Out of concern that businesses might not be able to find enough employees in future summers, the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association is asking Sen. Barbara Mikulski for help.
In a letter written to Mikulski last week, Susan Jones, the association’s executive director, asked her to support an exemption in the Senate Immigration Bill that would ensure international students could continue to come to Ocean City and elsewhere in the United States for short-term employment.
“There are a few provisions that could greatly harm, and possibly end, the State Department’s Exchange Visitor Program (EVP). These changes would seriously alter the Summer Work Travel J1 Visa program which Ocean City businesses rely on for employees,” Jones wrote. “Last summer, there were close to 4,000 J1-Visa participants in Ocean City. Due to the school calendars, these students are able to arrive in May and stay through September. Without J1 participants, many businesses would not be able to operate at full capacity, resulting in lost tax revenue.”
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21 comments:
There are people right here on the eastern shore that could use a job.. Why hire anyone else
So what. Why not hire Americans?
Americans are hired if they apply and are qualified but a lot of the times American kids have other things going on like a sports camp, their own vacation, etc and that ends up becoming an inconvenience an and interruption to the business and other employees. If an American wants to work and shows they are dedicated then they will get hired. If they want to work on their own terms then they are passed over-it's real simple!
Is it true that if they hire people that are not american they don't have to pay social security on them? Maybe that is why locals are not being hired. I have a friend that tried to apply at two different places and was turned down because they were waiting on the non-Americans to come over.
The fact is that the foreign kids will work for less money; work longer hours, and live in conditions that American kids are not accustomed to.
I have worked in OC for 20 years and over that period of time, the number of American student applicants have dwindled significantly. When I first started working in OC, the Irish kids came in and displaced the American workers by undercutting wages. Then the Russians came in and undercut the Irish. Now the Indian/Asian kids are displacing the Russians. Indian students will work 100 hours per week if you let them. Many hold two or three jobs.
Wages have stagnated in OC due to the influx of foreign students and, the businesses are laughing all the way to the bank in many cases.
It is a fact that employers are EXEMPT from paying Federal and State Unemployment taxes for foreign students. THAT makes American kids more expensive. If Milkulski cared about Americans, she would fix this so that employers paid the same amount of taxes no mater where the kids came from. Also, there is a new wave of hiring at the end of the summer where Americans get some work because the foreign students are off on their travel vacations before returning home.
It is true that employers do not have to match SS deductions if they hire J1 exchange students since the student won't be collecting. State and fed taxes are deducted though refunds most are common.
As far as these students accepting less pay, that's is a misnomer and if they are working 100 hr a week it is not at the same job because almost all OC employers are in the habit of keeping overtime wages to a minimum. The "Indian" students are generally Nepalese students here on an entirely different visa (student) which does not allow work unless close by the university they attend and quite frankly most are working illegally in OC. Employers need to know just because someone possesses a SS card does not mean they meet the US work requirements.
There is another misnomer/urban legend present that makes the J1 students out to be some poor kid from a 3rd world country which couldn't be further from the truth. The truth is these kids are upper middle class, highly educated, well traveled and cosmopolitan who are taking advantage of this cultural exchange program which allows them to work and then tour the US for a summer. It's a shame more US students don't take advantage and travel abroad and work and play for a summer.
They know they don't hae to pay good wages to foreign workers and they won't complain. They don't want to get deported.Suck it up and pay decent wages to local folks.
Less tax and company expense hiring foreigners. They give them lower wages because they don't know the difference and they often live 5 or more to a room at the beach. Not to mention the added incentive when Obama care starts, they won't have to pay the insurance in addition to the current social security exemption. It's all about money not the uplifting of the community. There are plenty of able bodied people that can fill those jobs. Teen unemployment is super high here and there are plenty of people who will take whatever they can get. "For the love of money is the root of all evil"
1:54, 2:34 and others. These are students. They will not get deported as they are here legally on a cultural exchange visa. They are paid at the least minimum wage and sometimes more. Familiarize yourself with the J1 Visa program.
As far as the savings to employers. It is quite minimal. In a 4 month period, paying $10/hr you may save $450. Some employers do not feel it's worth it, due things such as language barriers, lack of transportation and other factors and do prefer to hire usually local kids.
