"Expose and oppose the exploitation of migrant, immigrant and undocumented workers in Canada. Building genuine solidarity with immigrant and migrant workers."
May Day 2007 Organizing Committee Forum
April 11, 2007

Introduction

Thank you to the MayDay Organizing Committee for inviting SIKLAB – BC to present at this evening’s forum.  It is a welcome development that such a committee exists and is striving hard to educate, organize and mobilize people in Vancouver about the heightened attacks of imperialism against the working-class in general and migrant, immigrant and undocumented workers in particular in Canada and in solidarity with workers across the world.

As a member of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), we note that the interests and struggle of migrant workers, refugees and homeless people is one of eighteen concerns taken up by the League.  In fact, ILPS organizations are leading the creation of an international organization for migrants and other displaced workers.  In 2008, the founding congress of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) is to be held in Malaysia.  We hope that some of us in Vancouver will be able to attend and participate at that historic event.

Tonight, we hope to share some of the analysis developed by ILPS about the causes of international migration.  We also hope to bring that analysis back into the Canadian context, particularly sharing some of our experience as Filipinos struggling to expose the harsh impacts of Canadian immigration policies upon our community.

Root cause of international migration

The International Organization for Migration estimates that there are over 175 million migrants across the world.  They report that at the start of the 21st Century, one in every 35 people is an international migrant.

At the ILPS, we name the root cause of international migration as imperialism.  As noted in the ILPS resolutions on the migrant concerns, through neo-liberal policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization imposed by the IMF, WB and WTO, the economies of oppressed and underdeveloped nations are further impoverished and maintained as perpetually backward, export-oriented and import-dependent.  At the so-called sending end, the governments and ruling classes of these countries seek to quell social unrest, curb balance of trade and payment deficits and generate foreign-exchange revenues by developing and intensifying labour export policies and programs (LEP).  This is the legalization and institutionalization of the commodification of migrants.

At the so-called receiving end, the governments and ruling classes of capitalist countries exploit migrant workers, immigrants, refugees and homeless persons as sources of cheap labour by using labour-import schemes (calling it the “international sharing of human resources”) and oppressive policies that pit migrants against migrants, migrants against local workers, depress wages and benefits of workers, and attempts to destroy the workers movement and solidarity movement of the working class with the other marginalized sectors of society.

All of these schemes are part of the attempt of imperialists and local reactionaries to resolve the chronic crisis of the imperialist system. As noted by the Chair of ILPS, Professor Jose Maria Sision, in his statement on MayDay 2006, at the level of the real economy, there is a global crisis of overproduction.  This results in the contraction of employment and people’s incomes and the constriction of the global market.  It results in a grave financial crisis for the ruling classes and the tendency to opt for fascism and war.

It is important that we name the crisis of imperialism as the underlying cause of international migration.  We should debunk and expose the claims of governments and the ruling classes that migration is necessary to maintain economic growth and to deal with an aging workforce.  In our experience and analysis as SIKLAB, international migration is used by the capitalist countries precisely to keep us as sources of cheap labour.

Canadian immigration policies based on economic needs

As a capitalist country, Canada also uses immigration as a way to address its economic needs for cheap labour.  This was true in the historical development of Canada and is true today.  Canada opens its doors when it needs cheap labour; but closes them when it does not.

We can see this illustrated in the historical experience of the Filipino community in Canada.  In the 1960s, Filipinos were directly recruited to come to Canada as garment workers to work in the garment industry in Winnipeg.  In the 1970s, Filipino nurses were recruited to work in places across Canada like Montreal. In the 1980s, Filipinos began to come to Canada under the Foreign Domestic Movement (FDM) program (the predecessor program of the current Live-in Caregiver Program).  The historical pattern of Filipino migration continues today as the Philippines remains one of the top source countries for immigrants to Canada.

