12:45 p.m. Arrive Government Center Rotunda

151 4th ST SE

Rochester, MN 55904

Carol Holden: 507/ 285-8115

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Media availability to raise awareness of the IT jobs outsourcing crisis, the lack of federal policies protecting IT workforce and the lack of benefits to help IT workers who lose jobs directly to outsourcing.

Proposed Program

1:00 p.m. Opening remarks by Cathy Finken, Vice President, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees and Rehabilitation Counselor, State of Minnesota Department of Rehabilitation Services

1:03 p.m. Garrett Lanzy, vice president, Alliance@IBM and IBM employee makes remarks

1:09 p.m. Janet Krueger, former IBM employee for 22 years who attended a hearing on cash-balance pensions and head of the IBM Employee Benefits Action Coalition makes remarks

1:13 p.m. Minnesota bus rider Don Pechek reads Dan Reusche?s statement

1:15 p.m. Former Celestica or Western Digital employee makes remarks (TBD)

1:18 p.m. California bus rider Natasha Humphries makes remarks

1:21 p.m. Illinois bus rider John Narusis makes remarks

1:24 p.m. Georgia bus rider Charles Seaman makes remarks

1:27 p.m. Washington bus rider Myra Bronstein makes remarks

1:30 p.m. Q&A with media begins

2:00 p.m. Q&A with media concludes

Note: 6 additional non-speaking bus riders impacted by white collar/outsourcing will stand behind podium during the availability.

Background

· A 1999 Milliken Institute study said Rochester has the second highest concentration of high-tech business in the United States.

· In Minnesota, the number of IT jobs is down 30 percent from its peak in 2000. When overall employment in Minnesota fell just one percent in 2002, high-tech employment fell by 7 percent.

· Since its peak in 1998, Rochester has lost more than 2,700 technology manufacturing jobs as of October 2003. Many displaced technology workers in the Rochester Area are having difficulty finding work.

· IBM will ship 4,730 IT white-collar jobs overseas from plants all over the U.S. The average IBM IT worker who will lose his or her job is an engineer making $75,000-$100,000 year. A replacement may make a fifth as much.

· Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., introduced a bill last year (H.R. 2702) to set strict requirements and sharply curb employer use of L-1 visas. Firms use the visas to bring workers from abroad for high-tech training here, before sending those workers, and the jobs, back overseas. No hearings have been scheduled.

· On Jan. 2, 2004, 16 jobless computer programmers filed a class action suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Washington, WashTech reported. They claimed the right to federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits, from the program that helps workers who lose jobs directly to imports. (IT workers are exempt from TAA benefits).

Contacts

Garrett Lanzy, Alliance @IBM, (h) 507/292-0545, 507/253-5282, lanzyg@magnaspeed.net, Todd Anderson, Cell: 651/260-0644, Office: 651/665-9196, toddandersonaflcio@compuserve.com; Russell Hess, 651/385-7666, laborers@redwing.net, Jim Monroe, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, 651-227-6457, cell: 612 803-9838, Janet Krueger cell: 507-250-5568, Cathy Finken 507-285-7296.

Matt Levin

Executive Director, VT AFL-CIO

802-223-5229