MESA, AZ (PRWEB) February 14, 2004 -- In what has already become known as the “Bush Mantra on Outsourcing”, Chapter 12 of the Economic Report of the President claimed that job loss caused by offshore outsourcing is part of a process that will benefit the U.S. economy someday.

In response to the president’s report, the “Jobs for America Act” has been introduced in the Senate. This legislation would require companies to report the jobs that they export to other countries – how many jobs, where the jobs are going, and why.

Rescue American Jobs (www.RescueAmericanJobs.org) supports this legislation as a partial step toward tracking the export of American jobs. This bill was introduced by Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and co-sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Rescue American Jobs, although supportive of this legislation, is also critical of the veracity of this legislation. It does not address the laundering of American jobs through third-party offshore outsourcing contracts, nor does it address new jobs created outside of the U.S. by U.S.-based companies.

“We are disappointed that the most powerful Democrats in the Senate could only put together a bill that gathers incomplete information,” says Dawn Teo, one of the founders of Rescue American Jobs, “but the Senate has been nudged in the right direction. The next step must be legislation that addresses the problems.”

Rescue American Jobs firmly believes that keeping the American middle class working is critical to keeping America strong. A stable job market is the backbone of a consumer economy – both at the national and community level.

“By endorsing offshore outsourcing based purely on cost, the President has, in effect, stated that Americans must compete with third-world labor,” says James Pace, Director of Legislative Affairs of Rescue American Jobs, “President Bush, however, fails to mention that competing equally against third-world labor requires working for third-world wages and working conditions.”

With the acceleration of jobs moving offshore over the last few years, offshoring has touched occupations across all sectors – blue-collar and white-collar alike. Since 2000, an overwhelming one in five Americans lost a job. An estimated thirty-five percent of those are still unemployed, and many are underemployed – working below their skill level or even in menial part-time jobs – struggling to support children and families.

“There are no jobs that can’t be filled with cheap, exploitable foreign labor today, either through foreign guest worker programs or offshore outsourcing,” says Teo, “By endorsing both the export of jobs and the import of workers, President Bush has turned his back on the American workforce.”

Job loss in manufacturing and technology sectors has been staggering. In just the last three years, at least 10% of America’s manufacturing has moved offshore. At least 10% of American technology jobs are expected to move offshore. America is losing, on average, 100,000 manufacturing jobs each month, and each manufacturing job is estimated to support two non-manufacturing jobs.

Primarily due to a lack of reliable data, the Department of Labor has not been able to accurately track jobs that move to other countries. This legislation will finally provide at least some basic tracking to study and solve the problem of massive job losses across the country.

This legislation would require companies to notify the workers, the Department of Labor, and state agencies three months in advance when fifteen or more workers are replaced by overseas labor and further clarifies that WARN Act protections still apply to all layoffs of fifty or more workers.

“The Senate has a poor track record for looking out for American workers. This bill is a first step in the right direction,” states Pace, “We are counting on Congress. Or the American people can force the issue – by outsourcing Congress.”

Rescue American Jobs is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the economic security of the American middle class. Their fundamental objective is to restore and preserve the employment of the American workforce by ensuring balanced economic, labor, immigration, and trade policies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Rescue American Jobs, Inc.
Dawn Teo
media@rescueamericanjobs.org
Office: 480-832-0335
Fax: 480-832-0123
http://www.RescueAmericanJobs.org