Domestics' Cross-Cultural News monthly newsletter of the International Coalition to End Domestics' Exploitation

JUNE 1985

MINISTERS MEET IMMIGRANT WOMEN sultation elected an 'Action Commi- ttee' to continue the liaison with On June 1-3, 1985, a national con- the Ministers. The Honourable Jack sultation with immigrant and visi- Murta assured the women that each ble-minority women took place in minister would reply in writing to Ottawa with ministers in the Mul- the concerns in the brief, and that roney Government. Among the groups they would meet with the 'Action invited to attend were the Congress Committee' in September, 1985. of Black Women of Canada, the Cana- dian Council of M~slim Women, the Among those elected to the 'Action National Council of Jewish Women of Committee' was INTERCEDE co-ordina- Canada, and INTERCEDE. tor Judith Ramirez.

\ The consultation was initiated by Representatives from 'mainstream' Multiculturalism Minister Jack Mur- organizations, such as the National ta, and it also included Health and Action Committee on the Status of welfare Minister , Employ- Women and the Canadian Labour Con- ment and Immigration Minister Flora gress, also attended the consulta- MacDonald, and Secretary of State tion as observers. Walter McLean. 1984 STATISTICS Approximately forty-five women met in closed sessions to draft a brief on issues dealing with health and Immigration Minister Flora MacDonald social services, employment and recently released the 1984 statis- training, immigration policy, lan- tics on the Foreign Domestics Pro- guage programs, and funding. The gram to INTERCEDE. brief contains concrete recommenda- tions for changes in government po- Although the Program continues to licy. have a high landing rate in its third year - over 90% - there are some dis- In a three-hour session with the turbing trends in evidence. The re- Ministers, on June 3, the women pre- jection rates vary significantly sented highlights from the brief across Canada, from a low of 2% in and heard initial responses from and British Columbia to a government representatives. In the high of 19% in Saskatchewan. section on 'immigration', concerns about the rights of foreign domestic Another cause for concern is the stea- workers were put forward. The brief dy rise in the rejection rate: 2% in emphasizes the steady rise in rejec- 1982, 5% in 1983, 7% in 1984. When tions under the Foreign Domestics taken together with a 30% drop in the Program, and the need to fund commu- number of requests for landing in 19- nity-based counselling. It urges the 84, a 15% drop in landings, and a 25% government to continue funding the rise in rejections, 1984 figures are INTERCEDE Service Unit. worrisome.

The participants at the Ottawa con- The rate of entry into Canada of fo- - 2 -

LILIBETH'S CALENDAR 1984 STATISTICS (con't)

Recent happenings reign domestic workers is keeping pace : there were 4,390 in 1984 as * on May 24 INTERCEDE attended a compared to 3,569 in 1983 - an in- public forum on "Health Needs of crease of 23%. The number of renewals the People in the Philippines" for domestics already in Canada is al- at the Ontario Institute for Stu- so relatively constant: there were dies in Education 11,375 in 1984 as compared to 12,136 * on June 1 Judith Ramirez was the in 1983 - a slight decrease of 6%. keynote speaker at a conference on "Women and Work" in Edmonton The total number of foreign domestic workers in Canada stood at 15,707 in * on June 3 INTERCEDE attended a 1983 and 15,767 in 1984. national consultation in Ottawa between Multiculturalism Minister INTERCEDE is making a formal submis- Jack Murta and representatives of sion to Immigration Minister Flora immigrant and visible-minority wo- MacDonald to express our concerns men A preliminary meeting was held on Coming up soon June 28, 1985, in Ottawa, with the Mi- nister's Special Advisor Dennison Moo- * on Sunday, July 7, INTERCEDE will re. hold its Annual General Meeting at 58 Cecil Street, 2-5pm. Guest speaker: Akua Benjamin, of the KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Congress of Black Women of Canada * on August 11 Tanglaw Ng Kabataan If you have been residing in Canada is sponsoring' a pilgrimage to our for more than one year, and you have Lady of Fatima, in Youngstown, NY. with you one or more dependents, un- For information and tickets, call der the age of eighteen, whom you are (416) 252-4510 or 532-1155 supporting, you can apply for the 'Ba- by Bonus' through the Department of ... AND CONGRATULATIONS! Health and Welfare. * to CONCEPTION URBINA who gratuated You must first obtain a form from last month from a Health Care Aid Health and Welfare and you must also course we're proud of you! submit a letter from Revenue Canada stating that you have been remitting * to AMY SUMABAT who's just gotten a taxes. new job give it your best shot! To obtain your letter from Revenue Ca- * to DULICE BENJAMIN for the birth nada go to their office at 36 Adelaide of her healthy baby girl! street East 2nd floor. Be sure to ta- * and to our new landed immigrants: ke your social insurance number with EDNA BAUTISTA, NORA GABINO, and you! Ask the receptionist to give you TERESITA TOLENTINO, from the Phil- a letter stating that you have been ippines; ROSELYN PARK, MARGARET paying taxes for the previous year. NEIL, and VIVIENE BRITTON, from You will receive the letter by mail, Jamaica; and VISNA ILJIC from Yu- and you can then forward it to Health goslavia welcome aboard~ and Welfare along with their form.

