ePahayagan Blog
International Labor Organization Study Shows Little Changes to Women's Employment Access and Quality of Work
In light of International Women's Day, the International Labor Organization's (ILO) recent report findings show that women still face enormous challenges and barriers to finding and keeping jobs. In many regions of the world, women were more likely to stay unemployed: 6.2% of women are jobless across the world compared to 5.5% of men - and often had to accept lower quality jobs.
Men Still Dominate Government Service Jobs in the Philippines
Men's domination in the Philippine political arena remains. To address this, the Philippine Commission on Women has said there is a need to implement measures on leadership and capability development programs for women, advocacy for shared responsibility in the home, and the full implementation of the temporary special measures of the Magna Carta for Women, as well as other related laws and policies. News story from Manila Bulletin.
Filipina Trafficking Survivors Launch Damayan Cleaning Coop To Combat Exploitation
A story of resilience and tenacity. Ex-trafficked Filipina domestic worker Judith Daluz is turning her fate around. Judith recently started her own cleaning business, Damayan Cleaning Cooperative, a worker-owned cooperative supported by New York’s city council's Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative, a $1.2 million dollar fund directed to 11 organizations with experience incubating cooperatives in low-income communities of color. News story from YesMagazine.org.
Trafficked Filipino Teachers Win $4.5 Million Lawsuit Over LA-based Recruitment Company
Excerpt: A U.S. appeals court Monday, December 1 upheld a jury’s $4.5 million award to a class of roughly 350 Filipino teachers who accused recruitment companies of demanding they pay massive processing and placement fees or face losing their jobs in Louisiana. A class of 347 Filipino teachers, who came to the United States to work on H-1B guest worker visas, said recruitment agencies and their agents misled them and collected millions of dollars in fees, according to Courthouse News Service. They reportedly paid up to $16,000 each to work in public schools in Louisiana. News story from Inquirer.net.
Justice for Julieta: End Wage Theft Against Migrant Workers
On October 7th, 2015, Julieta Yang, a Filipina migrant worker employed as a live-in domestic worker filed a complaint in the San Francisco Superior Court against her former employers, tech executives Cameron Poetzscher and Varsha Rao.
The complaint alleges that the defendants, who are executives at Uber and Airbnb, failed to pay Ms. Yang the required minimum wage and overtime for all hours worked and failed to provide the required off-duty breaks. It also alleges that they created and maintained a sexually hostile work and home environment and failed to prevent harassment in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
News story courtesy of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus, Winnie Kao, Litigation Director, Senior Staff Attorney. Workers' Rights Program.