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by Irwin Oostindie
Contrary to popular belief, slavery is alive and well, and rampant on a global scale. The modern-day slaves are migrant workers, and there are more than 85 million. According to the UN, this statistic will be 100 million by the year 2000.
The year 2000 is also when Philippine's President Fidel Ramos expects the US-dominated country to succeed in its "Total Employment Productivity Plan" under the oppressive Philippines 2000 development scheme. Migrant workers are the key to this, as well as for the IMF-World Bank "structural adjustment program" in the Philippines.
The tide of workers leaving the Philippines is joined by workers leaving Thailand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and elsewhere. Their destinations are construction jobs in the Middle East and the labor markets of Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, as well as North America and western Europe.
In many of these countries, these migrant "guest" workers are denied the most basic legal rights and protections. Those protections that are afforded to these workers are routinely ignored.
The result of this exploitation by the economically powerful countries is human slaves being shipped out with little or no rights or freedom. These international migrant workers serve as the labor commodity for economic production on a global scale.
These international migrant workers, both women and men, are the modern counterpart of the transport of slaves from previous centuries. But one of the major differences is the function of these workers within the 1990s global economy.
The rapid expansion of technology in the industrialized economies, with computers, robotics, and biological engineering, has brought the world into a post-industrial era.
In a speech to a 1994 international gathering of migrant workers' advocates, held in the Philippines, advocate Antonio Tujan described these market forces. The globalization of capital is a result of the integration of dominating countries, with super-monopolies and giant trans-national conglomerates. This creates further exploitation of the Third World and former Soviet-bloc countries, through unbalanced trade, loans, and investment of the north's surplus capital and goods.
The US economy is continuing to shrink, with 50,000 jobs eliminated each month in 1993. There has also been minimal growth in Japan and Germany. This trend has fueled the formalizing of the new world order, with the conclusion of the 1994 Uruguay Round of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), and the establishment of the new World Trade Organization (WTO).
The creation of the NAFTA, AFTA (Asian Free Trade Agreement), and European Community trading blocs is the key strategy to expanding markets for corporations. According to the UN Council on Trade and Development, currently 70% of world trade is controlled by transnational corporations. Antonio Tujan states, "Transnational investments and operations intensify exploitation of cheap labor power and raw materials," resulting in further degradation of the earth.
In addition to cheap labor export, governments also set up non-unionized "export processing zones" to attract business. Philippine writer Jeanne Frances Illo states that "much of the cheap labor is provided by women who are preferred by employers because of their 'natural feminine attributes' of dexterity and attention to detail."
Schemes to exploit workers is spelled out by the IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programs (SAPs). Designed to hit poorer economies, they allow wealthy countries to maintain their power over the third world. SAPs force the repayment of loans and debt servicing, thereby disabling these fledgling economies from competing in the global economy effectively.
The provision of cheap labor for the industrialized countries is also carried out by IMF-World Bank tactics. By crippling weak economies, multinationals are guaranteed cheap access to natural resources, and a regular market for the export of industrialized countries' consumer goods.
Mario Santiago states, "Under the present economic system—the global economy that we have—these workers are nothing but commodities who sell their labor power. While they seem to have their rights and freedom to choose the country of destination and their role as employees, from the experience of the Philippines, it is not a question of choice—it is forced choice."
Santiago continues, "The economic problems at home, with too few jobs available, is the result of the intense crisis of a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society. There is little way for people to earn money to support their family, other than going abroad."
The Philippine government, subservient to the US and Japan, is doing little to solve the ongoing problems of the country, with 60% of Filipinos without electricity, 67% without clean water close by, and 1,500 children dying each day from pneumonia and diarrhea (Philippine government statistics).
The Philippine government policy to send its people away is accomplishing more than just the raising of funds to pay against international loans. Santiago states that, "By sending people abroad to work, they diffuse the potential for social explosion and solve the problem of unemployment."
The remittances (wages sent home) of migrant workers to the Philippines has become the largest source of foreign exchange for the government. This accomplishment comes as the US-sponsored Philippine army continues to spend millions of dollars fighting an ongoing civil war with the (Maoist) New People's Army, Moslem separatists, and rebel military (right-wing) forces.
According to government statistics, the remittance of $2.53 billion in 1993 is already half of the foreign debt service of $4.57 billion. Santiago adds that "This amount is far larger than the foreign exchanges earned by traditional exports such as copra, sugar, minerals, and electronic components." Former President Corazon Aquino helped establish migrant workers as the number one export of the Philippines today. She called them "the modern-day heroes of the Philippines."
Donasco sees these state fundraising practices as solidly integrated with national economic policies for the Philippines. "When you look at the reduction of employment and re-entrenchment in the country, without saying it, you are creating a massive unemployment." For the Philippine government, Donasco continues, "there are no solid or basic industries anymore to absorb these unemployed workers. The best way is to send them out. It is an immediate relief for the economic crisis."
