Join us on Saturday, April 17th 6-8pm ET for a first look at a report by Damayan Migrant Workers Association and students at Barnard College on the impact of the pandemic on Filipino migrant workers. Hear directly from labor trafficking survivors and Damayan organizers on the way to move forward toward justice.

Please register here.

The aim of the report is to amplify the disproportionate impact that the pandemic had on the im/migrant Filipino community in New York. The people hardest hit have been the most vulnerable; labor trafficking survivors and undocumented Filipinos, which is the base of Damayan’s membership. Occupying jobs in the care and service sector; as caregivers, nannies, housekeepers, restaurant workers, grocery store employees, they were deemed essential by some but treated as disposable by the government. Excluded from unemployment insurance and pandemic relief, undocumented workers are forced to decide between exposing themselves to COVID-19 at work or staying at home but unable to afford basic necessities. 

In the face of this catch 22 community organizers mobilized food and financial relief to sustain the community. The one time relief is a mere bandaid on the rampant unemployment leading to housing and health crises. It is time for this community’s story to be known by the public and officials in a call to redress the systemic marginalization that led to this extreme suffering.  

To this end, Premilla Nadasen and her students at Barnard College came together with Damayan to amplify stories of suffering and resilience. Over the past four months, students of the Barnard Engages course Pandemic Tales and Damayan staff, worker leaders and labor trafficking survivors have collaborated on an enlightening report to amplify the stories of some of these frontline workers and organizers, humanizing the statistics, and illuminating the impact of exclusion from government protection. This tale of government neglect and community resilience becomes clear during a pandemic, but it speaks to the systemic ills in the US that needs healing. 

Please register for the event here.