doubletree Inn &
Suites in downtown Charleston, which employs about three to nine
temporary workers from Europe at any given time.

"We pursued all the avenues that we could, but we were getting no
applications. Either that, or we were getting people with tremendous
histories of job jumping," said general manager Tripp Hays.

Gary Crossley, area director for the state Employment Security
Commission, said he doesn't get a lot of unemployed residents of the
state applying for restaurant jobs, partly because they can get
better-paying jobs and partly because they just aren't interested.

"There's just something about cleaning rooms or cleaning kitchens that
people have an aversion to," Crossley said.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs said they prefer the stability of hiring
U.S. citizens, citing fewer legal hoops to jump through and the ability
to retain and promote good employees.

However, most managers are more than happy with the work ethic and
attention to detail that laborers from less privileged parts of the
world bring to the job. And with friends and family an hours-long plane
ride away, there's usually no issue in keeping foreign workers
motivated and available to work additional shifts.


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