29/09/2021, 19:26
Fragile dreams: Stories of migrant workers from the Philippines: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Asia
Jose was once a driver in the Philippines. Now, recovering from his illness, Jose waits for
OWWA’s medical assistance to see his family through. Part of his hospital bills were paid by
CMA. He also started a small fruit store with his partner and has been actively engaging in
migration-related advocacies in his community.
Mona also filed a complaint against her recruitment agency, but due to the waiver she was
forced to sign, they escaped settling her unpaid wages. She was offered a 5,000-peso
settlement fee and she accepted. For Mona, it was better than the back-and-forth travel to
regional offices in hearing her case.
Jennifer is now a mother of four, having given birth to a baby girl in September of 2020.
KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation reached out to CMA to provide her with cash
assistance, food packages, and assistance in livelihood applications. On 3 March 2022, will
be her first virtual meeting with her lawyers for an outside court settlement.
These are only some of the issues that migrant workers face. One track that organizations
such as CMA recommended is to explore how gender-based violence and exploitative
employment practices can be treated as a transnational crime even after a migrant worker
is back home—this means that workers can file cases even when they are back in their
country of origin. These measures are lobbied through the “Justice for Wage Theft
Campaign” initiated by Migrant Forum Asia.
As for wage issues, an effort to forming strong international migrant workers associations
and unions through organizing across countries as an experimental model used by
SENTRO, a Filipino labour and trade union center (also a partner of CMA and FES
Philippines), connects migrant employers, their agencies, and workers themselves to settle
wage disputes at the local union level. These measures are aimed to cultivate a culture of
global solidarity for workers at the forefront of a changing world.
Brenda Pureza is a programme coordinator for the Women and Gender Institute’s (WAGI).
She is currently taking her master’s degree in Community Development at the University
of the Philippines.
https://asia.fes.de/news/philippines-migrant-workers
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