The Backlash—No longer a Coincidence>>>>>>>

It’s no longer about isolated incidents. They can no longer be dismissed as unconnected. Across Europe, the US and Australia, there’s growing umbrage against offshore outsourcing. And some local governments are responding with legislative backtracking...

United Kingdom
February 2002: Soon after the fast track work permit system is introduced, Mastek comes under fire for getting Indian workers "on the cheap" at lower than market rates. Company denies the claim saying Indian programmers are willing to do work that British workers don’t want to – base level coding for instance.

August 2002: UK takes IT off list of occu–pations that have a workforce shortage. IT Visas to UK now more difficult to come by.

March 2003: British Telecom comes under flak for plans to open two call centers in India with 2,200 seats. Employees threaten strike though BT says no UK jobs will be lost. One of the call centers is at Infosys’s BPO subsidiary Progeon.

May 2003: BT faces union ire again for employing Indian programmers from Mahindra BT (MBT) at "quarter rates" (one-fourth the going billing rates). BT fobs off the attack, but BPO outsourcers now more secretive about deals in India.

Australia
July 2002: Despite a skills shortage problem, the government suspends priority visa processing arrangements for Information and Communications Technology workers.

September 2002: Infosys chief Narayana NR Murthy goes to Melbourne to inaugurate the company’s new development center. Is confronted by a hostile media and a series of tough questions on how many "locals" the company would employ.

Same month—the Australian Computer society (ACS) issues new guidelines for a skills test, making it tougher for IT professionals to immigrate.

March 2003: In the midst of continuing acrimonious debate on immigration, law amended to make Temporary Business—Long Stay—visas more difficult to come by. Students visa laws also become tougher.

April 2003: Australian telecom major Telstra faces a storm of accusations for hiring Indian programmers from Infosys and Satyam at what are alleged to be "sweatshop wages." All three companies deny charges but it is clear that outsourcing deals are now under closer scrutiny than ever before.

Germany
April 2002: A new immigration law aimed at getting foreign high skilled students and workers is approved by the Bundesrat (the Upper House of the German parliament), leading to a constitutional crisis. Six of Germany’s conservative-run states challenge the bill in a constitutional court.

December 2002: Court declares the bill void

February 2003: Gerhard Schroeder’s government back tracks a little. Withdraws the Green Card scheme for IT professionals introduced two years ago.

May 2003: However, government sticks to its guns on the immigration bill. Re-introduces it in parliament – unchanged. Fresh trouble expected.

United States
October 2001: President George W Bush signs the USA Patriot Act, which, among other things, establishes new guidelines for monitoring international students and migrants. Allows foreigners to be detained for a week before the government decides what to do with them.

November 2001: Guy Santiglia, former Sun Micro employee, files a complaint with the Labor Department accusing Sun of replacing U.S. workers with H-1B non-immigrant workers. Says Sun discriminated in favor of H1Bs, even hiring them for "non-speciality occupations."

December 2002: The New Jersey State Senate unanimously passes bill to prevent the government from outsourcing IT jobs outside the US. Bill sent to the NJ State Assembly for consideration. Other states like Connecticut, Missouri, Maryland and Wisconsin considering similar bills.

March 2003: Though the Santigglia case is thrown out, Walter Kruz, another former Sun employee files a class action suit claiming the company violated age and race discrimination laws by keeping younger Indian workers while firing him and other American workers.

The suit sought class action status on behalf of all "non-East Indian" employees that were affected by Sun’s work force reduction policies—an estimated 2,400 of them.

April 2003: A New Jersey government department ( the Department of Human Services) renegotiates its contract with a private company Efunds. Forces it to move its customer call center from Mumbai to Camden in New Jersey.

May 2003: State department officials propose face-to-face interviews for all Visa applicants and fingerprinting of all entrants to the US.

Florida Congressman John Mica introduces a Bill in the House of Representatives to stop perceived abuse of L1 visas by Indian IT services companies. His contention—L1s are a backdoor to cheap labor, because of which "Americans have found themselves in the unemployment line."

The Netherlands
March 2003: i-Flex Netherlands chief executive officer V Senthil Kumar arrested in London, UK on the behest of the Dutch government. The Dutch ask for Kumar’s extradition accusing him of conspiring to get Indians into Netherlands illegally.

May 2003: The UK court finally rejects the extradition order. Kumar is a free man. But the Dutch investigations to continue.

Sarita Rani & TV MAHALINGAM

It’s the Politics, Stupid! The Far Right Rises>>>>>>

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