factory apprentiships

[N&B Brickman]

>Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 13:48:33 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Bill Springer <74557.2546@compuserve.com>
>To: pianotech@byu.edu
>Subject: factory apprentiships?
>Message-ID: <951016174833_74557.2546_EHH102-1@CompuServe.COM>

>Hi all,

>I'm competing for a bid for at an institution .  One of the qualifications is
>"Factory apprentiship (2 year program)".  My question: Is there such a thing in
>this country?  If so, who does this and for how long have they been doing this?


>BTW, there is also no mention of PTG or any other technicians organization.

>Any and all help is appreciated.  You can send E-Mail directly to me at
>74557.2546@compuserve.com if you prefer.

>Bill Springer, RPT
>Honolulu, HI

Bill,
        As David Porritt indicated, the organization placing the ad has
already located a job candidate outside of the country.  The US Government
requires them to demonstrate that no American citizen is available to fill
the position before the H-1B visa is issued, so the result is ads placed to
fill the position that no American citizen can meet or accept.  The practice
is quite common and standard practice across many segments of the American
workforce, such as in engineering and in computer science positions.
        In this case, PTG or MPT cannot be put into the ad because the
immigrant worker would not meet that qualification.  Factory apprenticeship
can be put into the ad since the candidate satisfies that prerequisite.
Often times a further qualifier is a wage that is lower than Americans would
consider for the position.
        I subscribe to the digest form of Pianotech, so I was just reading
your post this morning -- and this morning's Washington Post has an article
on the subject, since Congress is again discussing the issue.  It seems that
5 years ago they tripled the number of skilled workers that could come to
the US in certain categories.  The article includes multiple examples of US
computer science workers who are fired from their jobs and simultaneously
replaced with immigrant workers.
                Norman Brickman
nbb@us.net