Microsoft criticized over outsourcing

Date: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 4:10 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

A protest at a Texas Microsoft plant had a small contingent of about
2-dozen participants. The turnout was somewhat dismal but the
protestors felt that they were successful in raising awareness of the
problems with Microsoft outsourcing and their displacement of citizens
with nonimmigrant workers. As these protests increase in number it will
be interesting to see if they will draw increasing numbers of
activists. So far it seems that technical workers are either
unconcerned with these issues or they are afraid to fight for their
jobs.Scattered protests of technical workers around the country haven't
fared much better.

About 800 people at Microsoft are losing their jobs and yet most of
those didn't show up. Many of the protestors weren't Microsoft
employees but activists trying to make save American jobs. Contrast
that with a recent newsletter "H-2Bs Coddled in Louisiana" where about
80 protestors decried the foul treatment of some H-2Bs that were ripped
off by companies that conned them into coming to the U.S. Companies
like Microsoft must be very encouraged that so few Americans care about
what is going on.

One reason the turnout may have been so small is that the organizers of
this protest just didn't get the word out soon enough. The newsletter
titled: "Texas Protest against Microsoft on July 4th" was published on
July 3 because that's when I found out about it. I received several
complaints about the lack of advanced notice. I would recommend that
complaints be sent to the protest organizers because I merely reported
what they sent me. Here is an example of the types of complaints I
received:

Please try to give more notice. I'm in Dallas for the
weekend and I just learned of this now, too late to go.
If I had enough notice, I could have showed up with
The New American reprints.

Even though the number of protestors was not impressive, the impact
they had was far larger. That's because they got very good TV coverage.
Go to this link to see the video:
http://www.american-champions.org/#Activists_In_Action

Hint: Instead of directly clicking on the link it's better if you
download the file because the server can't handle the streaming video.
Right click on "high resolution" and "save target as". Click on the
file once it's downloaded. Be patient because it will take awhile (it's
74kB).

This article is followed by commentaries by two of the protestors, Joe
Valley and Dr.Gene Nelson.

Be sure to click this link for some excellent photos:
http://www.hireamericancitizens.org/protphotos01.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/agoldstein/stories/070903dnbustechcol.b4f2b.html

Microsoft criticized over outsourcing

Software giant says it's evaluating support operations in India

07/09/2003

By ALAN GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News

Caught up in the Internet wave, Corey Goode left a construction job in
1996 to take a position performing computer technical support over the
phone.

Self-taught in the basics, he learned fast on the job. By the peak of
the tech boom a few years later, Mr. Goode was earning $40 an hour for
his expertise.

Now, Mr. Goode, 33, finds himself caught up in another wave and it's
headed offshore. Mr. Goode lost a contract position last month that
he'd held since November at Microsoft Corp.'s facility in Las Colinas.
Mr. Goode says his manager told him his contract was ending because the
software giant is cutting back its support jobs in the United States
and moving them to India and elsewhere. Although he's been able to find
another job, he's started an organized effort to attract attention to
the issue.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., is actually a relative latecomer to
the practice of shifting jobs to India, though the company, with its
high profile, has been taking some heat for it.

Last week, a Seattle-area activist group, the Washington Alliance of
Technology Workers, issued a news release saying it has learned from
employees that Microsoft plans to eliminate at least 800 jobs in Las
Colinas and shift the work abroad. The site now employs about 1,300
people.

"The services industry is not immune to the same factors that have
faced the manufacturing industry," says Marcus Courtney, president of
WashTech, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America union.

Microsoft says it has been evaluating customer support operations in
India.

"There may be some impact in the next year on the U.S.," says Stacy
Drake, a company spokeswoman, adding that decisions based on results
from the pilot project in Bangalore haven't been made.

Lower labor costs

Over the last few years, companies across the technology industry have
been shifting work out of the country to take advantage of lower labor
costs.
Much of the work has been in software development centers from
companies including Oracle Corp. and Farmers Branch-based i2
Technologies Inc., which nearly two years ago began asking employees
here to consider relocating to India.

