USAPING MIGRANTE: Pushing for Human Rights

USAPING MIGRANTE: Pushing for Human Rights

It was a kind of gathering that would make you believe in the capacity of people to make change possible. It was a moment where you could see and feel both the anguish and eagerness in people’s faces. While the speakers were talking about the issues, I could hear in silence the unanimous conformity of audience to a collective stand against injustice. Moreover I could feel the fervor to pursue the fight for changes in the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), and the passion to defend the rights of Filipino workers under the LCP.

I was talking about the press conference last November 4 called upon by the Jocelyn Dulnuan Support Committee (JDSC) at the OPSEU building in downtown Toronto. The campaign for justice for Jocelyn has really gained a strong ground. And as an offshoot of it, the community movement gearing up to pursue changes in the current LCP has been mobilizing organizations to get involved in the campaign. It has even gotten the support of two parliamentarians – MP Peggy Nash and MPP Cheri DiNovo.

True enough, it is very important for community organizations to engage in this kind of crusade. I have always had the impression that solid community support is one key to success in any movement for social change. Perhaps it is because community acts as the base for social action and transformation.

Without the community support, any campaign for change will be off the ground, if not poised to failure from the start. During the press con, MP Nash acknowledged the fact there are three hundred of them MPs in the federal government. She was indicating that she needs the support of the community to get other MPs in this campaign.

I know the time has come for the Filipino community to push this issue. The proposed changes in the LCP such as scrapping the live-in requirement that breeds abuse by employers and the implementation of the Employment Standards Act (ESA) on caregivers and their workplaces are basic labour rights that should have been put in place long time ago. I am quite sure that for these things to become a reality will produce a better work conditions for live-in caregivers, if not give them new breath of life in their day-to-day occupation.

A couple of years back I wrote an essay on empowering Filipino migrant workers in Canada. I argued then that Filipino migrants themselves have to find ways to assert their rights and welfare in respect for their desire for growth and development as people working abroad to sustain the basic needs of their family back home. In short, I was trying to espouse the need for self-empowerment through determined capacity to learn things like basic labour standards rights and knowing the current labour practices. This empowerment aspiration is extended to make a solid stand against exploitation and discrimination from abusive employers including those unscrupulous recruiters that take advantage of migrants’ unfamiliarity with employment rules and conditions.

Now is the time for migrant workers especially those under the LCP to come together and pursue their cause to the end. I am sure there are many people out there who want changes to happen. This is the time for you to come out and share your different experiences. At the very least, this is the time for you to tell the world about the many instances when your employer has not paid you for your overtime work because you are considered as “one in the family.” At the very most, this is the time for you to tell the world that you are proud as live-in caregivers because you serve the society in general, but hell, you need protection from unfair labour practices, and your employer cannot threaten to deport you for any reason.

This is the time for you to say enough is enough: you have to stand up and fight for your rights, as Bob Marley has used to sing. You have to fight for your labour rights because those are essential part of your rights as human beings. You have to fight for your rights as migrants because fighting for them is fighting for and defending human rights.

Then you wonder why Canada, as one of the biggest receivers of migrants from around the world, until now has not signed the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of All Migrant Workers and their Families. By refusing to sign it, Canada has not yet signified its commitment to protecting migrant rights. For this I cannot help but to add my voice to those who have been calling for the Canadian government to sign this very important UN convention. I was glad that MP Nash also mentioned this during the press con, and she would move to push the issue.

What is important now is there are people pushing for changes in the LCP. There are people who have been working for justice for Jocelyn campaign. There are people like Nash and DiNovo who have pledged to bring the issue in the parliamentary halls. And there are people who still believe in the capacity of human beings to make collective action work for possible social transformation. I think these are good reasons to celebrate International Human Rights Day on December 10. I think these are good reasons to remain pushing for human rights.