Senator Demands Abbott Labs Reconsider 180 Layoffs, Foreign Replacements
by CAROLINE MAY
2 Mar 2016
A Democratic senator is demanding answers from a company in his state said to be laying off 180 workers and replacing them with foreign workers.
In a letter this week to Miles D. White, the Chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pressed the company to rethink the mass layoff and “retain these U.S. workers, who have dedicated years of loyal service to your company.”
“I am deeply concerned about reports that Abbott Labs is laying off 180 Information Technology (IT) employees and replacing them with temporary foreign workers who, after they are trained, will then do these jobs outside the United States,” Durbin wrote.
In his missive, the Illinois lawmaker laid out what he understands Abbott’s plans are:
-You have given 180 U.S. employees 60-days notice, and their last day of employment at Abbott Labs will be April 22, 2016.
-To add insult to injury, the Abbott Labs IT staff who will be laid off will first be forced to train their replacements.
-You have awarded Wipro Ltd, a large Indian outsourcing firm, with a contract to take over the jobs of these American workers.
-You are offering the U.S. workers severance of a week’s pay for each year they spent at the company, but in order to receive this severance you are requiring these employees to sign away their right to sue or disparage the company. The severance packet you gave your workers contains a full-page ad listing jobs at Wipro.
-The people you are laying off have stellar experience, credentials, and performance reviews, and some have been with your company for 15-20 years.
Durbin further recalled hearing about the layoffs from witness testimony during last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the impact H-1B visas and other high skilled immigration have had on American workers.
“Just yesterday, we learned — and the senator might be interested that Abbott Labs in the Chicago area has — yesterday announced to its employees that it was canning 180 Americans and replacing them with H-1B workers,” John Miano, a Center for Immigration Studies expert, testified Thursday after reeling off a list of other companies, such as Southern California Edison and Disney, that have terminated U.S. workers for foreign replacements.
Durbin’s letter and request for reconsideration, as Miano pointed out, follows a long line of companies that have similarly engaged in this practice. Durbin and a bipartisan group of senators including Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), have been voicing concern, calling for investigations and offering legislation to address the ongoing “abuse” of high skilled guest worker programs.
“I will continue to push for legislation to reform the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, but the gaps in current law are no excuse for your company to treat your employees so unfairly,” Durbin added. “It should go without saying that such harsh and insensitive conduct is not justified by whatever marginal financial benefit might accrue to your company, which is already making billions of dollars in profits every year. Once again, I urge you to restore the jobs of these 180 American IT employees who have served your company with skill and loyalty for many years. I look forward to your prompt response.
Abbott did not respond to Breitbart’s request for comment.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...-replacements/
Sen. Durbin calls Abbott Labs' IT layoffs 'harsh and insensitive’
Employees are fearful as cuts loom and training of replacements begins
By Patrick Thibodeau
Computerworld | Feb 29, 2016 2:48 PM PT
Abbott Labs, a global healthcare company, is laying off about 180 IT employees after signing an agreement with Wipro, a major India-based IT services firm, to take over some IT services. The employees were told about the planned cuts on Feb. 22; their last day will be April 22.
The workers are expecting to train their replacements, possibly workers on H-1B and other temporary visas.
Abbott is based in Illinois, which is also the home of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who has been a longtime advocate for H-1B reforms and a co-sponsor of legislation with another visa reformer, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
In a letter Monday to Abbott CEO Miles White, Durbin implored him "to reconsider this plan and retain these U.S. workers."
Dubin noted that he has "repeatedly introduced bipartisan legislation to end the exploitation of the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to displace qualified American workers and offshore American jobs."
Last year, for instance, he led a bipartisan group of 10 senators calling on federal agencies to investigate the layoffs at Southern California Edison and at other firms. Some IT workers at the utility complained of having to train replacements who were on H-1B visas.
"While this practice is unlawful, loopholes in existing law make it difficult for the federal government to hold violators accountable," said Durbin. "I will continue to push for legislation to reform the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, but the gaps in current law are no excuse for your company to treat your employees so unfairly. It should go without saying that such harsh and insensitive conduct is not justified by whatever marginal financial benefit might accrue to your company, which is already making billions of dollars in profits every year."
Sara Blackwell, a Florida attorney who is representing some former Disney IT employees in a similar situation, has been in touch with the affected IT workers and Durbin's office as well. "The first goal is to stop the termination," said Blackwell, who is hoping to focus attention on the Abbott layoff.
Blackwell mentioned the layoff at a rally held by GOP presidential contender Donald Trump Sunday in Madison, Alabama. Blackwell, along with two laid-off Disney IT workers, spoke at the rally held by the billionaire businessman.
With enough attention, it's possible "we can save 180 jobs and that's my goal," said Blackwell.
The IT employees at Abbott are distraught, said one IT worker who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Everybody is under tremendous pressure," the worker said, noting that colleagues are are depressed, angry and worried about losing homes and paying medical expenses.
"All the big companies are sending jobs to India -- how are we going to find a job at another company?" said the IT worker. "It's going on everywhere. Nobody is stopping it."
Asked about the layoff plans, Abbott Labs spokesman Scott Stoffel said via email: “Abbott regularly evaluates its competitive position and makes changes that reflect the strategic needs of its business. We recently outsourced some IT capabilities. We’re retaining the vast majority of our U.S.-based IT jobs."
Meanwhile, job ads are being posted inside the company to fill IT jobs, and each ad points out that an H-1B worker may be hired for the position. "It looks like most of the jobs will go to India," the anonymous IT employee said.
Many of the workers are over 40 years old, according to documents seen by Computerworld that describe their positions and ages.
About two years ago, application support was offshored to two other firms, IBM and Cognizant, and IT employees were cut after training replacements, this IT worker said.
The severance being offered includes six weeks of pay, plus a week of pay for each completed year of service.
As the Abbott layoff plans were unfolding last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee received sworn testimony about what was happening; Durbin's staff spoke with Abbott IT workers, who confirmed the cuts.
The severance agreement includes a non-disparagement clause that may make it difficult for employees to talk publicly about what happened. It also requires employees not to sue, including any legal action under the Federal Age Discrimination Employment Act.
http://www.computerworld.com/article...sensitive.html
