Workers Academy is Back
Akala ko matindi na ang pinagdaanan ko, pero mas grabe pa ang pinagdaanan ng mga kasama ko dito sa workshop. Di ako kumakain noon; 1 apple lang sa isang araw. Sweldo ko noon $8/hour. Kasi di ko alam rights ko eh. Pero ine-encourage ako nila Linda at Riya (ng Damayan). Naging inspirasyon ko ang Damayan, at finally humingi na ako ng tulong. (I thought I had gone through a lot, but hearing what my fellow attendees here in this workshop went through was even worse. I used to not be able to eat before; only 1 apple a day. My salary was $8/hour. I didn’t know my rights. But Linda and Riya (of Damayan) encouraged me. Damayan became my inspiration, and I was finally able to ask for help.) - Eva, caregiver, trafficking survivor, Workers Academy attendee.
Sharing stories as migrants in the People’s Forum
Last Saturday, the Workers Academy series finally resumed after a two-year hiatus during the pandemic. True to its mission to organize low-wage Filipino workers to combat labor trafficking, promote human and workers’ rights and develop social justice leaders, Damayan mounted Workers Academy back in 2015. Bringing together domestic workers, caregivers, nannies, restaurants workers, part 1 of the workshop series paved the way for intensive analysis on our personal stories of migration and how it is directly affected by a bigger system in place in the Philippines and in the US. Succeeding workshops will tackle Know Your Labor Rights, Know Your Immigration Rights, Labor Trafficking 101, and Damayan orientation on its services in case management and helping survivors connect with pro bono attorneys. Workers Academy has impacted more 60 survivors, empowering them to move their labor cases forward, winning their T visas for themselves and their derivatives, and reigniting the fire in them to fight for justice and becoming social justice leaders. Many of Damayan’s organizing team members are graduates of Workers Academy, turning their survivor stories into inspiring stories of resilience and of standing up to help fellow survivors and the community.
The Worker’s Academy Part 1 ended with a group photo and a message of hope and reflection for all attendees
Workers Academy is a 4-part series and we encourage attendees to complete the 4 workshops. We strongly encourage those who have ongoing, pending, or closed labor cases or think you may have one to attend in-person. If you don’t have a case, but want to join and learn from Workers Academy, please join us online. Workshop 1 attendees are invited to the succeeding workshops. If you missed the first workshop, you can still attend workshops 2, 3, and 4. Registration is required as seating in the venue is limited.
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