I've worked at 2 different O.C. hotels and I know for a FACT that these hotels' annual net profits were SEVERAL Million dollar$ each and EVERY year. I also know for a FACT that the Dunes Manor Hotel knowingly employed approximately 20 illegals not too long ago because they knew the illegals would work for CHEAP and do as they were told or - "You're FIRED!"
3:12 is WRONG. The hotel owners are greedy misers and prefer to hire foreigners over Americans and they save on average $100/week per foreigner. Count all of the foreigners, multiply the number of weeks they work times $100 and you're talking Big Buck$. Not only that, foreigners get no benefits, vacation pay, holiday pay or raises.
Furthermore, the hotel owners and their hired thugs in upper management treat foreigners like dogs/prisoners and they cowardly tolerate the abuse or get fired and shipped back to their countries. This means owners and management know they can also treat locals and other American workers like dogs/prisoners because they are in a vulnerable position since there are so many foreigners who will be more than willing to take the abuse.
GO AMERICAN and get these foreigners outta here. Too bad and WHO CARES if the greedy owners will make less money! Considering the terrorism our country has been dealing with lately, most all of us want these foreigners staying put in their own countries instead of roaming around Ocean City and other American cities.
I have been told by people who own property and work in OC that there is a huge amount of social diversity that has never been seen before this year. Crime is up and tourists are falling victim to this new lot. I know that the days of "family resort" especially below 130th street are over. You hire transient people and you get people who are not invested in the welfare of the area. The greedy resort owners will reap what they sew.
The Lower Eastern Shore's residents need to keep in mind the horror Muslims have inflicted on the U.S. with 9/11 and recently the Boston Marathon. Tons of Americans were killed and wounded. What if some of these foreigners are Muslims or what if the U.S. starts to allow Muslims to work in O.C.?
The fact is that Muslims and other foreigners hate Americans and the entire Lower Eastern Shore is at risk of a horrible tragedy by these foreigners being allowed to work and live in our area for a few months.
These people are extremely poor and desperate and some will do anything for money so us area residents need to respond to Mikulski and let her know (start a petition if necessary)that we don't want these desperate transients living in O.C. or anywhere else in our country. O.C. has become enough of a Trashy Town as it is over recent years without these foreigners.
8:44 Forget any help from Mikulski. She voted with United Nations to have our gun rights taken away.
11:45 AM asked "So what. Why not hire Americans?"
Greed. They would be flooded with young Americans to fill these jobs if wages rose to where Americans could afford to fill them.
Boycott Ocean City. PASS IT ON!!
Why as Americans do we neglect to lean on ourselves to solve our own problems?
This is just another way for immoral American business to rape it's citizens. That said, I'm certain Babs will be all for it.
"3:12 is WRONG. The hotel owners are greedy misers and prefer to hire foreigners over Americans and they save on average $100/week per foreigner."
Don't be ridiculous. SS deduction is 6.2% and Medicare 1.45%. The employee's gross pay would have to be just under $1400 a week for an employer to save $100/per week.
Ok, I'll shut this conversation down...when I started working construction in OC in 1986, the starting wage for a laborer with no experience was $5/hr...within a year I was making $8/hr...Inflation, since that time, has risen over 300% based on government estimates...What is the starting wage for a construction laborer now? OC is full of money grubbing cheap-skates, period...People on the Eastern Shore need to wake up and demand decent wages...The foreigners are not helping matters by selling themselves for cheap...debate that
I've noticed it works like this, not so much with full time foreign employees but with what might be called a day labourer. If you want them to do menial chores around the house you have to pay them in the $14/per hour range. Then if you get into specialized projects like house painting they want somewhere up around $25/per hour. The going rate for interior house cleaning is $20/per hour and they usually require a 3 hour minimum.
I see the foreigners calling the shots and making the rules and people are willing to go along because they are dependable, won't steal and will stay around until the job is finished, working 12 or more hour days depending on daylight.
8:44 is right on. Let's keep these impoverished aliens out of O.C. Who knows what mental state they are in and what they would do for money.
O.C. and other regions on the shore are taking a risk and the only thing those greedy O.C. scumbag care about is how much money they will save by bringing them here as temporary employees.
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