Increasingly, thanks to lower prices for transoceanic
telecommunications, call center jobs such as the one Mr. Goode had at
Microsoft are also moving abroad.

Forrester Research Inc. estimates that over the next 15 years, about
3.3 million U.S. services jobs and $136 billion in wages will move
offshore to countries including India, Russia, China and the
Philippines.

The opportunity is too tempting for many businesses to ignore. In some
cases, Forrester says, they're slashing costs by up to 50 percent.

Mr. Goode says he understands that corporations have to act in the
interest of their shareholders, but he also says they have an ethical
obligation to do right by their employees.

"Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart when do we come to the end of this?"
he asks. "I see no business ethics anymore."

Microsoft declined to comment specifically on Mr. Goode. He helped
organize an Independence Day rally on Friday in front of the company's
building on State Highway 161 that attracted 28 protesters. Mr. Goode
has also been posting material about jobs moving offshore at his Web
site, goodetech.com.

Difficult to change

Although he wants to call attention to the issue, Mr. Goode also
recognizes that powerful forces are at work that will be difficult to
change. "I'm not talking about laws to protect jobs," he says. "I'm
talking about commitment and caring."

Mr. Goode grew up in Richardson and attended Southern Nazarene
University in Bethany, Okla. He didn't graduate, instead taking on
construction jobs building swimming pools for about four years. His
first job in tech was with Stream International, which provides
outsourced customer care. He then took a series of other jobs as
higher-paying offers came in.

Like a lot of other people in the tech sector, Mr. Goode concedes that
pay scales got out of hand during the boom, and he has been accepting
positions with lower pay. At Microsoft, he was making $25 an hour, and
he's down to $20 in his current job.

Still, he considers himself lucky.

"I know people who were making six figures who are delivering pizza,"
he says. "It's crazy."

E-mail agoldstein@dallasnews.com

---------------- by Joseph Valley ----------------

7/8/2003

Microsoft Outsourcing Protest

On July 4, starting at 5:00AM and concluding at 10:00AM, a protest

was conducted outside the Microsoft facility in Irving (Las Colinas),
Texas. The protest was intended to display objection to Microsoft
outsourcing up to 800 jobs from Texas to India. And to show support for
those who have, or will, lose their jobs. Outsourcing hurts U.S.
Workers of all races. It hurts their families. It also deprives the
U.S. government of taxes which are needed to fund government programs.
The protest was organized by Gene Nelson and Corey Goode.

Gene 'scoped' the site in advance, notified the local police,

fabricated sign frames, and promoted the invitations to attend. Corey
(who had been laid-off from this site a week earlier) also sent
invitations. Joseph Valley had large signs printed up. Joe Grizzel
attended and his wife videotaped 3 sessions of the Fox 4 TV news and
Channel 33 news coverage. There were about 2 dozen protesters attending
and it appeared to be more women then men. Each protester carried a
sign with statements like, '0 H-1B Limit'.

The event was covered by the local television and radio news media

including Fox 4 News, Channel 5 NBC , Channel 11 KTVT, Channel 33 WB,
Telemundo News (KXXV) and the Dallas Morning News. There was live news
coverage every 30 minutes and several of the activists were
interviewed. The reporters were advised that there are over 70
grass-roots movements in the U.S. coming together in unity to challenge
discrimination, visa misuse, and outsourcing

One of the activists held up a sign declaring 'Honk to support

U.S. Citizen workers.' There was a steady stream of honking, waving and
smiles from passing motorists showing their support. Clearly, the
public supported the activists. Some motorists stopped to chat and
express their support. The www.WashTech.org "Where do you want YOUR JOB
to go TODAY?" slogan was prominently displayed on a 4 foot by 3 foot
sign.

From the beginning a camaraderie developed between the activists,

many of whom had never met before the protest. They were there to speak
with one voice and declare an important message. They were united and
it showed. They conducted themselves very professionally during this
peaceful protest. The skills of each activist were leveraged to promote
the common theme. One woman spoke Spanish for the Telemundo interview.
Another spoke with reporters. Another snapped photos. Microsoft
employees came out to speak to the activists, speak on camera, and even
sent out a bucket of ice for the activists to cool their water bottles.

