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Many RP women in BC are educated but underpaid


Filipino women leaving the Philippines to work in British Columbia, Canada end up with low paying jobs and little protection of their rights, according to a study released on Dec 10 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study entitled “Workplace Rights for Immigrants in BC, the Case of Filipino Workers showed that although many of the Filipino immigrants are highly educated, they had inadequate training for the jobs they take on in the Canadian province. As a result, many of them are paid below the minimum wage and get to work in unsafe conditions. In a survey of 100 Filipino immigrants, 16 percent reported receiving $6 hourly wage, which was below the $8 regular minimum wage rate. And even experienced workers were paid at “first job" rate of $6 per hour. The study further revealed that while many of the immigrants were aware that their rights were violated, violations were rarely reported. Despite its cold climate, Canada has become a favored country of destination for many Filipinos. A census data released two weeks ago showed that the Philippines has kept its place as the third largest source country for new immigrants in 2006 at seven percent, next to China and India. In 2002 and 2003, Filipinos represented the fourth largest immigrants in Canada. In 2001, Filipinos in Canada numbered 308, 580, representing 7.7 percent of the total visible minority population and one percent of the total population of Canada. At least 20 percent of the Filipinos are in British Columbia, but the biggest concentration is in Ontario, with 51 percent. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed Filipino contract workers going to Canada grew by 13.3 percent, from 3, 532 in 2002 to 4, 006 in 2003. In 2005, Canada was recorded as the 10th highest source of OFW remittances, with $117.06 million. That time, the number of Filipinos in Canada was estimated at 400,000, including around 37,000 permanent overseas Filipinos who are degree holders working there as professionals. Between 1996 and July 201, remittances from Filipinos in Canada were recorded at only $190 million, accounting for a measly 0.57 percent of foreign currency remittances through official banking channels. That time, however, sending money through door-to-door service delivery was more popular than through banks. Most of the Filipinos who took the chance to work in Canada are nurses, laboratory technicians, office workers, and a few doctors. Most of the health workers there came from the United States. When their US visas expired, they moved to Canada. Recently, Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong were moving in droves to Canada. One of them was Jocelyn Dulnuan, who worked in Hong Kong for two years and moved to Ontario last year. But before Dulnuan’s dream of providing more for her family in Ifugao is realized, her life was ended in October by still unknown assailants. “We are one of the fastest-growing immigrant communities in Canada, yet our issues remain virtually invisible," said Cecilia Diocson, executive director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC). Filipino immigrants in Canada are currently estimated at half a million, concentrated in the major cities of Toronto, Vancouver (British Columbia) and Montreal. Diocson, founding chair of the Philippine Women Centre in Vancouver, co-authored the study with Habiba Zaman, an assistant professor of Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University and her student, Rebecca Scott who served a research assistant. “Although we have been migrating to this country for the last 40 years, we remain economically marginalized and segregated," Diocson said, pointing to the example of nearly 100,000 Filipinos who entered Canada under the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP). Diocson said the LCP, as Canada’s de-facto childcare program, has resulted in many women suffering a lifetime of de-skilling and all forms of abuse. NAPWC has long been demanding the scrapping of the LCP, viewing it as “racist and anti-woman." Diocson arrived in Canada in 1975 as a nurse from Sagay, Negros Occidental. She has led campaigns for the labor and immigration rights of Filipinos, particularly women, in Canada. The study, which as done between 2005 and 2006, blamed the British Columbia government for allowing employers to take advantage of new immigrants because of a rolling back of employment standards since five years ago when the new government assumed power. The research involved a survey of 100 Filipino immigrants to BC, detailed in-depth qualitative and group discussions with 30 Filipino immigrants, and workshop on policy alternatives with Filipinos as well as with representatives of other immigrant and community groups. From the survey, it was shown that: • 67 percent originally came to Canada as caregivers under LCP. The rest immigrated under various independent and family categories. Majority of the respondents were women. • While a majority first worked as caregivers, many of them quit after the requisite two-year period. At the time of the survey, 42 percent of the respondents were still employed as caregivers. • A high unemployment rate of 16 percent was noted, which was significantly higher than the overall unemployment rate, supporting the contention that immigrants suffer a long transition penalty • 16 percent reported receiving less than the standard $8 per hour wage since 2002. The study said it showed that employers were hiring even experienced Filipino immigrants on “first-job" wage rate of $6 per hour which was introduced by the provincial government in 2001. • About one-third of the respondents said they were unaware of their rights in the workplace. Since 2002, the mandatory workplace posting of the Employment Standards Act (equivalent to the Philippine Labor Code) to make workers aware of their rights had been relaxed. • 34 percent of the respondents felt their rights as workers were violated, but only 19 percent complained. The complaints were made prior to 2002 when posting of the ESA was still mandatory. • The respondents relied heavily on public transportation, with 52 percent using the bus to go to work. None of them had a car, and often had to travel long distances for two involving several transfers and a long walk between residence and work. • Majority of the respondents reported sending money to their family in the Philippines, with 56 percent remitting funds every month. From the outcome of the survey and direct interaction with the Filipino immigrants, the study recommended various measures to improve the standing of the workers, particularly women, in British Columbia. Among these were eliminating the $6 per hour “first-job" rate and raise the minimum wage from $8 to $10 per hour; restoration of the mandatory posting of the workers’ rights in the workplace, ideally in multiple languages; and institution of higher penalties on violations of working conditions, with repeat offenders having heavier penalties. – GMANews.TV

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