No Work Lists

A few years ago, this story was posted about a "no work list" where if you were on the government's crap list for criticizing their policies, you would be put on a secret list where you wouldn't be able to find work.

www.infowars.com...

I'm an engineer with two years experience and a Master's degree and I've gotten a few phone interviews recently, but now I try to call back and I either get voicemails or the middleman recruiter tells me they haven't heard anything from the company at all. I've called five companies back every two weeks, for the past six or eight weeks, but it's always the same story.

There's a shortage of engineers - I should have no problem finding a job, but yet these conditions (along with my strong criticism of the government on FB) suggest to me I am on a no-work list. The article states that a no work list was being implemented in NJ and NY for secure construction sites, port workers, and truck drivers, but does anyone know any updated information on no work lists, especially with the looming E-Verify changes in the immigration bill?

Interesting. Hard to believe we have went back in time nearly a hundred years.

In the early 20th century, you could be "black balled" or "yellow listed" if you were pro-union or a union sympathizer. The Gov stepped in back then and made such practice illegal...how ironic that they might now be implementing a similar system for their own nefarious reasons...

sad-sad day.

As a side note, perhaps look at smaller firms that are not sucking on the Gov contract teets. I find certain things we see and read on these boards to be quite funny. "Damn Gov workers sucking on our tax dollars!"...but then it is perfectly acceptable to work for a private company that gets 90% of it's business from Gov contracts...still sucking on tax payer dollars but one is supposedly forbidden and the other is just fine.

What discipline of engineering btw? If it is construction related...stay away from the "titan" firms...there are plenty of small companies in need of talent.

This was revealed to be happening in the UK, where certain workers were put on blacklists. Lists that were shared by the construction firms.

The union Unite says it has evidence that the vetting of individuals by name in the building industry is still happening, four years after the discovery of a secret list that denied people work for years. BBC Panorama reporter Richard Bilton has the first TV interview with the woman who helped run that blacklisting operation.

"I always had continuous work and then, all of a sudden, nothing," he said. Dark secret In fact, he was one of the 3,200 men and women held on a secret and unlawful list of workers. For almost two decades it was the UK construction industry's dark secret. Information was being collected about ordinary workers and fed into a blacklist. The workers did not know they were on the list but, once added, their life could be changed forever.

www.bbc.co.uk...

i know this happens in the u.k in the offshore and in the construction industry .

bring up anything that will cost money to sort out and you will never work again in that field .

i was the first to point out many years ago offshore that the fire system used halon gas which starves oxygen from the fire and closed the doors in the pontoons of a semi- submersible oil rig .

it cost many millions and i have never been able to get work in that field again no matter how many times i have applied .

Great point definitely worth repeating.

Originally posted by Damian65
Interesting. Hard to believe we have went back in time nearly a hundred years.

In the early 20th century, you could be "black balled" or "yellow listed" if you were pro-union or a union sympathizer. The Gov stepped in back then and made such practice illegal...how ironic that they might now be implementing a similar system for their own nefarious reasons...

sad-sad day.

The world today is as sad/corrupt as Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle."

Those horrors were thought to be a thing of the past but we learned nothing. Without question we trust/reward the same sort of corrupt people that plagued Mr. Sinclair's era.

George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London is another of my favorites. Characters in his book were reduced to little more than

three main objectives: struggling through the workday, eating something, and grabbing a few hours of sleep before the travail starts again.www.wikisummaries.org...

Sadly that's where many of us find ourselves today.

What discipline of engineering btw? If it is construction related...stay away from the "titan" firms...there are plenty of small companies in need of talent.

Great advice. I'll add looking for work in low populated/rural areas might be another option. Where I live highly educated, experienced professionals are in short supply. Job openings can be infrequent but enticing people away from higher city wages is nearly impossible these days.

The only professionals we get here have been forced to resign from cushy city jobs. They take a cut in pay but their shortcomings are typically overlooked/forgiven out of sheer desperation.

Some rehabilitate, they do a stint in our little town for the sole purpose of cleaning up their record then return to the city. A few stay/enjoy the simpler life but more often than not we see the same insatiable lust for greed/corruption that led to their downfall in the first place. We often serve as a temporary layover/hideaway for white collar thieves on the run.

Professional types not born here relocate here for a reason, can't hide much in a small town. We've had so many come/go it's hard keeping track. Despite this there's still a real need for educated professionals.

We have few choices but to trust/give second chances. You won't make a lot of money but small town life can be very satisfying. Even if you can't be employed in your chosen profession there's most likely something in your background that could address the need of small towns.

Sometimes reinventing yourself/adapting to a new environment is the best solution. Small town administrators will try hard to find an appropriate niche for the rare professional that shows up seeking employment.

OP try not to despair, I wish you the best and I hope you find a sanctuary from our not so "Brave New World."

Sell stuff.

Find a niche, get on ebay, etsy, file a patent, work for a small business. Just keep on, keepin' on.

Engineer your way out of it, bro.

DITCH FACEBOOK
The best sane advice I will offer.
Why shoot yourself in the foot by advertising your point of view online knowing that they DO check.
If employers look at facebook to see who you really are, why not better your odds by not having anything negative out there. It is so hard to find work these days, I would delete facebook and then make a Linked In account with only your professional accomplishments listed. This will be what your employers will find.

