The
Grave Attack on Migrants’ Rights Taught Us One Thing: Get Organized! Build Alliances!
Ramon
Bultron, Managing Director
First
of all I would like to thank the organizers of this conference for inviting me
to share and to learn on how we can better promote and protect the rights and
welfare of migrant workers. I was assigned to share with you about our
experiences in organizing work on an international level, though much of my
sharing will be experiences from the Asia-Pacific region from which I am more
confident in dealing with today.
When
the Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants or the APMM was established in 1984, it
did not come from nowhere but rather, was a product of the development of the
work of the
I
am sharing you this point in our history to stress the principle and the belief
that any initiative for international cooperation and action does not start
from the top but rather is a product of a continuous spiral growth of endeavors
from the grassroots level. Likewise with the migrant movement, any national or
international alliances can be assured of continuing growth and strengthening only
if its base is strong. And when I mean “base”, I refer to strong organizations
of migrants that is the only assurance against attacks on their rights and
promoting their welfare. Imagine constructing a house with weak foundations.
Won’t it inevitably collapse? But by having strong groundwork, we can build
even the tallest and biggest mega-structures.
Take
for example the following:
Case Study 1 – The Asian
Migrants Coordinating Body in
Even
before the inception of the AMCB, there was already a strong alliance among
Filipino migrant organizations - the United Filipinos in
The
AMCB started in 1994 in the form of cultural exchanges among migrants of
different nationalities to deepen their knowledge and understanding of each
other. It .also became an avenue to know the specific issues of each of these
groups. In 1998, when they experienced the first wage cut threat, the AMCB started
to launch activities tackling migrant issues. The campaign and the mass actions
they launched further galvanized their resolve to strengthen their ranks by seriously
transforming AMCB from a mere cultural exchange into an alliance of
organizations of migrants of various nationalities. Since then, the AMCB became
the main campaign centre of migrants in defending against attacks on workers’ rights
and the negligence on their welfare by either the
The
AMCB remained strong because the organizations that belong to it are
continuously expanding and consolidating their membership.
This
alliance also became an avenue for members to assist and help each other even
in expanding and consolidating the other’s organizations. Take the case of ATKI
(Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers). Member organizations of Migrante plus
the Coordinator of APMM in Macau directly assisted in the formation of ATKI in
Case Study 2 – The Migrants
Trade Union in
The
formation of the MTU in
The
local union has been playing a vital role as far as fighting for the rights of
undocumented migrants. It was very well obvious that it would be difficult for
undocumented migrants to openly campaign against any policy that is detrimental
to them, for threat of the reprisal and crackdown of immigration authorities.
But it did not mean that these undocumented workers cannot join protest actions,
for example, against immigration policies.
In
a display of bold and creative tactics, the local union members are the one in
the front line of the marches and
clearly protecting the undocumented members of the MTU as they raise their
demands. It is important for these undocumented workers to be present and
experience the mass action to embolden them in fighting for their rights. The
same thing happens when negotiating with the management of the factory for
unfair labor practice.
Of
course, there are issues that are beyond the “mandate” of MTU as a union. Policies
and issues emanating from the respective governments of sending countries must
rightfully be addressed by the organizations of the respective nationals. This
is the reason why, for example, .Filipino migrants have its own alliance –
KASAMMAKO. It is the campaign centre among Filipino migrants. KASAMMAKO complements
and supports the MTU and vice versa. It is essential for each nationality to
have their own organizations to address their respective issues as a national
because of the particularity of the issue.
This
is also in line with our belief that the phenomenon of forced migration can be
resolved principally within the existing conditions of the home country which
breeds massive forced migration. Added to this, the strength of any
international alliance is dependent on the strength of the national
organizations of migrant workers themselves.
That
is why on the part of the Filipino migrant workers, aside from being a member
of the migrant union, they have their own organizations and their own alliance.
Case Study 3 – The Migrante
International
Migrante
International is the Global Alliance of progressive Filipino migrants’
organizations in more than 20 major country-destinations of Filipino migrants.
As of its last Congress in 2005, the member organizations of Migrante grew to about
95 organizations. Its Executive Committee is based in the
The
APMM in the early 90s initiated the formation of Migrante-International after sponsoring
a series of yearly international consultations and conference to gather the pre-existing
and budding organizations of migrant workers.
There
are two major conditions, though that hastened the formation of this alliance.
One is the result of an assessment that at least there are already
organizations of migrant workers in major countries of destination. The other
is the 1995 Flor Contemplacion campaign that put the issues and agenda of
migrant workers in the national and international level. The objective
condition and the readiness of the migrant workers to come together and put up
their own alliance brought about the birth of Migrante International in 1996.
Now,
Migrante International, aside from being an alliance and a campaign centre further
developed its tasks by establishing Migrante Chapters in the
The Cooperation between Institutions
and Migrants Organizations
If
you will notice, church-based institutions such as APMM, MFMW and Bethune House
in
These
institutions gave the necessary education and training, assisted the migrants
on how to draft the pertinent documents needed and helped them find the needed
logistical and financial support.
Though
migrant workers are surely the decisive ones in this effort, many institutions
paved the way and hastened the realization of these objectives by creating a favorable
atmosphere for organizing.
Some lessons to share
First
and foremost, international alliance building is a process dictated out of the
felt necessity of migrant workers themselves. And usually, the migrant workers
also will pass through a process wherein their own practical experience taught
them to connect and combine themselves - first as a single organization and
later after some practical cooperative relations with other organizations, see
the importance of establishing an alliance.
If
they voluntarily organize themselves, the organizations will be sustained and
will become strong. Sometimes, because of our strong eagerness to empower them,
we went ahead of their readiness to get organized. Usually, these organizations
will not last long. If the external motivator is no longer in their midst, the
organizations go astray and will eventually die a natural death.
Though
the desire of migrants to organize themselves is there, continuing education is
needed to make them more conscious and aware of their rights, the complexities
of running an organization and alliances, the importance of solidarity
relations, the study of current issues to make them abreast of the changing
conditions, etc. Systematic education will sustain not only their desire but
will raise their level of consciousness which is essential in sustaining the
motivation to further strengthen their organizations.
There
are well-defined roles and places for institutions and migrants in the whole
process of building organizations and alliances. The latter plays the decisive
role and former plays the creator of favorable conditions, advocacy and support.
Time-tested
organizational principles in alliance work must always be followed. We strive
to achieve conscious unity arrived at by consensus, respecting the integrity and
equality of each member organization by respecting the independence and initiative
of each one, by not forcing the minority opposing views to submit to the
majority view but also the minority respecting the majority view.
Our
conference today, is I believe a timely and an important one. Poor countries
are becoming poorer. Super-rich countries can sustain their status now only by
their ultimate goal of controlling the source of raw materials and cheap labor
and also the control of potential markets for their products. They do it
through unceasing plunder, militarism and war.
Forced
massive migration will always be a by-product of this unequal arrangement. Exploitation
and oppression of marginalized peoples is surely a permanent feature of this
phenomenon of imperialist globalization.
Resistance
and defense is necessary. The only way of assuring the protection of their
rights and the promotion of their welfare is first of all, for the migrants to
get organized.
Our
sharing today, I strongly hope, can be a vital input towards the realization of
these objectives.
Get
Organized! Build Alliances! Hasten the realization of a strong international
migrants’ movement!
Thank
you and good day. #