Santiago adds his own tongue-twister to the conversation: "Countries in the north send loans to the south, and the workers go north to earn money which they send back to the south, which is used to pay back the north." The added interest charged by the lending banks is also part of the north's profit cycle.
In terms of the Philippine's own needs, Santiago states, "All these remittances that go back home are not invested in the industrial development of the country, but simply for consumption, and loan payment. And since most of the consumer goods are coming from the north, you have most of the money ending up in the pockets of multinationals, plus the big compradors in the Philippines who import all these products."
Each host country provides its own framework for migrant workers. During the US war against Iraq, the presence of thousands of Filipino workers in the Middle East came to some of the world's attention. There are significant differences in the way migrant workers are treated in, for example, the US and Kuwait.
Donasco explains that with the approximately 1.5 million Filipinos in the Middle East, there isn't much difference with the US—both migrant workers are being paid cheaply without any prospect of long-term security of employment."
While most Filipinos in the US are legal immigrants, there are thousands of undocumented migrants working illegally in the US under terrible conditions. Filipino migrant workers started coming to the United States when the US colonized the Philippines in the end of the 19th century. The first batch of migrant workers found themselves in the plantations of Hawaii and the orchards of California. Ever since the United States has exploited the cheap labor of their colonies, as middle professionals, professionals, and undocumented workers were brought in.
In the Middle East, the typical role of migrant workers are as cheap laborers to help develop their economy. Santiago explains, "This is the type of work people in Kuwait would not want to do, such as construction and maintenance work. As well, they are low on population and need a supply of workers from abroad."
Back in the 1970s, US-backed dictator Ferdinand Marcos aggressively promoted the export of labor to the Middle East, which was rich in petroleum dollars.
Since the '70s, the deployment of labor overseas has been increasing rapidly, with government figures showing more than half a million in 1993, and a record 364,000 just in the first quarter of 1994. According to research by MIGRANTE, a Filipino migrant worker advocacy organization, the official statistics do not take into account legal immigrants, students, tourists, and mail-order brides, who are disguised migrant labor.
MIGRANTE reports that official Philippine government statistics show 68% of migrant workers going to the Middle East, 25% to Asia, 2% to the Americas, and 2% to Europe.
Officially, there are 1.5 million Filipino overseas workers in the US, (not including Filipinos who seek employment as illegals once abroad), and 165,000 in Canada (which includes legal immigrants). More than 50,000 are live-in domestic workers.
In the mainstream, it is often said that Canada is a country with a progressive immigration policy, but in fact foreign domestic workers are not treated equally as Canadian workers are treated.
Canada is also a country that purports to respect human rights, but is not a signatory to the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Migrant Workers. Cecilia Donasco finds that for the Canadian government, "It is not an issue of human rights, it is only treated as domestic labor policies, either nationally or provincially."
When Filipinos go to work in the Middle East, they are basically contract workers with a limit to how long they stay and work. They have to renew their contract almost every year. In Canada, most workers come as immigrants and are therefore expected to become part of Canadian society. Even domestic workers could file for permanent residency after two years of work and eventually file for immigrant status.
Canada has begun to review its policy on migrant workers as a result of the trickle-down effects of the international crisis of global capitalism. Santiago states that the Canadian government "would like domestic workers to come in purely as contract workers, with little or no chance of becoming residents."
Donasco adds that, "while this is not yet an official policy of immigration, there is a reduction of domestic workers to be processed as permanent residents. I think they are going to do this with a quota and with a point system. So for domestic workers, they are below the passing mark because, first of all, they are not considered skilled workers."
In Japan, where it is not legal to hire unskilled workers, small Japanese businesses, such as construction companies, would rather get illegal or undocumented migrant workers for the cheap labor. Filipino men also work in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
80% of male Filipinos in Japan work in this field, (approx. 125,000), and almost all are undocumented immigrants. 97% of Filipino women work as "entertainers," with 35% being undocumented. 378,000 workers left the Philippines for Japan in the first quarter of 1994 (Philippine government statistics).
Prior to the global economic recession in the mid-1980's, migrant workers leaving Asia were made up mostly of blue-collar workers and/or vocational graduates. Today in Canada the bulk of domestic helpers are former teachers and college graduates, and the majority of contract workers are licensed engineers and professionals.
"The government's mercenary policy has paid off," explains Antonio Tujan. "No matter the social costs and the (hardships) contract workers have to face to earn that precious dollar."
"First of all," states Tujan, "sending its trained labor force abroad...no country in its right mind would want to do." This phenomenon not only depletes the "human resources" of southern countries, but it also provides the north with well-trained workers in prime health.
Increasingly it is women who are forced abroad, resulting in the feminization of this trend. Now some 60% of these modern day slaves from the Philippines are women. Pressured to travel away from their home, their children, their culture, they work as entertainers, domestic workers and nurses.
