WHO:  Single & Straight* friends, family and community members age 30+

WHAT:  take a leap: speed dating mixer and FAJ fundraiser

WHERE:  Spice Monkey Restaurant, 1628 Webster Street, Oakland (Webster @ 17th)

WHEN:  Leap Day, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 6:30-8:30PM

WHY:  just for fun, to meet new friends, and, maybe, to find love

* If you are not straight and are interested in participating in future  lgbtq speed dating fundraisers, please email aktacdol@gmail.com

RESERVE YOUR SPOT IN OUR FUNDRAISER IN TWO STEPS:

1. Fill out this Google Form with your information so we can best match you: Fill out this Form
2. Pay $40+ (it is a fundraiser, so please donate generously!).
   You can pay online: Click Here
   You can also drop off or mail a check at: 310 8th Street, Suite 308, Oakland, CA 94607.

NOT SINGLE? PLAY CUPID IN TWO STEPS:
If you are NOT single you can still play cupid by sponsoring a single friend to attend the event or just donating to help make this event happen!

1. Fill out this Google Form with your information so we can best match you: Fill out this Form
2. Pay $40+ (it is a fundraiser, so please donate generously!).
   You can pay online: Click Here
   You can also drop off or mail a check at: 310 8th Street, Suite 308, Oakland, CA 94607.

——————————

Domestic workers are mothers and grandmothers who do the work that makes all other work possible!

Join us as we call for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, Assembly Bill 889. The Children’s March and press conference will be followed by lobby visits and a children’s festival.

Visit www.domesticworkers.org for more information on Bill AB889!

Event Information
When: Tues. January 24, 2011, 10:00am – 3:00pm
(Caravans depart from Oakland and San Francisco @ 8:00am & return by 5:00pm)
Where: State Capitol Building
West Side Steps (10th St. between N St. and L St.) Sacramento, CA

IF YOU NEED A RIDE, PLEASE REGISTER FOR BUS SPACE BY CLICKING HERE.

Accessible transportation, childcare, and interpretation is available upon request.

Please invite friends, family and others in your community to join us in this year’s largest event in support of the Domestic Worker’s Bill of Rights.

If you are unable to join us for the Children’s March in Sacramento, join us for the Children’s March sign-making, “stroller dance” practice, and Press Conference on Wed. January 18, 10:30 – 11:30am at the SF Women’s Building (3543 18^th Street at Valencia).

RSVP with Katie Joaquin by calling (510) 465-9876 or email her kjoaquin [at] filipinos4justice.org

Let’s make this year the year of the domestic worker!

Please donate $25, $50, $100 or whatever amount you want by clicking here.

Your tax deductible donation of $100 will allow FAJ to contact and mobilize 20 voters to the polls in support of progressive issues in 2012.  No other organization provides services and develops leaders in the Filipino community in the East Bay for as long as FAJ has.

To hear how they have been personally impacted by the economic crisis, please watch this short video:

Filipinos are speaking out about the economic inequities. Help us take this momentum to the polls.

Please donate $25, $50, $100 or whatever amount you want by clicking here.

Check out FAJ’s media coverage to catch up on some of the other work they’ve been doing.

To see more footage from the Nov. 2nd General Strike press conference, click here.

P.S. Your tax deductible donation of $100 will allow FAJ to contact and mobilize 20 voters to the polls in support of progressive issues in 2012.  No other organization provides services and develops leaders in the Filipino community in the East Bay for as long as FAJ has. 

Join us for a short press conference on 11/2 at 11 am in the Conference Room, 1st floor of the Asian Resource Center 310 8th St. Oakland, CA 94610 (press advisory below)

We will march as a group to Oscar Grant Plaza (City Hall) at 11:30 and meet up with other organizations. Meet us in the lobby near the 8th St. entrance.

Solidarity Statement: Tayo Ang 99% / We are the 99%:

Filipino Advocates for Justice Stands in Solidarity with Occupy Oakland

Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ) supports the “OCCUPY Movement” including the right of Occupy Oakland to peacefully encamp at Oscar Grant Plaza to speak their grievances.

We are in agreement that we need to end corporate greed and the vast accumulation of wealth by a tiny minority. We agree with the growing belief that corporations (especially financial institutions) and the rich are responsible for the economic crisis and have an obligation to help us recover. It is time that the rich and corporations pay a fair tax so we can restore the quality of life we call the American Dream.

There’s no justice in a system that serves the top 1% at the expense of the bottom 99%. Banks and corporations, some of whom received government bailouts, are reporting increased earnings and rewarding executives with multi-million dollar bonuses, while the 99% feel no recovery. For the 99% the cost of living is out of control. Our treasured institutions like public schools, libraries, public parks, and support services for the more vulnerable are suffering for lack of revenue. High unemployment, home foreclosures, teacher layoffs, school closures, soaring college tuitions, public safety layoffs, and cut backs in programs for the elderly make a joke of the American Dream. It is no wonder the 99% are so angry in the U.S. and globally.