Your facebook page might be the problem, why not get rid of it?

Employers check facebook and other online sites to look into employees. If you think having a private profile means they can't see it, your wrong. They may see you ranting about the government and think any or all of the following:

This guy is an anti-government nut, probably dangerous, or at least just someone we don't want around

This guy hates Obama, and I love Obama, I'm not going to hire him

This guy seems like a troublemaker.

It's a sad world we live in, no doubt, but this is the reality. The more you put yourself out there through sites like facebook, the more opportunity there is for negative parts (or perceived negatives) to be exposed to employers.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with your feelings on government, I'm simply saying HAVING those feelings puts you on a LOT of people's chit list. And broadcasting those feelings for anyone and everyone to hear will eventually come back to bite you in the butt.

If you are going to do it, at least do it in a way where a simple search of your name wont come up with your anti-government rantings.

reply to post by apcbm4


It wouldn't surprise me. That's why I keep telling people, figure out a small business you can do out of your home. That way eventually if you can do it full time, no one can hire or fire you.

reply to post by Damian65

No this time it's the PC crowd they have control so they are going all McCarthy on us as patriots. They have to make us out to be the bad guys and destroy Constitutional values as these conflict with their own world views.
Welcome to the "dangerous" people.

I'm actually siding with some people in this thread: There is no list, people are just browsing traces of you on Facebook. Ditch your Facebook-profile, or scrub it, and you might just land a job.

reply to post by shadow watcher

Bad idea,you can get an ulcer biting your tongue and hiding like that.

There's a shortage of engineers - I should have no problem finding a job, but yet these conditions (along with my strong criticism of the government on FB) suggest to me I am on a no-work list.

I agree with the other posters that you need to drop FB altogether, or at least make sure that your FB page is not searchable by the public. If you use other social networking sites of a similar vein, then you need to stop those as well. If someone can do a simple Internet search and find negative information about your political views, those should be scrubbed as well.

Internet searches are even being utilized by lenders as part of the due diligence process for corporations that are applying for credit facilities. As part of the analyst's documentation, the lender will note that an "Internet search revealed no negative information" about the entities under review.

It is nothing short of astounding the amount of information one can glean from a few simple searches online. In today's electronic era, your online persona can certainly have a negative impact on your livelihood.

Private companies don't want to hire someone that exudes negativity, or that is representing themselves to the public in an overly charged emotional or vitriolic manner. Strong public political views should be avoided if only to protect one's reputation in the public sphere. Don't get me wrong - Free speech is a fundamental right of every citizen. But with this right to free speech, don't be surprised if individuals of a differing opinion don't want to offer you employment.

reply to post by cavtrooper7


If the game is rigged to be against you, then to win, you need to play the game.
You can be a great guy, straight up hard worker, but if the interviewer sees your rants and decides you a trouble maker, he will most certainly pass you by.

Get the job, feel out the atmosphere, if it's cool to talk about your politics then rock on and revisit facebook.
Why would you honestly put something out there that may cause you to be passed over while looking?

The jobs aren't out there (in my opinion) in many fields and biting your tongue may be necessary just to get in the door.

Granted working in a place that may stifle beliefs may suck, it still pays the bills.
It's been my history encountering companies who wont hire you if you are unemployed, and by working in a place that may not be ideal, it is a jumping off point to the next job.

my 2 cents

Hello apcbm4 and other posters in this thread, just a heads up that this thread and topic will be discussed on Reality Remix Wed. night at 10pm Eastern.

"Join ATS Members SheepSlayer247, Adjensen, NoRegretsEver, Druid42 & Beezer for two hours of their take on threads past and present right here on ATS! "

Here is the thread to pick which way you want to listen in.
www.abovetopsecret.com...&addstar=1&on=16737466#pid16737466

The InfoWars article is not entirely accurate. It describes two different things: the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) and the Secure Worker Access Consortium (SWAC). Neither is what they make it out to be. They are simply credentials issued to people who have proven their identity and passed a criminal background check.

The TWIC is a credential issued by the TSA to hazmat drivers from Mexico or Canada, mariners, and dock workers. I might have missed a few, but it's generally for people who people who work in land or maritime international cargo handling. If you had applied for a TWIC, you would remember doing so. If you had been denied, you would definitely remember. You'd probably also remember being convicted of a felony or causing a major economic/environmental/loss of life incident, as it seems those are the only ways to be denied a TWIC.

The SWAC is a private consortium that uses standards similar to TWIC to vet their members' employees and issue credentials. Their members include private corporations and state/local governments, mostly in New York and New Jersey. If you filled out one of these and were denied, I imagine they would sell that fact to future SWAC member organizations who want to hire you.

Long story short, there are no "no-work" lists. There are, however, public and private agencies that do background checks and report the results of those checks to employers, and those employers may choose not to hire someone based on the result--especially in a regulated industry with credentialing standards. You will find this to be true pretty much everywhere you seek professional employment. It's not a conspiracy, it's how business is done.