"The Last Sip" Features Damayan Workers Cooperative
DAMAYAN MIGRANTS | April 15, 2018
"The Cooperative is a way for us as trafficking survivors, regardless of status, to support our needs. In the cooperative, we are the owners and we are the workers." - Damayan Organizer and Trafficking Survivor, Lydia Catina-Amaya
Damayan is honored to have been featured on the premiere 4/15 episode of The Last Sip on Free Speech TV! Damayan Organizer, Damayan Workers Cooperative Board Member and Labor Trafficking Survivor, Lydia Catina-Amaya and Damayan's Executive Director, Linda Oalican, joined host Imara Jones to discuss the power of worker co-ops for marginalized people. Linda and Lydia spoke with Imara about how the Damayan Workers Cooperative is giving trafficking survivors the power to own their labor.
Damayan also participated in a live Twitter chat with Imara Jones and The New York Women's Foundation to discuss Damayan's work in helping women escape trafficking and the ways in which we help to rebuild survivor's lives. To read the chat, follow Damayan on Twitter: @DamayanMigrants or read below:
Imara Jones-
Q1: What are the main ways that Damayan helps women trafficked into the United States?
New York Women's Foundation:
A1. @DamayanMigrants empowers low-wage workers to self-organize and fight for their labor, health, gender and immigrant rights. They provide women who have been trafficked with paths to dignified employment
A1. At @nywomensfdn, 1 of our guiding principles in grantmaking is that holistic & sustainable solutions come from within the community and they embody that principle.
A1. We invited one of @DamayanMigrants's participants, Jean, to speak at our Celebrating Women Breakfast last year to tell us her story of strength and courage. Click here to watch her tell her incredible story: https://youtu.be/uj-THEGAkCA?t=1h2m55s …
Damayan:
Damayan Provides:
Know Your Rights trainings on labor and human trafficking, legal and social services referrals, case management and we enroll them in the Trafficking Victims Assistance Program..
We also provide direct financial assistance to survivors and families through TVAP, peer, community & organizational support. We also help them petition their children and spouses for family reunification.
To date, we have helped 34 survivors receive Trafficking Visas, 22 of them reunited their families, including 42 children and 13 spouses.
Q2: How does it help women who are essentially bonded get free from these circumstances? @DamayanMigrants @NYWomensFdn @imarajones #TheLastSip
Damayan:
The first challenge is how to connect to these extremely isolated workers, so we do extensive outreach and community education through flyering, Facebook, Know Your Rights Trainings, legal clinics and monthly workers meetings.
In most cases, it is by word of mouth-- one-on-one connection of our survivors to trafficked workers who are still in the shadows.
When we are successful in reuniting families, we go on the Filipino channel, Balitang America, and we get responses from trafficked workers. They call us or contact us on FB, or send a friend to our office on their behalf.
Once connected we make sure that the worker is educated about her rights and when she is ready to escape, we help her with her escape plan. In most cases we, actually help them implement the escape plan. #thelastsip
Imara Jones-
Q3: What are the main elements in rebuilding women's lives after the trafficking situation? @DamayanMigrants @NYWomensFdn @imarajones #thelastsip
Damayan:
First, we help them win their case for humanitarian assistance. We provide case management and continue working with trafficking lawyers. We also help them reunite their families. #thelastsip
We help them meet their basic needs (housing, food, transportation,and basic health services) by connecting them to social services providers and working with the Philippine Consulate to access their Distressed Nationals program #thelastsip
Then we help them get jobs. Trafficked workers cannot provide local employment referrals, which is very important for them to get jobs. This is where the Damayan Workers Cooperative becomes helpful in enabling survivors back to their feet. #thelastsip
Imara Jones:
And it’s why the @DamayanMigrants workers cooperative is an important model for economic empowerment.
Damayan:
A workers cooperative like the Damayan Workers Cooperative, is owned and controlled by marginalized women, like trafficking survivors. #thelastsip
Any hardworking domestic worker or low-wage worker can be a business owner under a cooperative, which is why this model works best for trafficking survivors. It is a business that is open to all immigrants. #thelastsip
Imara Jones:
The workers own their labor. #workercooperatives #workercoops
Damayan:
Yes, that is why the cooperative model is an excellent business opportunity for trafficking survivors. In a cooperative, the voices of marginalized women of color can be heard and can make decisions about wages, work conditions and benefits. #thelastsip
Imara Jones-
Last question: Why is a workers cooperative an economic and jobs model for marginalized women? @NYWomensFdn @DamayanMigrants @imarajones #TheLastSip
New York Women's Foundation:
By prioritizing worker autonomy, co-ops provide more sustainable long-term employment. To learn more about the success of worker coops, check out this piece written by our CEO and President, Ana Oliveira: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-labor-day-story-can-worker-cooperatives-lift-women_us_59a82e6ce4b096fd8876c108 … #TheLastSip
Worker cooperatives are sustainable job models because it allows them to have full control of their business and eliminates the possibility of stolen wages. They are owned, directed, and managed by the employees. @DamayanMigrants #TheLastSip
Imara Jones:
Thank you for joining us for this week's chat with @DamayanMigrants & @NYWomensFdn! Be sure to watch @DamayanMigrants on the premiere episode of #TheLastSip:
New York Women's Foundation:
Thank you for having us @thelastsipnews @DamayanMigrants! If you'd like to support worker cooperatives, please visit: https://nycworker.coop/business-directory/ … for a listing of worker coops in NYC. #TheLastSip https://twitter.com/thelastsipnews/status/985944717404852224 …
Damayan:
Thank you @imarajones, @NYWomensFdn, and @thelastsipnews!
Imara Jones:
And to you for the crucial help you give to The among the most marginalized women.