Without their basic rights as workers, they are subject to repressive labor laws and marginalized in society. In Canada, for example, while forced to pay social security premiums and income tax, they are denied important legal rights and adequate social services.
Challenged by language barriers, cultural adaptation, and discrimination, migrant women face a double-edged sword. As domestic workers, they are subjected to: abusive live-in working conditions, often having passports confiscated; sexual abuse, harassment, and rape; under- or non-payment of wages; 50-80 hour work weeks—often with no overtime pay; and breach of contract.
In Manila, in Dec. 1994, the International Gathering of Filipino Migrant Women declared, that "a factor which has created a market for Filipino women as brides and entertainers overseas is the multi-million-dollar sex industry, which relies heavily on sex tourism. This pattern of massive Filipino female migration has created a situation where Filipino women have become known internationally as domestic helpers, entertainers, and mail-order brides. This has inevitably created an environment where they become even more vulnerable and exposed to violence, racism and trafficking."
Migrant workers are organizing internationally through various networks, including the Filipino organization MIGRANTE. By understanding better their situation, and gaining analysis, they are able to take action.
In the Philippines, for example, Donasco explains that the political atmosphere contributes to the organizing of migrant workers. "There are migrant workers who have been involved in the trade union movement in the Philippines. They have knowledge on how to organize workers, so when they go abroad, the tendency is to organize amongst themselves in order to survive."
Organizing in each country is a unique practice related to the level of oppression exercised by the host country. Some are a lot easier to organize than others. In the Middle East, countries like Saudi Arabia continue to deny the basic rights of workers to organize, stage strikes, and practice their religion. These are also the most notorious for human-rights violations.
"I know that from the experience of these organizers, they are very courageous and creative. They take a lot of risk in terms of their lives," declared Donasco.
Continuing, "I think Filipinos have a long history of resistance, and in the Philippines, it's no longer a secret that Americans were not our liberators, (first from the Spanish and then from the Japanese) but that they actually colonized and oppressed us. I think Filipino people are quite proud of the history of resistance against this force."
In North America or Europe, other Filipino immigrants help in the work of organizing. Santiago states how "they help raise their political understanding of their situation, including the political analysis of global migration and linking these to the economics of the structural adjustment programs."
The increasing phenomenon of migrant workers can be addressed at many levels. At the community level throughout North American cities by networking and providing support. Secondly, organizing in the sending countries, and thirdly, doing lobbying work at the international level. The ILO (International Labor Organization) of the UN has many processes engaged in the issue. Recently, migrant workers' issues were raised at international conferences such as the Rio Summit, the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, and the Conference on Population & Development.
When asked about the success, or lack thereof in outreach work in North American cities, Donasco replied, "I don't think domestic workers and farm workers are an isolated issue. In Canada, I think it is at the mainstream now. Even the women's movement, with the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, is having a campaign on domestic workers."
Donasco describes their commitment: "They identify the issue as an economic issue, women's work, they don't see it as a class issue. It is a gender issue, a class issue, and a race issue." Santiago adds, "Women of color are here as domestic workers so that the women of the north can join the work force outside of the home."
Donasco predicts that as the service sector increases, domestic workers will not just stay in the homes, but will move increasingly into public places. The more they clean shopping malls and office buildings, the more it will be identified as a labor issue, not just a women's issue.
"The other social movements have no choice, but to pick up the pieces and carry domestic workers' concerns. As women of color, if there were no barriers like racism, our struggle would speed up. But because of this number-one barrier, our struggle is not as fast as it could be."
In addition to the women's movement, many churches have supported the organizing work for an even greater length of time. In Hong Kong the churches financially support the work of organizing and providing services for migrant workers. In Canada, too, support comes from social justice committees of the churches.
"Eventually other movements, such as the trade unions, will support us, because...a division of labor is already being created. With skilled work gone, and available work limited to the service and unskilled sector, the face of racism will continue to rise, pitting workers against workers."
And about why the left movements have done limited organizing on international migrant workers, Santiago explains that "the ideological component is that domestic work is not considered part of the productive sector of society. (The traditional economy of the capitalist system.) For domestic workers, the work is in the home, and not in factories or other workplaces."
Santiago confirms that the decline in strength of socialist groups in North America may have also affected the consciousness of people who would otherwise be active allies.
"The current left would view the whole concept of foreign migration as secondary to their typical labor struggles here. In fact, some people just look at it as an extension of the problems of the south. These migrant workers, along with the cheap labor of the south, are taking away their jobs."
"People should look at where the weakest link of this global economy is. It is in the south, where the outflow of resources is much greater than the inflow. This global migration from the south to the centers of capital in the north is similar to those people in rural areas of North America who are forced by economic necessity to migrate to the cities because resources are flowing from rural areas to the urban areas."