Please mark your calendars: the Annual General Meeting of the BC Employment Standards Coalition will be held on Wednesday, 22 June at 5 pm in Boardroom 3 of the Maritime Labour Centre (111 Victoria Drive, Vancouver).
Migrant workers, activists with Justicia for Migrant Workers and the filmmakers celebrating the sold-out premiere of Migrant Dreams in Toronto on May 1st, 2016.
Migrant Dreams depicts how, for many farm workers, the dream of a well-paying job becomes a nightmare when they are deceived into paying outrageous fees to brokers and recruiters, and how their employers impose curfews, confiscate passports, and charge exorbitant rental fees for cockroach-infested apartments. This investigative exposé documents the struggle of a group of women from Indonesia who, with the help of Evelyn and Cathy, two tireless community activists, take a stand and confront their employer. Thus, it not only focuses on structural conditions of exploitation for migrant workers, but also their stories of strength, resilience and love.
The film will be shown on Saturday, May 7th, at Cinematheque in Vancouver, starting at 2:00 PM. Ticket information: http://www.doxafestival.ca/film/migrant
Interview with Min Sook Lee and Evelyn Encalada on CBC’s The Current: http://bit.ly/1T6S4F7
As of today, BC’s minimum wage is the lowest in Canada. Communities are rallying to send 
a strong message to Premier Clark: we need a $15/hour minimum wage.
Friday, April 15th is a huge day for the Fight for $15 campaign. It is Canada’s first official Fight for $15 National Day of Action. The BC Employment Standards Coalition supports this campaign, led by the BC Federation of Labour, and those who are joining with allied campaigns right across Canada and the United States in the fight for fair wages.
The rally will take place at Canada Place in Vancouver on Friday, April 15th at 5:00 pm. There will be music, performers, and speeches to help send a message to Christy Clark and the BC Liberal Government that low pay is not okay! Join in for an after party at the Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir St, starting at 6:30 pm.
Please bring your colleagues, friends, and family to this critical rally. Let’s ensure our voices are heard.
If you are not in the Lower Mainland, you can support the day of action on Twitter #fightfor15bc and on Facebook by sharing posts and photos. If you’d like to organize an event in your community, contact the BC Federation of Labour office at 604-430-1421.
Together, we can build an economy that works for everyone.
In this week’s The Province, family physicians Dr. Danyaal Raza and Dr. Ryan Meili call for guaranteed sick leave across Canada.
Back in November, we posted about a campaign launched by our health worker colleagues in Ontario calling for paid sick leave and an end to requiring doctor’s notes. At present, the only province in Canada with guaranteed sick leave entitlement in its employment standards legislation is Prince Edward Island (one day of sick leave after five years of continuous employment with the same employer). In their op-ed, Raza and Meili suggest looking to San Francisco as a model for progressive paid sick leave policies.
You can read their op-ed here.
The West Coast Domestic Workers Association (WCDWA), a member of our Coalition, is partnering with Reel Causes for an exciting film night fundraiser on March 17th: Gone. But Not Forgotten. An Artful Evening of Awareness & Action on Human Trafficking. The WCDWA will be speaking about labour trafficking on the panel following the film and is holding a silent auction at the event.
Gone. But Not Forgotten, is a special artful evening of awareness and action on human trafficking in support of West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association and Children of the Street Society, the event’s Community Causes.
Betrayed: Portraits of Strength, a stunning and compassionate photo exhibit by Tony Hoare, starts the evening. A humanitarian photographer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Tony has spent the last three years documenting trafficking survivors in Asia, Africa and Latin America. His exhibit introduces us to some of the people he met, accompanied by their stories told in their own words.
You’ll also catch Vancouver’s premiere of Richie Mehta’s multiple award-winning Siddharth, a rich, multi-layered drama that exquisitely captures both the realism of modern India and an impoverished family’s cross-country search for their young son who may have been trafficked. The film was inspired by Mehta’s encounter with a father in India whose son had disappeared under similar circumstances.
Critically acclaimed by reviewers, Siddharth won the Grand Prize at 2014 Heartland Film Festival for Best Narrative Feature, Tiantan Award for Best Feature Film at the 4th Beijing International Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at the South Asian International Film Festival, and Best World Feature at the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival.
After the film, the conversation will be opened up with a Q&A and moderated panel with local anti-trafficking activists and advocates.
