Dear All:
It was a big week for advocating for American workers, as U.S. Tech Workers launched a campaign in support of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) employees who are seeing their jobs outsourced.
After learning in May about the outsourcing of tech jobs by the TVA to H-1B visa-dependent consulting firms (Capgemini, CGI and Accenture) in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and The Intercept, we knew we had to do something to help these workers who are part of an historic enterprise, founded in 1933 to bring economic opportunity to one of the country’s hardest hit areas in the Great Depression. I learned from workers and union representatives that if there were any chance for this decision to be reversed, the order would have to come from the highest authority, i.e., President Trump.
To that end, we created an ad that is now running throughout the TVA region on local broadcast and cable stations, as well as Fox in Washington, D.C. The 30-second ad closes asking President Trump to ensure federal jobs go to Americans. The President did see our ad; he commented via Twitter, and follow-up tweets ensued.
We have been getting great engagement on the ad. In addition to the reach through the ad buy, more than 60,000 people on Twitter and 10,000 on YouTube have viewed the spot. We’ll have more information on the ad’s reach and impact over the next few weeks.
The $100K+ media buy for the ad demonstrates a commitment by U.S. Tech Workers to reform the country’s employment visa and immigration system, and follows up on our Bay Area Rapid Transit ad campaign. In a fair world, immigration works in the best interests of the citizenry.
While the campaign budget may seem like a substantial investment, the budget is small in comparison to the tens of millions of dollars that corporate interests and open border advocates throw into the fight against our productive class. In his recently published book, Losing Control, Jerry Kammer stated:
- “The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, doing work that reporters failed to do, would report that between 2007 and 2012, a total of 678 lobbying groups had sought to shape various immigration bills. The most active lobbyists represented minority ethnic groups, educational institutions, chambers of commerce, computer software organizations, and the dairy industry. Their cumulative outlay for lobbying alone was a momentous $1.5 billion.”
Think about it. That was 2007 through 2012. Today you can add to that the efforts of groups such as the Business Roundtable and FWD.US. They are mad to flood the country with cheap labor.
Let’s continue to encourage the President so that he will act on the absurdity of displacing American workers for no good reason at a time when tens of millions are unemployed.
Stay Engaged
You can stay engaged on these issues by following us on Twitter and Facebook. Share our messages with friends, family and colleagues. Start a local USTW chapter! Reach out to your elected representatives – they need to hear from you!
All of our work on behalf of U.S. tech workers is thanks to our funders, including individual donors. We appreciate your support! Please keep those donations coming. Our outreach efforts and day-to-day operations are resource-intensive and are made possible by you!
In Solidarity.