Although Canada refuses to recognize its human rights obligations as a receiving country by ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Canada is increasingly becoming reliant on immigrant and migrant labour.  According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 22% of Canada’s labour force is foreign-born.  This is a higher percentage than the United States, Germany, France and the UK.

Although Canada has tried to sell itself internationally as a more humane and “multicultural” destination for immigrants and migrants, the Filipino community’s experience with Canada’s temporary immigration schemes belies this claim.  Our experience with the anti-woman and racist Live-in Caregiver Program, of which over 90% of entrants are Filipinos, clearly demonstrates how Canada exploits the cheap labour of Third World migrants.  For over two decades, over 90,000 Filipinos have entered Canada through this program, which fundamentally discriminates against them compared to standards applied to other workers.  Through the LCP’s three pillars (the mandatory live-in requirement, the temporary immigration status and the employer-specific work permit), Filipino live-in caregivers are kept vulnerable, impoverished and exploited.  This has long-term impacts on these individuals, their families and, in fact, the entire community.  For example, Filipino women only make 52% of the median income of all women in Vancouver.  Filipino men and women are highly segregated into occupations such as janitorial work and childcare.  Filipino youth have one of the highest drop-out rates from Vancouver high schools.  Our experience is in line with other migrant and immigrant communities in Canada, where even Statistics Canada acknowledged that low-income rates among immigrants during their first full year in Canada were 3.5 times higher than those of Canadian-born people.

Through SIKLAB Canada and the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC), the Filipino community continues to be organized to expose and oppose the LCP.  Our demand is that the program be scrapped.  Despite our many decades of struggle and the documented cases of abuse, rape, exploitation and deportation, Canada continues to ignore this demand in favour of the interests of the classes which benefit from the LCP.  Although there was an official statement from Canada that they were to review the LCP a few years ago, there has been no action on this.  Canada has ignored our call for an immediate moratorium on the deportations of live-in caregivers.  In fact, the only recent announcement from Canada about the LCP is a minor tinkering with the duration of the work permit – an indication to us that the program will be maintained in its present form or in a form that is even more exploitative.  For example, because of changes to the procedures of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the length of time that live-in caregivers must remain as temporary workers in Canada is now approaching three years and beyond.  It is no longer the simple two-year requirement that Canada sells to prospective live-in caregivers and the Canadian public.

The danger that the LCP will become even more exploitative is real because Canada is seeking to expand its temporary foreign workers programs.  Canada must increasingly compete with other capitalist countries for the cheap labour of migrants and immigrants.  For example, the number of FWs in Canada has risen in recent years from 71,390 in 1996 to 99,141 in 2005 (Facts and Figures, 2004, CIC).

These temporary foreign worker programs, such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, are supposedly designed to fill labour gaps in Canada.  However, in our analysis, the process for scientifically documenting and analyzing whether that labour gap truly exists is questionable.  What we see in the process employed by HRSDC is that the labour gap is basically certified by the employer itself, which means that the employer can recruit cheap labour from abroad when it suits their interests.

There is also no genuine and enforceable obligation on the part of these employers not to exploit these workers and to respect their human rights.  Because of their temporary immigration status and low wages, these workers are even more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

In the Filipino community in Canada, we have begun to see the impacts of the temporary foreign workers program.  It was recently reported by the Philippine Department of Labour and Employment that Canada prefers Filipino workers and is seeking 5000 Filipinos.  This report came after the government of Saskatchewan signed an agreement with the Philippines to bring over temporary workers.  It is no surprise to us that Canada would seek these temporary workers from the Philippines, given the historical experience of direct recruitment of garment workers, nurses, etc. from the Philippines.  The Philippines is also the number one migrant nation in the world with a puppet government that is addicted to the foreign exchange remitted by these migrants and which has developed a highly-systematic program for labour export (expressed in the government’s catchphrase “Pinoy, pang-global Ka!” or “Filipinos, you are for the world!).  For example, total OFW remittances from Canada alone surpassed $117.061 million in 2005.

