Pinoy workers hold first conference

Pinoy workers hold first conference

Members and delegates to the first conference of the Filipino Workers Network

“Congrats to sisters and brothers of Filipino Workers Network for their first, incredibly successful, conference of Filipino Workers across the GTA! Mabuhay!” — Rowena Santos, participant

“…this will take the Network to a whole new level of activism and capacity to play a leading role in the labour movement in greater Toronto.”
— John Cartwright, President, Toronto & York Region Labour Council

They came early with anticipation of the one-day conference agenda. It is the first gathering of workers of Filipino background. More than a hundred Filipino-Canadian workers from across the Greater Toronto Area (including some from London, Brampton, Vaughan, Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Ajax, and Markham) gathered to attend the April 9, 2016 inaugural conference of the Filipino Workers Network last Saturday, April 9, 2016 at the United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St., Toronto, Ontario.

The workers were eager to attend a gathering focused on their concerns. They were also excited to listen to the keynote speaker, Maria Castañeda, who flew in from the United States just for the occasion. Castañeda, a New York-based Filipino American, is the highest-ranking woman labour leader of Asian descent in the United States. She is currently 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East Secretary-Treasurer. 1199SEIU Healthdare Workers East, the largest local union in the world, has over 400,000 members, many of whom are immigrants spread all over New York State, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

MARIA CASTAñEDA

As Castañeda recounted her journey as an immigrant and her involvement in the union, she delivered her inspiring message loud and clear: That the workers, through and united and strong labour union, is a leading force for change. Without the workers’ active involvement in unions, the work of defending, protecting and advancing the rights and freedoms of peoples will not be effective. It is extremely important to continue to organize, educate and mobilize the workers and to encourage them to form unions to fight for the welfare and rights of the workers and all peoples.

“Only by joining the unions will workers be able to forge a stronger power to lobby and take action to change the situations in the workplace and policies governing decent work, benefits and rights,” Castañeda said.

The one-day conference was a big step for the Filipino Workers Network considering that it was formed only 20 months ago in July 2014. The network aims to bring together the Filipino Canadian workers to: discuss key issues within the community relating to labour like living wage, good jobs, workplace and workers’ rights; engage union members and help mobilize to improve labour law and employment standards; create alliances around goals of social and economic justice; and, give people confidence to be more active in their union, including taking leadership.

The inspiring message of Maria Castañeda, the informative presentation of Rick Esguerra, the educational workshops led by seasoned union leaders and trained facilitators from the ranks of the Filipino Workers Network have brought a greater awareness to labour matters and will hopefully bring a higher degree of involvement and union activism.

Workers of Filipino origin impact the landscape of the Canadian labour movement. 6,000 Filipinos leave the Philippines daily due to poverty, lack of jobs, and lack of opportunity. The Philippines is one of the top five sources of temporary foreign workers of Canada. There is an estimated 800,000 Filipinos in Canada, with twenty percent of them residing in Toronto. It is in this light that the Filipino Workers Network is organizing and building the capacity of the Filipino workers here in Toronto through education on workers’ rights, wages, benefits, employment standards, labour unions and other labour related issues.

The one-day conference included workshops on the topics: Workers’ Rights – Changing Workplace Review, Health and Safety in the Workplace, Collective Bargaining and Grievance, Taking Action on Environment, and Migrant Workers and the Unions.

Participants were mostly members of these local unions and organizations: SEIU Healthcare, Unite Here Local 75, United Steelworkers USW local 1998, OCEU (Ontario Compensation Union /CUPE Local 1750 (WSIB), USW Toronto Council, USW Region, COPE Local 343, LIUNA3000, CUPE 2191, CUPE Local 416, UFCW, OPSEU, CUPE 2316, CUPE 79, CUPE 1281, Workers United, Canadian Union of Postal Workers-Scarborough, OECTA, USW 5296, USW3950, UNIFOR 252, UNIFOR 673, UNIFOR 1643 and workers from Luminus Financial. These local unions represent more hundreds of thousand members across Canada and USA.

Community members were from AnakBayan Toronto, Caregivers Action, CATIE, Filipino Migrant Workers Movement, Filipino Canadian Parents Association in Catholic Education, Gabriela, CASJ- Community Alliance For Social Justice, International Council for Human Rights in the Philippines, iWWorkers, Migrante Canada, Philippine Advancement Through Arts and Culture, and Workers Action Centre, Gawad-Kalinga, Parkdale Tenants Association, and other organizations in the community.

Carlos Bulosan Theatre artists graced the event with a performance of selected Carlos Bulosan’s poems. The theatre group, also known as ‘CBT’ – is a Toronto-based independent theatre company committed to creating innovative work that reflects a vibrant, new generation of Filipino-Canadian artists.

The event was made possible by the Toronto & York Labour Council with support and sponsorship from the SEIU Healthcare, Unite Here Local 75, United Steelworkers USW local 1998, OCEU (Ontario Compensation Union /CUPE Local 1750 (WSIB), USW Toronto Council, USW Region and Luminus Financial.

The participants affirmed resolutions with a resounding “YES” echoing in the United Steelworkers hall, as each statement was read by Ben S. Corpuz, one of the Co- Chairs of the Filipino Workers Network, the other Co-Chair being Josh Cuasay, who delivered the event’s closing remarks.

(PRESS RELEASE)