IT unions in the US are stepping up efforts to combat
the displacement of jobs from offshore outsourcing.
The International Federation of Technical and Professional
Engineers (IFPTE) got approval from its delegates last week to
lobby the US Congress harder for laws and measures that will
protect technical jobs from being outsourced.
"The outsourcing issue is alarming for us. A lot of people are
getting laid off because of outsourcing," said Matthew Biggs, the
union's legislative and political director.
The IFPTE has a total membership of about 80,000 workers, of
which about 50,000 are IT professionals. It is the largest union in
the US for technical workers, such as scientists and engineers.
The IFPTE would like the US government to tighten the
requirements for granting work visas to foreign technical workers
and to provide incentives for US companies not to outsource
technical work overseas, he said.
Over the past three years, US companies have laid off "tens of
thousands" of professional white-collar professionals and sent the
work abroad, the union said.
The IFPTE delegates approved a resolution regarding this issue
and said, "The IFPTE opposes outsourcing, privatisation and
deregulation that costs North American workers their jobs and their
communities."
The resolution pledges that the union will lobby against
promoters of privatisation, outsourcing and deregulation of
industries.
The US started 2003 with about 10.3 million IT workers,
according to estimates from the Information Technology Association
of America (ITAA).
The ITAA, a trade group representing US IT suppliers, in May
mentioned offshore outsourcing as a factor in what it forecast
would a "soft" IT job market in the US this year.
Gartner predicted one out of every 10 jobs within US-based
IT suppliers and IT service providers will move abroad by the end
of 2004.
The rate will be one in 20 within user companies, Gartner
said.
Juan Carlos Perez writes for IDG News Service