Thank You. Salamat Po

Thank you. You came from all corners of the Greater Toronto Area, from east to west, north to south. Some of you came even as far as London, Vaughan, Brampton, Mississauga, Markham, Pickering, and Ajax. You chose to come to be with fellow Filipino Canadians. It is for us, Filipinos, a proud and historic moment.  You gave affirmation to the work that is being done to advance the rights and welfare of workers. You gave recognition to the struggles that workers of Filipino origin are experiencing. You made the event significant before of your presence and support. Your resounding “Yes” still echoes.

Yes, “Thousands of Filipinos leave the Philippines daily to go to countries like Canada because of worsening economic and political situation in the Philippines. Canada is now home to us and we share in Canada’s concern that we are losing good jobs, losing public utilities due to privatization and losing our rights and freedoms as a people. We are deeply concerned about poverty and injustices happening around us, about issues that affect the working families and the community. We fear for the uncertain future of our families, our children and our children’s children. As Filipino Workers Network, we join in making a better Canada, a Canada that cares about its people. A Canada that protect the rights of workers and upholds the rights and freedoms of its people.” We

Yes,”…we are committed in the fight to improve workers’ rights. We strongly support the changes to Employment Laws that will stave off poverty, benefits workers and lay the foundation for the next generation of workers.”

Yes, ” …We join and support the campaign to keep our public utilities public.”

Yes, “…we are committed to protecting our environment and ensure that workers are protected when their jobs are being eliminated or changed due to transitioning to green jobs.”

Yes, “We condemn racism.” We are continually discriminated upon as a people yet our voices are not heard. We are the invisibles or the visible minorities.

Yes, “We strongly support the demand to permanent resident status for all temporary workers currently working in Canada.”

We are committed to uphold respect and dignity and better living and working conditions for all workers, unionized or non-unionized. We join in making a better Canada, a Canada that cares about its people. A Canada that protect the rights of workers and upholds the rights and freedoms of its people.” Workers’ rights are human rights! Equal rights for all workers!

Thank you for the sponsors that believe in the work that we do: Toronto & York Labour Council with support and sponsorship from the SEIU Healthcare, Unite Here Local 75, United Steelworkers USW local 1998, OCEU (Ontario Compensation Union /CUPE Local 1750 (WSIB), USW Toronto Council, USW Region and Luminus Financial.

Thank you. Salamat Po