- Beth Udasco For more information contact the Department of Health and Welfare at (416) 224-4403 Newsletter Committee: Desiree Hipplewith, Lynette Munian, - Desiree Hipplewith Judith Ramirez, Pamela Skeete, Sonia Thomas, Daphne Tucker, Beth Udasco - 3 -

STRONG FIRST YEAR FOR SERVICE UNIT NATIONAL NETWORKING

Domestic workers put INTERCEDE's The month of June has been a busy Service Unit to very good use in one for INTERCEDE. Our co-ordinator its maiden year! Launched in March, Judith Ramirez has been traveling 1984, the purpose of the Unit is and networking with other groups to of fer in-depth counselling to concerned about the rights of domes- domestic workers, especially those tic workers. seeking landed status in Canada. On June 1 Judith gave the keynote Two full-time counsellor, both for- address at a 'Conference on Women mer domestic workers, offer infor- and Work', held in Edmonton, Alberta. mation and referral services by The event was sponsored by the Natio- telephone, face-to-face interviews, nal Household Careers Corporation, a escort services, and ongoing liaison group which promotes the recognition with immigration officials. of work in the home. Judith spoke on 'The Hidden Work Force', underscoring In the first year of the Service the fact that women who work in the Unit's operation, which ended Febru- home - for no pay or low pay - make ary 28, 1985, staf~ handled 1,196 an enormous contribution to society inquiries and counselled 675 domes- in unrecognized goods and services. tic workers. INTERCEDE's monthly legal clinic also advised 69 domes- The conference was attended by many tics, bringing the' year's total to domestic workers, representatives of 744 domestics served! women's organizations, and government officials. Conference organizer Ber- Of the people who contacted the Ser- nadette Swan, who is the Executive-- vice Unit, 45% were West Indian, Director of the N.H.C.C., said that 31% were Filipinos, 5% were from the Alberta needs a campaign like INTER- UK, and 19% from other parts of the CEDE' s in Ontario to protect domes- world. The overwhelming majority of tics under provincial labour law. clients - 89% - sought assistance At the moment they are completely ex- with immigration matters, and a full cluded! 86% were in Canada on temporary work permits. On June 15 Judith gave the keynote speech at the 'First Conference of Historically, the Metro Toronto area Immigrant Women of New Brunswick: has received the lion's share of fo- Strategies for Equality'. Sponsored reign domestics. In 1984, according by Women Working With Immigrant Women, to figures released by the Immigrat- the event attracted a good cross-sec- ion Commission, 58% of foreign domes- tion of the community. Judith spoke tics worked in Ontario. An estimated on the theme 'Playing from Strength', 2/3 of these were in the Toronto area. about how to to effective grass-roots organizing and lobbying. INTERCEDE feels strongly that, as long as foreign domestics are coming Conference organizer Betty Lee, who into the country in significant num- is also on the Executive of W.W.I.W., bers, community-based counselling and spoke about the fact that New Bruns- advocacy should be made available to wick's labour laws do not protect do- them as a matter of course. mestics and that many cases of abuse have come to light.

JOIN INTERCEDE Among the special invited guests at the conference was Myrna Richards, $5 Year President of the New Brunswick Advi- SUPPORT THE GROUP THAT SUPPORTS YOU! sory Council on Women's Issues, who said that she is ready to press for 4

NATIONAL NETWORKING (con't) SUBSCRIBE TODAY~ immediate changes in the labour As we mentioned in last month's laws to protect domestics from ex- issue of the newsletter, the one- ploitation. year grant from P.L.U.R.A. has run out. We would like to keep sending When INTERCEDE formed in 1979, only 'Domestics Cross-cultural News' to one province included domestic wor- everyone on our mailing list, but kers under its labour laws. Today, because that now includes close to seven provinces afford varying lev- 1000 people, it is a very expensive els of protection. proposition.

INTERCEDE salutes the initiatives We suggest the following yearly rates: being taken by immigrant and visi- Government Departments ble minority women in Alberta and $2S Community Organizations 10 New Brunswick on behalf of domestic Individuals workers' rights in those provinces. s Domestic Workers Free We were proud and happy to be pre- sent at both conferences to share Support the cause of domestic workers' our experience in organizing for change. We look forward to being an rights! Subscribe to 'Domestics Cross- ongoing resource, and we congratula- cultural News' today! Send your cheque or money order to: te them for getting off to such a strong start! INTERCEDE S8 Cecil Street Toronto, Ontario MST 1N6 INTERCEDE MEETING CONGRATULATIONS COLUMBIA! Our next monthly members meeting is scheduled for SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, from Service Unit counsellor Columbia Diaz 2-Spm, at the Cecil Community Centre, just gave birth to twin boys, Richard S8 Cecil Street. Everyone welcome and Robert. Best wishes, Coco and Dards!

INTERCEDE SERVICE UNIT

Open daily, Monday Friday, 9am-4pm 416-977-3467

DOMESTICS CROSS-CULTURAL NEWS Place c/o INTERCEDE Stamp S8 Cecil Street Here Toronto, Ontario MST 1N6

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