Programmers Guild

The Programmers Guild is an American non-profit corporation that advocates against corporate outsourcing, the H1-B visa program and related topics. The Guild was founded in 1998 by John Miano, a New Jersey programmer. The current president is Kim Berry, a Sacramento based activist on outsourcing and family court issues. As of August 1999, the Programmers Guild had 400 members.^[1] The Programmers Guild is incorporated as a 501(c)4 non-profit corporation in New Jersey.

Mission

The stated mission of the Programmers Guild is to advance the interests of technical and professional workers in information technology (IT) fields and to improve the work and the workplaces of technical professionals across the spectrum of IT fields and disciplines.

The organization stands in opposition to:

• Replacement by H-1B and L-1 visa workers
• Outsourcing jobs to offshore contractors
• Shifting jobs to overseas facilities
• False claims of a labor shortage in IT professions
• Conversion of pensions to cash balance plans
• Age discrimination
• Job ads drafted with intent to exclude U.S. applicants
• Lack of respect for training, experience, knowledge, and past achievements

Actions

The Programmers Guild claims that the use of guest worker programmers depresses wages in the computer industry ^[2]. The Programmers Guild circulated the notorious Cohen & Grigsby video in which representatives of the firm explained to employers how "Not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker."^[3] This video got picked up by CNN's Lou Dobbs^[4] and Glenn Beck^[5] among others. Founder, and now attorney, John Miano researches and writes on the usage of the H-1B visa program^{[6] [7]}

• On May 2, 2008 a civil court judge sided with the Programmers Guild in their complaint against a Pittsburgh computer consulting company and ordered it to pay $45,000 in penalties for discriminating against legal US residents by advertising only for developers on H-1B visas. The case was brought against iGate Mastech for placing an advertisement for thirty computer programmers in 2006 "that expressly favored H-1B visa holders to the exclusion of US citizens, lawful permanent citizens and other legal US workers" according to the US Department of Justice.^[8]

The Guild is a member of the Coalition for the Future American Worker.

See also

• Outsourcing
• Offshoring
• Anti-Globalism
• Offshoring IT Services
• Offshore software R&D
• SKIL Bill
• Computer programming
• Decline and Fall of the American Programmer

External links

• Official site: http://www.programmersguild.org
• USCIS site: http://www.uscis.gov

References

1. ^ Miano, John (August 5, 1999). "Testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims". http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/articles/miano_testimony.html. 
2. ^ Peck, Liz (February 5, 2008). "Should the U.S. Be Training Its Competitors?". http://www.nysun.com/article/70731. 
3. ^ YouTube - PERM Fake Job Ads defraud Americans to secure green cards fo
4. ^ YouTube - Lou Dobbs: Law Firm teaches how to avoid hiring Americans
5. ^ YouTube - Glenn Beck - Cohen&Grigsby seminar 6/26/2007
6. ^ Miano, John. "Low Salaries for Low Skills: Wages and Skill Levels for H-1B Computer Workers, 2005". http://www.cis.org/articles/2007/back407.html. 
7. ^ Miano, John. "The Bottom of the Pay Scale: Wages for H-1B Computer Programmers". http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/back1305.html. 
8. ^ DoJ beats up tech firm for H-1B only job ads | The Register