<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 2070 -- 10/28/2009 >>>>>

I just published two major Vdare articles on the Louisiana H-1B teachers
situation. It's important to read the first one before you read the second.
The article contains some of the same material as several previous
newletters with some new investigative material on the wages of their H-1B
teachers versus Americans. I decided not to make an email version of the
first one, so view it by going to this link:

http://www.vdare.com/sanchez/091027_louisiana_teachers.htm
"Louisiana Hiring Filipino Teachers, Firing Americans -- Where Are The
Teacher Unions When We Need Them?", October 27, 2009, By Rob Sanchez

The second one is a blog. You can read it by going to this link or by
reading the email version below.

http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2009/10/29/caddo-parish-didnt-read-the-fine-p
rint/
"Caddo Parish Didn’t Read The Fine Print", 29 October 2009

The Caddo Parish school district in Louisiana didn't read the fine print
when they hired H-1B teachers from the Philippines -- and that big mistake
that will cost them some big money.

Based on my research the Recovery School District saves about $6,300 a year
by hiring the Filipinos over American teachers. The cost per "unit of
labor" sounded like a good deal for Caddo but what they didn't realize is
that there were hidden costs.

Like for instance, Caddo charged each Filipino teacher $1,660 for their
visa. H-1B regulations require the employer to pay the visa fees, not the
foreign worker. So, now that Caddo is in trouble with the feds, they are
going to have to pay the teachers back. That still gives the Filipinos a
per unit $4,640 price advantage over American teachers -- which is quite a
cost savings considering they hired at least 43 H-1Bs.

What the school board of Caddo Parish didn't understand is that cheap labor
can get very expensive when the hidden costs are factored in to the
equation.

Icess Fernandez at the Shreveport Times published a new article that sheds
some light on those hidden costs. The Big Kahuna is a $400,000
reimbursement fund that the immigration attorney on Caddo's payroll advised
them to set up so that Caddo can pay claims that are won by the Pinoy
teachers.
To see the immigration attorney's website click this link:

http://www.murov.com/

They have an "industries served" page but don't mention school districts.

The $400,000 throws a new twist into the calculations used to compare the
cost of American teachers versus the Pinoys. Most likely the entire sum
won't have to be paid out, but using that sum and dividing it by the 43
Filipino teachers in the district would mean that each one of those H-1Bs
would cost another $9,300. Subtracting that number from the price advantage
per American would mean that each Pinoy teacher would cost $4,640 more than
his or her American competitor.

Coming out $4,640 in the hole just for hiring Filipino teachers sounds bad
for the Caddo Parish, but the situation isn't as bad as it sounds because
it's just a one time expense. Forty three H-1B teachers saves the district
almost $200,000 per year (lack of benefits not used), so assuming the
teachers stay there for a three year visa the district still comes out
ahead. There is no reason the teachers will leave after three years, and
there is also good reason to believe they won't get pay raises like most
teachers do.


   There is at least anecdotal evidence that, absent a collective
   bargaining agreement or law or policy, some school districts
   pay their nonimmigrant employees as new teachers, regardless
   of their experience and qualifications.
   -- Randy Barber, NEA, 2003


Caddo Parish and the Recovery School District still come out ahead although
they will get some bad publicity from the entire episode.

This is just another example why it's not going to help American workers if
H-1B laws are enforced better -- the rules of the game are still not fair.

Unmentioned in any of the articles are the other set of victims -- the
American teachers who were not hired because they were considered too
expensive.


REFERENCES:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20091012/NEWS04/91012023/0/sports/Cad
do-School-Board-calls-special-meeting
Caddo School Board calls special meeting


http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910210319
Board pays for teachers visa applications


http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910230311
Union files complaint with feds against recruiting firm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20091012/NEWS04/91012023/0/sports/Cad
do-School-Board-calls-special-meeting

October 12, 2009

Caddo School Board calls special meeting

The Caddo Parish School Board will have a special meeting tomorrow at 4:30
p.m. in Room 1 of the district’s offices at 1961 Midway.

The board will meet to retain the services of Mark Murove, and the firm of
Murov and Ward, immigration attorneys.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910210319

October 21, 2009

Board pays for teachers visa applications

By Icess Fernandez
ifernandez@gannett.com

The Caddo Parish School Board learned Tuesday how much they'd have to pay
for trying to find a solution to the teacher shortage.

The board agreed to pay $1,660 to each Filipino teacher recruited by
Universal Placement International to apply for each teacher's H-1B visa.
The action also reserves $400,000 for "reimbursement for any potential
claims sustained" by the teachers.

The item was one of two concerning the aftermath of a complaint filed by
the Louisiana Federation of Teachers earlier this month to the state
attorney's office and the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

The complaint filed against the recruitment company, Universal Placement
International, and its president, Lourdes "Lulu" Navarro, was filed on
behalf of more than 200 Filipino teachers in East Baton Rouge, Jefferson
and Caddo parishes and the Recovery School District in New Orleans. Among
the allegations is that the company charged teachers an exorbitant amount
of money, about $15,000, to secure a teaching position in the United States
and proper documentation. Once they arrived, teachers then were charged 10
percent of their monthly income.

In Caddo, 43 teachers were hired for difficult-to-fill positions.