In the Filipino community people like Romy lost his good paying industrial job in the plant closures of the 1990’s and has never been able to get another decent paying job like it. There was never a recovery for him. Josefina, now 78 years old, lost her job as an airport screener after 9/11, and must now piece together a few hours here and there as a caregiver. She is underpaid (even when working for rich people), exploited and has few labor rights. Nyda who would rather have stayed in the Philippines, has to help support her adult children who are working all over the planet because the Philippine economy is buried under massive debt.

We support the Occupy movement because immigrants are blamed for America’s economic meltdown, when in fact, they are victims of the global financial crisis AND trade policies like NAFTA, which causes poverty and the displacement of people around the world. While our government is focused on incarcerating hundreds of thousands of immigrants in detention centers for profit and deports over 400,000 last year, only a handful of Wall Street executives responsible for bringing our economic system to its knees have been punished. Use tax dollars to go after the stolen wealth, not immigrants!

The 99% are waking up. 85% of the 600 Filipino voters we surveyed favor a California ballot measure that would make corporations and the wealthy pay a fair tax to insure a better life for future generations.

The media says this movement is not focused, but that is not true. Clearly, we want a greater share of the wealth that we helped create. We want Wall Street to pay (big time) for the damage it did to the U.S. economy. We want our elected officials to stop taking corporate contributions and represent the 99%. We want democracy for the 99% in the U.S. AND for the 99% of the world.

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** Media Advisory **

Contact: Geraldine Alcid, (415) 823-3489– galcid[at]filipinos4justice.org

Andrea Tacdol, (510) 435-4343 – aktacdol[at]gmail.com

Tayo Ang 99%/We are the 99%

Filipino Advocates for Justice calls on our community to support the Occupy Movement

WHAT: Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ) will be holding a press conference highlighting diverse speakers from the Filipino Community. From seniors to college graduates, domestic workers to youth the majority of our community has been feeling the ramifications of the economic downturn. We believe that Filipinos are the 99% and that US and corporations need to put the needs of its people before profit. Following the press conference, FAJ will be gathering a contingent of Filipinos to march in support of Oakland’s General Strike.

WHO: Katie Joaquin, Filipino Advocates for Justice Staff Member

List of Speakers (TBA)

Concerned citizens

WHERE: Asian Resource Center (1st Floor Conference Room)

310 8th Street, Oakland, CA,

WHEN: Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Press Conference – 11:00AM

Filipino Contingent to March – 11:30AM

VISUALS: Diverse Filipinos will be holding signs and banners during press conference and will be marching to join the larger contingent.

FAJ kicked off a 9 week campaign to survey Filipino voters in Oakland and Union City about taxing the wealthiest 1% and corporations as part of the Take Back the American Dream Campaign 2011 of  Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV).

As the growing Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate greed and the super-rich captures attention globally, voters may have an opportunity to weigh in on fiscal reforms and the budget on the 2012 ballot.  Many of the voters (democrats and republicans) reached by FAJ  phone bankers report dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, corporate greed, and the gross disparity between the wealthiest Americans and the average person.

The “Take Back the American Dream Campaign” will offer a compelling narrative aimed at capturing the hearts and minds of everyday people based on the core values that the majority of our communities share, rather than on the issues that have traditionally divided us

The American Dream promises equality for all. The opportunity for all people — immigrants, and communities of color included — to send their children to good schools and universities, purchase homes, and quality care for our elders.  However, the revenue that supports the very institutions charged with opening opportunities for our communities are under attack.  Every year, the poor and middle class pay disproportionately more in taxes while the rich pay a smaller and smaller share.  This trend has led to a 200+% increase in tuition at public colleges and universities over the past decade, teacher lay-offs, slashed services for seniors and the poor,  cuts to county hospitals and more.

The “Take Back the American Dream Campaign” takes on the misconception that taxes are bad.  The Campaign will fight for fair and just tax and fiscal reform at the local and state levels by piloting a voter engagement and ethnic media campaign that contributes to major wins for tax and fiscal reform at the ballot box in November 2012.

For more information or to get involved, contact us at 510.465.9876.

September 12th marked Philippine News’ 50th Anniversary and Awards celebration.  They honored FAJ’s Executive Director, Lillian Galedo with their Justice Advocate award which Pulitzer Prize recipient Jose Antonio Vargas presented to her.

