Work in BigTech for Hire: Americans Need Not Apply

American technology workers won a big victory in the federal courts this month. The D.C. District Court ruled that a STEM-related visa program created by the Department of Homeland Security was potentially damaging to the domestic labor market and also in violation of federal rule-making procedure. For the plaintiffs in the case, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, however, the fight against BigTech lobbyists and Homeland Security has only just begun.

Read more at National Review
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The Young Lose From a Higher Minimum Wage

Warm weather is coming, and with it the perennial student search for a summer job. Though often seen as an economic cure-all, minimum-wage requirements have the unintended consequence of decreasing economic opportunity for young workers and making that treasured summer job harder to find. --Over half of those who earn at or below the minimum wage are between the ages of 16 and 24, many in the hospitality and leisure sector. Since the majority of those earning minimum wage are younger workers, increases in the minimum-wage rate affect them the most. Negative effects extend into the future, because young people often use minimum-wage jobs as steppingstones to better careers.

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Company Bans Homeschooled Workers

Discriminatory practice reflects a narrow-minded and statist view of education' - An Indiana-based company has decided not to hire any homeschool graduates, withdrawing a job offer from one candidate after discovering he was home educated, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. ✧ That’s despite the fact that assessments and evaluations for homeschool students routinely run higher than for public-school students. ✧ HSLDA spokesman Michael Donnelly said NiSource, an energy-distribution company, informed HSLDA it would not hire homeschool graduates. ✧ The decision was based on the company’s interpretation of state law.

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Chattanooga Volkswagen workers reject the UAW

NEW ARTICLE: More details surface [added 2/17/14]... - Examiner Editorial: Auto workers in Chattanooga choose freedom over unionization

By Michael Barone - It's official: The United Auto Workers lost the representation vote at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant. The cleverly named nooga.com has the story. The vote was close: 89 percent of workers voted, and they rejected the union by a 712-626 vote. Read more at Washington Examiner Read More......

House Republicans Work Immigration Behind Scenes

AP - Immigration overhaul legislation has been dormant in the House for months, but a few Republicans are working behind the scenes to advance it at a time the Capitol is immersed in a partisan brawl over government spending and President Barack Obama's health care law. ✧ The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, has been discussing possible legal status for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. He's also been working with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a fellow Virginia Republican, on a bill offering citizenship to immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children. ✧ Reps. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, and Ted Poe, R-Texas, are working on a plan to create a visa program allowing more lower-skilled workers into the country. Read more at ABC News...

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