At the Kalayaan Centre, we have been approached by Filipino temporary workers who were later deported from Canada because they lost their temporary employment in Canada.  Because they are on an employer-specific work permit, they are vulnerable to deportation when they try to assert their rights against an exploitative employer or when they are simply laid-off or fired at the whim of their employer.

We have also met an entire group of over 20 Filipino men directly recruited from one barrio in the Ilocos region of the Philippines to work in a lumber mill in a small town in Alberta.  The owner of the mill was convinced by a Filipino immigrant in Canada to look for workers in the Philippines.  This owner flew directly to the Philippines and interviewed the men, some of whom were former government workers.  When interviewed, the men said that they were looking for the better life abroad, but were saddened that they had to leave their families behind for a two-year stint in Canada.  Although they were told they would make a good wage in Canada, they were not told whether the costs for accommodation, transportation, medical insurance, etc. were going to be deducted from their wages.

We have also heard reports of Filipino temporary workers being recruited to work on the Golden Ears bridge project and the RAV line.  A recent Globe and Mail article exposed that B.C.s’s tourism industry is directly recruiting workers from the Philippines to work in Tofino, Victoria, Whistler and the Okanagan.  While the article did not say how much the workers would be paid, it did say that the B.C. employers were paying recruitment agencies $2500 per worker.

At SIKLAB, we are opposed to the expansion of the temporary foreign workers program (TFWP) in Canada.  This is based on our experience with the LCP, which Canada acknowledges is the “model” for the TFWP.  As well, our position is based on the experiences of Filipino migrant workers around the world who are part of MIGRANTE International.  In over 180 countries around the world, Filipino migrant workers already toil under such temporary foreign workers schemes.  They have faced rampant abuse, discrimination, jail, abuse, rape and even death in such countries.  Yet despite their often dire and deadly situations, Filipino migrant workers continue to resist and organize themselves into a force that exposes and opposes the role of imperialism and local reactionaries in exploiting and oppressing them.

Our organizing efforts

Knowing that these are some of the trends in the development of the Canadian political economy, we are preparing to heighten our educating, organizing and mobilizing efforts so that Filipino migrant workers in Canada can continue to struggle for their legitimate rights and welfare in Canada while supporting the struggle for national freedom and democracy in the Philippines.

Given the reports of the increasing number of Filipino temporary workers, we plan to continue our social investigation into their situation and develop political campaigns and appropriate community-based education and other services for these workers.  We will also continue to organize the live-in caregivers and their families.  It is important for us to maintain the focus of our organizing on the most exploited and oppressed segments of our community, as they are the ones hardest hit by imperialism and thus, are the most receptive to being educated and organized. 

At the same time, we are continuing to educate and organize other sectors of our community, including the youth, women and nurses and other professionals.  We continue to advocate for full accreditation for our professionals and against systemic racism and gender oppression – in line with our call that the Filipino community’s aspiration for genuine development and equality must be respected and promoted.

We also hope to strengthen and deepen our understanding and analysis of our community’s situation in light of a clear, anti-imperialist viewpoint.  This is important for us as we recognize that Canada is a capitalist country and that the exploitation of migrant labour (while having its roots in the forced migration from Third World countries) is also a Canadian issue.  We hope that we can continue to share and discuss in forums and other activities such as tonight’s event, so that we can build genuine solidarity amongst all workers in Canada, including alliances with other migrant and immigrant communities and to seek genuine support from trade unions.  We also need to strengthen our solidarity efforts with workers around the world, including those in the Philippines and other Third World countries who remain in their country and who fight against the imperialist system and for national and social liberation in many forms of struggle.

As we approach MayDay 2007, let us heed the call of the ILPS that workers around the world “must fight for and build a new and better world in which the working class can fulfill its historic mission of building socialism and the general conditions of democracy, social justice, progress, peace and international solidarity can be realized.”