DEMO at DENNY'S
MIGRANTE B.C. and MIGRANTE Canada, the latter with its 17 member organizations from coast to coast, support the struggle and demands of Herminia Dominguez and the Denny's workers, and the class action lawsuit that is now before the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
For many of us, we meet TFWs when they are already in Canada. When they are already at the Denny’s restaurants cooking and serving our Grand Slam Breakfast, at the Tim Horton’s coffee shops pouring our coffee and bagging our doughnuts or at the Little Caesar’s Pizza serving us our pepperoni pizza slices.
These are TFWs who have journeyed from their homes and country, leaving behind children and families to work. Pushed to leave by the Philippine government’s Labour Export Strategy as its answer to the huge unemployment and underemployment, poverty and social unrest and also, its need for the workers’ remittances, the once stop-gap measure under the Marcos dictatorship has been continued by all the post-Marcos governments. People are exported by the Philippines, along with coconuts, sugar and abaca.
The statistics bear out this fact: In 2009 alone, 1.4 million Filipino OFWs left the country; that would be roughly 4000 Filipinos leaving the airport everyday! An independent think tank in the Philippines, IBON, reported that in 2006, there were 8.2 M Filipinos working overseas, in 197 countries and territories. Currently, the Philippines is the top source country of immigrants and temporary foreign workers in Canada. It is no wonder that Canada is also the second top source country for remittances to the Philippines--$1.9 billion dollars. Even before the Filipino overseas workers land in foreign shores, each overseas worker, according to Migrante International, each would already have paid around P20, 000 in government fees or state exactions. When the daily minimum wage in the Philippines is around P300 a day or roughly $7, it is easy to understand why men and women will brave the isolation, loneliness and even danger in working abroad.
The exploitation of the TFWs continues when they reach their foreign places of work, like Canada. When employers like the Denny's Restaurants and their authorized recruiter-agents are able to make profits from their workers, they take advantage of the temporary workers vulnerable and precarious status.
Thus, we salute the courage of the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) in coming forward and filing this case. TFWs are in a more vulnerable position when they speak up for their rights. Many TFWs fear termination, harassment and deportation if they dare speak up. Hence, it is inspiring that the Denny’s TFWs have come forward to shed light on the exploited plight of TFWs. Common issues for many TFWs include low wages, lack of job security, lack of benefits, vulnerability to contract violations, separation from families, sub-standard living conditions, imposition of the restrictive nature of the TFW work permit which is employer-specific and lack of effective mechanisms to protect their rights, among others.
MIGRANTE B.C. and MIGRANTE Canada recognize that the struggle of the Denny’s workers in the class action suit is a precedent setting case whose importance and impact will surely reverberate to all TFWs across the province and across the county. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, in 2009, Canada admitted 178,640 temporary foreign workers, with 14,484 of these coming from the Philippines. Over 44,000 foreign workers were admitted to B.C. that year.
We believe that TFWs have the same workplace rights as any other workers in Canada. We believe believes that TFWs should have the option and the access to concrete opportunities to a secure immigration status through permanent residency. We stand here in solidarity with the Denny’s workers. – Migrante B.C. March 26 2011