50th Anniversary honorees were selected for unique categories of community service.  Other recipients that were in attendance at the event included: community organizer Alice Bulos; broadcast journalist Lloyd LaCuesta; political strategist Mona Pasquil; and philanthropist Monalisa Yuchengco.  Other Award recipients included:  Black Eyed Peas,  pop star Api.de.Ap; technology innovator Dado Banatao; TV star dancer Cheryl Burke; presidential physician Dr. Connie Mariano; sports hero Manny Paquiao; and Philippine News founders/community champions Alex and Luly Esclamado.

Congratulations Lillian!

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF DOMESTIC WORKERS & AB 889 THE DOMESTIC WORKER BILL OF RIGHTS

WHEREAS, California’s domestic workers—comprised of housekeepers, nannies, and caregivers for children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly—work in private households to care for the health, safety and well-being of the most important aspects of Californians’ lives, their families and homes; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers play a critical role in California’s economy, working to ensure the health and prosperity of California families and freeing others to participate in the workforce, which is increasingly necessary in these difficult economic times; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers across the state of California have joined together to form the California Domestic Workers’ Coalition to achieve social and economic justice and secure much-needed protections for domestic workers under California’s labor laws; and

WHEREAS, The National Domestic Workers Alliance is organizing domestic workers across the United States to end the exclusion of domestic workers from federal labor protections, and the International Domestic Workers Network, made up of domestic worker organizations across the world, has formed to fight exploitation and abuse by creating and advancing international standards in the industry; andWHEREAS, The National Domestic Worker Alliance and the AFL-CIO have entered into a formal partnership, through which the National Domestic Worker Alliance and the AFL-CIO commit to promote the ability of each organization to advance the workplace rights of domestic workers and create new protections where none exist; and

WHEREAS, The treatment of domestic service workers under federal and state laws has historically reflected stereotypical assumptions about the nature of domestic work, specifically that the relationship between employer and “servant” was “personal,” rather than commercial, in character; that employment within a household was not “real” productive work; and that women did not work to support their families; and

WHEREAS, The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.), which Congress enacted to ensure a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, excluded domestic workers from its protection at a time when 60% of African American women workers were employed as domestic workers; and

WHEREAS, The vast majority of domestic workers are women of color and immigrants who, because of race and sex discrimination and fear of deportation, are particularly vulnerable to unlawful employment practices and abuses; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers usually work alone, behind closed doors, and out of the public eye, leaving them isolated, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and unable to advocate collectively for better working conditions; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers often labor under harsh conditions, work long hours for low wages without benefits or job security, and face termination without notice or severance pay, leaving many suddenly without both a job and a home; and

WHEREAS, Most domestic workers work to support families and children of their own and more than half are primary income earners, yet two-thirds of domestic workers earn low wages or wages below the poverty line; and

WHEREAS, Many live-in domestic workers are not permitted to make basic decisions regarding the food they eat or to cook or heat their meals; and

WHEREAS, In the worst cases, domestic workers are verbally and physically abused or sexually assaulted, forced to sleep in conditions unfit for human habitation, and stripped of their privacy and dignity; and

WHEREAS, Many employers desire to treat their caregivers and housekeepers fairly, but do not have the information to guide them in setting terms of employment, and may never develop a formal contract or clearly establish the rights and obligations each party owes to the other; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers are still excluded from the most basic protections afforded the rest of the labor force under state and federal law, including the rights to fair wages, safe and healthy working conditions, workers’ compensation, protection from discriminatory and abusive treatment, and to engage in collective bargaining; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers are excluded under the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.), leaving them unprotected when asking for respect of their basic rights and unable to collectively bargain for conditions allowing them to labor in dignity; and

WHEREAS, Domestic workers whose primary work is to care for children, the elderly, or persons with disabilities are excluded from overtime protections, meal and rest breaks, and reporting time pay under California law, and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act exempts live-in domestic workers from overtime provisions and exempts “companions” for the elderly and the infirm, and “casual” babysitters, from federal minimum wage and overtime provisions; and

WHEREAS, Household employees who work less than 52 hours in the 90 days prior to sustaining an injury are excluded from California workers’ compensation coverage, leaving many domestic workers without an adequate remedy for injuries suffered in the course of their employment; and

WHEREAS, Because domestic workers do not have the right to a minimum number of consecutive hours of uninterrupted sleep, they are often woken up repeatedly throughout the night, leaving them sleep deprived, vulnerable to illness, and unable to provide proper care for those in their charge; and

WHEREAS, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is the sponsor of the “Domestic Worker Bill of Rights;”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LABOR ALLIANCE (APALA) ON OUR 11TH BIENNAL CONVENTION

That coverage of domestic workers under state and federal labor law should be extended as an expression of respect for their dignity and equality and the importance of the work they perform, and a rejection of antiquated and long-discredited stereotypes about domestic work;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That APALA urges the California legislature and the Governor of California to pass AB 889 “Domestic Worker Bill of Rights” sponsored by the California Domestic Workers’ Coalition;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That APALA chapters in California shall distribute this Resolution to all other California Labor Councils or County Labor Associations, as well as to all California APALA members, urging them to endorse this bill.

