Migrante BC Conference Dec 3-4 on Building & Strengthening Workers’ Solidarity

Migrante BC Conference 2016

Migrante BC, a member of the BC Employment Standards Coalition, is hosting a conference on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program between December 3-4th, 2016. “Building & Strengthening Workers’ Solidarity” will be held at the Unifor Hall, 326 12th Street, New Westminster. The conference will include a presentation by Professor Ethel Tungohan from the Department of Political Science at York University.

For more details and registration info, please click here.

 

WCDWA Annual Post-Valentine’s Dinner & Dance Fundraiser Feb 20

12604933_529435833889574_156781708717972016_o The West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association, a member of the BC Employment Standards Coalition, is holding its Annual Post-Valentine’s Dinner & Dance Fundraiser on Saturday, February 20th at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church at 3150 Ash Street. Tickets are $20 for former or current caregivers, and $25 for community members.

Because the WCDWA faced a large cut-back in funding last year, it needs your support now more than ever. If you are able to support the WCDWA by purchasing tickets, or soliciting sponsorships from organizations or businesses in your community, please let the organization know by calling 604-669-4482 or contacting at natalie(at)wcdwa.ca.

Thank you for your support!

New report: “Access to Justice for Migrant Workers in BC”

At a forum in downtown Vancouver on Saturday, August 10th, the West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association (WCDWA) presented findings and recommendations from its new report, “Access to Justice for Migrant Workers in BC.” The report addresses a wide variety of inequities and forms of discrimination that are intrinsic to the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), along with the program’s successes. It also includes specific stories of abuse and injustice experienced by people in BC employed under this program. Next to Ontario, BC employs the second-highest number of TFWP workers in Canada.

Participants at the forum included a number of individuals employed under both the Live-In Caregiver Program and agricultural worker streams of the TFWP, as well as representatives and advocates from a number of organizations involved in migrant labour issues. Other participants included Vancouver-Kensington MLA Mable Elmore, Lorene Oikawa, Vice President of the BC Government Employees Union, Judith Diesta from the Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers’ and Caregivers’ Rights, Lucy Luna from the Agricultural Workers Alliance, and Al Li Lim, Staff Lawyer and Executive Director of WCDWA. Following the WCDWA’s presentation, participants engaged in a roundtable discussion on the issues addressed in the report, including how to better serve needs of people who are employed under the TFWP.

To read “Access to Justice for Migrant Workers in BC,” please click here.