The agenda item came as a recommendation from the district's new
immigration attorney, Mark Murov, of the Austin-based Murov and Ward.

The recommendation is to help rectify the situation with the teachers, said
Reginald Abrams, the board's attorney. Since the teachers received one-year
visas, they continue to renew each year. The money will come from the
district's general fund budget.

"This is what he (immigration attorney) thinks should be done to put Caddo
Parish in a positive light," Abrams said. "This has nothing to do with what
the board has to do in the future; this is what we have to do now."

Board members had several questions, including about the time commitment
for a visa. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's
Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site, an H-1B visa is renewable
for up to three years. A person can stay up to six years with the same
visa.

But when the issue was presented to the board a year ago, that's not what
they were told, said board member Charlotte Crawley.

"We were told it was a one-year commitment," she said. "Now it's three
years? We never voted for this. How do we prevent this issue from coming up
next year? It just seems to keep rolling."

Crawley suggested a new policy be crafted requiring board approval for any
employee needing an H-1B visa.

The board also approved a policy requiring district staff members to gain
board approval before using a third-party out-of-the-country recruiter or
company. The same policy also requires district staff to accompany the
request with documentation that includes references.

In other action, board members approved the contract signed by the MLK
Neighborhood Association on behalf of Linear Leadership Academy. The group
governing Linwood Public Charter, Shreveport Charter School Inc., has yet
to sign, Abrams said.

The contract details services the Caddo district provides the charter
schools and is part of the state statute. Among the services provided by
the district are meal services, special education services, transportation
and maintenance.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910230311

October 23, 2009

Union files complaint with feds against recruiting firm

By Icess Fernandez
ifernandez@gannett.com

A national teachers' union filed a complaint with the federal government
against the recruiting company that brought Filipino teachers to the Caddo
school district.

The American Federation of Teachers filed a 141-page complaint with the
U.S. Department of Labor's wage and hour division against California-based
Universal Placement International and its president Lourdes "Lulu" Navarro.
The document alleges teachers recruited in the Philippines were directed to
pay thousands of dollars in fees that the school districts should have
paid. It also claims some of the school districts submitted false
statements to exceed the cap for work visas.

Caddo, along with East Baton Rouge, Jefferson and the Recovery School
District in New Orleans are mentioned in the complaint.

"The allegations, backed by the facts, show these teachers to be victims of
worker abuses like the ones in our students' history books: indentured
servitude, debt bondage and labor contracts signed under duress," said AFT
President Randi Weingarten. "What makes these allegations especially
heinous is that the victims are good teachers, that school districts and
tax dollars are involved, and that all this is taking place in 21st-century
America."

The complaints come weeks after the union's state chapter, Louisiana
Federation of Teachers, submitted a complaint on behalf of more than 200
Filipino teachers statewide to the state attorney general and the Louisiana
Workforce Commission. Among the allegations is that teachers had to pay
about $15,000 each to apply for jobs in school districts in the United
States. Once they were here, they paid 10 percent of their monthly salary
to Universal Placement International. According to the complaint, teachers
were threatened with harm to their families back home if they didn't pay.

Both entities continue to investigate the allegations.

In June 2008, three Caddo administrators traveled to the Philippines to
hire teachers for difficult-to-fill positions in subjects such as math and
special education. Eventually, 43 teachers were hired. The district has not
returned to the country to recruit more teachers since the initial trip,
officials said.

In the federal complaint, the union claims violations against the
Immigration and Nationality Act. Among the violations are:

n The school systems did not pay for the H-1B visa petition, including
attorney's fees, costs, processing and fraud prevention. These fees were
paid to UPI by the teachers.

UPI secured one-year visas for teachers instead of the three year H-1B
visas. The visas the teachers received had to be renewed, and the
associated fees were charged to teachers by the company. The law states the
cost is covered by the employer.

n The fees charged by Universal are unauthorized deductions and reduce the
wages below the required wage rate as advertised in the labor condition
application.

n The labor condition application was not provided to the collective
bargaining representative in Jefferson Parish as required by law.

n Applicants hired in Caddo and Baton Rouge were paid as first-year
teachers, regardless of the amount of their teaching experience.

Caddo officials did not return phone calls Thursday.

Jackie Lansdale, president of the Caddo Federation of Teachers and Support
Personnel, has brought up the teacher's pay issue in the past. There should
be equitable pay for the Filipino teachers, she said.

"Locally, we're looking at why they are all paid as first-year teachers,"
she said. "The administration counted their experience when they were
hired; ... but on the other hand, they are paid as first-year teachers."

The Caddo Parish School Board earmarked money for the teachers this week.
The board agreed to pay $1,660 to each Filipino teacher recruited by
Universal Placement International to apply for each teacher's H-1B visa. It
also reserved $400,000 for "reimbursement for any potential claims
sustained" by the teachers.

The action came at the suggestion of recently hired immigration attorney,
Mark Murov, of Austin-based Murov and Ward.

The union wants the Department of Labor to enforce immigration statutes and
is seeking back pay, civil fines, civil penalties and criminal sanctions.

The complaint is about protecting the teachers about "ultimate fairness,"
Lansdale said.

"I think what we're trying to do is to get the fairest treatment possible,"
she said. "If necessary, we'll go to a higher agency. It's incumbent for us
to do."

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