Submitted by Josie Camacho, Kim Geron & Katie Joaquin on behalf of the Alameda APALA Chapter

Adopted July 24, 2011

For more information, contact Katie Joaquin
510. 465.9876 x301

Committee approves sensible clear guidelines benefiting domestic workers and employers

SACRAMENTO ­ Today the California Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee voted 5-2 in favor of AB 889. The bill ­ also known as the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, extends basic, humane labor protections to thousands of nannies, caregivers, and house cleaners and improves the quality of care for California’s families.

Sponsored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), the bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for approval.

Co-sponsored by Assemblymembers Allen (D- Sonoma), Cedillo (D- LA), Ma (D- San Francisco), Fuentes (D-San Fernando), Ma (D-San Francisco), Monning (D- Santa Cruz) and Senator De Léon. The bill seeks to remove the exclusion of domestic workers from basic wage and hour protections which the vast majority of California workers already enjoy. The current exemptions for domestic workers are confusing and leave well-meaning employers vulnerable to liability. AB 889 sets industry-wide standards that will help keep the industry above-ground.“Today’s Senate vote was a historic step forward for the rights of domestic workers in California. For decades domestic work has been excluded from both state and federal labor laws and worker exploitation in this industry has remained invisible and unmonitored.

AB 889 will end that by establishing the same basic protections under the law that many of us take for granted,” said Ammiano.

“This legislation helps us to bring a critical workforce out of the shadows and into the light of day.  Domestic workers must be assured the rights and protections that all California workers deserve,”  said V. Manuel Pérez, chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy.

“If AB 889 were law 20 years ago,” said retired household worker Julia Quintero, “I would not have had to endure the physical and psychological abuse from my employer. AB 889 can bring justice by mandating minimum standards for employers!”

“Today we commend Senators Lieu, Padilla, Yee, Leno and DeSaulnier for listening to the voices of their constituents and moving forward legislation to correct a historic injustice,” said Eric Greene, Southern California Regional Director of Progressive Jewish Alliance & Jewish Funds for Justice.

“We thank them for their leadership in voting to extend the same basic rights and protections that many in the workplace already enjoy. Not only will this bill improve the lives of workers and their families, it will improve the lives of the families, children, elderly, and disabled who they care for and nurture every day. Protecting the health, safety and well-being of domestic workers will lead to better home care, fewer mistakes from exhaustion and less worker injury.”

The Senate Committee vote follows the passage of the bill in the California Assembly and last year’s successful passage of a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New York. Domestic workers have historically been exempted from laws governing the rights afforded to other workers -decent wages, a safe and healthy workplace health, workers compensation and other labor protections.

Domestic workers are among the most isolated and vulnerable workforce in the state. The unique nature of their work requires protections to prevent abuse and mistreatment from occurring behind closed doors, out of the public eye.

This bill provides domestic workers with industry-specific protections to use kitchen facilities and cook their own food, and creates standards for sleep, for meal and rest breaks and overtime wages.

“The Bill of Rights creates helpful guidelines for employers of domestic workers.  Employers have a vested self-interest in this campaign- by working to support the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, we are investing in building communication and trust with workers who support some of the most intimate parts of our lives, providing home care to people with disabilities and elders, or caring for our children and our homes,” said Jessica Lehman, employer of a personal attendant in her home and a member of Hand in Hand: Domestic Employer Association.

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Contact: Quintin Mecke: 415.557.3013  (Office); 415.505.2417  (Cell); Grecia Lima, CA Domestic Workers Coalition: 415.488.6177; Xiomara Corpena, CHIRLA, 323.606.3082; Katie Joaquin, Filipino Advocates for Justice: 510.465.9876

Grecia Lima

Campaign Director, CA Domestic Worker Coalition

3543 18th St. #23 San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 621 – 8140 Cell: (415) 488 – 6177

grecia [at] mujeresunidas.net

Please take a few minutes today to support domestic workers: Click Here

The California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (AB 889)  is the next step in making Decent Work for Domestic Workers a reality.  The AB 889 will put Domestic Workers on equal footing with other worker guaranteeing them basic provision such as:

• Meal and Rest Breaks
• Overtime Pay
• Workers Compensation
• Uninterrupted Sleep for live-in workers

On Wednesday July 6, our bill will be heard in the Senate Labor Committee.  Please contact Labor Committee Chair, Ted Leiu and the other Senate Labor Committee members and let them know that their support of AB 889 is critical in ensuring that these workers have the same basic protections as all workers and that California should be in stride with global worker standards!