The Irving, Texas protest was a twofold success. First, it brought

together a local group of American workers in unity. Second, it
publicly demonstrated that American workers are now beginning to do
something about the unemployment, visa misuse, and outsourcing issues.
The plan of this local North Texas group is to perform a protest at
least once per month. The site for the next protest has already been
identified. Contact us if you are interested in attending this protest
or a future one.

There are photos available at -

http://www.goodetech.com/new_page_9.htm The videos of the Fox 4 TV News
interviews by Katherine Creag of Gene Nelson, Corey Goode, and Joseph
Valley and the WB 33 TV interview at the Microsoft Protest of July 4,
2003 outside the MS Irving (Las Colinas) Texas facility are now
available for viewing at -
http://www.American-Champions.org#Activists_In_Action

The video is 8 minutes 24 seconds in length and may take some TIME to
download and view. The WMV file is 16Mb and the MPG is 73Mb.

In Unity, Joseph Valley

---------------- by Dr. Gene Nelson ----------------

7/7/2003

I arrived first at the protest site at 4:45 AM and was greeted by
Katherine Creug of KDFW - 4 TV in Dallas, Texas with her two technical
crew members. Joe Grizzel provided me with expert technical assistance
in setting up the three 3' by 4' posters, complete with fluorescent
lights run by a large storage battery and inverter setup that I
designed and constructed.
Katherine and her crew stayed with us until about 8:30 AM, making
several live broadcasts from the protest site. We also had TV crews
from Channel 11, Channel 33, Channel 39, and reporters from WBAP Radio,
KRLD Radio, and the Dallas Morning News. (Microsoft Security also
filmed us from a large black vehicle that zipped in and out of the
parking lot a few times.) Microsoft ran the U.S. flag up their
flagpole at around 8:00 AM on July 4.

A few things stand out in my mind. I scouted the location the day
before to identify parking locations, etc. I recall seeing a woman who
looked like she was from India walking against traffic on the highway
access road. She carried a sheaf of Microsoft documentation and
shielded herself from the sun with a large black umbrella. This
scouting was useful to assist
protesters and journalists who needed directions to get to the protest
site. (It wasn't easy!)

There were no white flags in the lawn on July 3. They were placed
around the perimeter of the site at approximately 10 foot intervals to
mark the Microsoft property line. We were instructed not to enter
private property by Microsoft Security early in the protest. We honored
those instructions. I estimate that the perimeter was over a mile in
length.......

Our core activists including myself, Corey Goode, and Joe Valley were
interviewed several times by Katherine Creug. I sensed that she and the
technical crew cared about and appreciated that we were protesting
Microsoft's poor corporate citizenship. I also appreciated that many
activists showed up for varying lengths of time to carry the American
flag or the various signs. I estimate that there were a total of about
two dozen activists. However, I was too busy at the time that we had
the greatest number of protesters present to take either still or mini
DV pictures. We need to have a photographer included in our protester
ranks for future demonstrations. Despite the fact that the speed limit
on the access road was 55 miles per hour, we had many motorists honk
their horns in support.

I appreciated the kindness of Beth Jordan of Microsoft, who made
arrangements to have a 5 gallon pail of ice brought to us to cool our
1/2 liter bottles of water that I brought to the protest site. She
identified some areas of "common ground" that I am looking forward to
discussing more with her via phone, email, and person - to - person
visits in the future. I
hope that other activists will be included in this meaningful dialogue.

The City of Irving Police showed up in force just after the KDFW TV
crew had left. They were also polite to us and reminded us of the rules
that had been discussed with me when I made arrangements with the
Police Department to hold a protest. I also noted the shotgun and the
shotgun shells that were within arm's reach of the police officer in
his cruiser.....

I appreciate that there is a very large amount of work necessary to
conduct a successful protest. I feel that we did a good job as a
cooperative and polite team. I'm still exhausted from all the details
and I note that it is after midnight here as I prepare this report.

Gene A. Nelson, Ph.D.

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