CCNY'S INDEPENDENT
STUDENT NEWSPAPER
MAY 2000 VOLUME
2, NUMBER 5
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CCNY'S INDEPENDENT
STUDENT NEWSPAPER |
Filipino Workers Center Joins Pro-Immigrant
May Day March
by Dan Wilson
Every year, May first is celebrated around the world as International Workers’ Day (May Day). The holiday dates back to 1886, when 350,000 workers in the US from 11,562 establishments went on strike to demand an eight-hour working day and were met with violent state repression. Among those who struck on May 1, 1886 were 25,000 workers in New York City who held a torchlight procession to Union Square. The primary organizers of and participants in the movement were new immigrants, at that time European working class immigrants.
It is only fitting, then, that the largest celebration of International Workers’ Day in New York City this year was a march whose main demand was for general amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Over the course of several hours in the middle of the Monday workday, a throng of thousands of immigrant workers and their supporters marched down Broadway from Union Square, past the Federal Building, and on to City Hall.
According to the website of one participating organization, the Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI), “Amnesty will allow undocumented immigrants to legalize their status so they can demand fair treatment on the job. It will allow them to seek US citizenship, so they can vote and participate in the political system. It will enable them to join in fighting racism and the other forms of discrimination that keep many people in this country from fulfilling their dreams. It will also allow them to visit their home countries to reunite with family members and help the communities they left behind.”
The march was organized by the National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants. Participants included the Latino Workers Center, Asociación Tepeyac, the Garment Workers’ Justice Center, UNITE!, Refuse and Resist!, and Bangladesh Society, Inc. Most of the marchers were of Mexican origin, and many others were from Latin America. Most chants were in Spanish, including “¡El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!” (The people united will never be defeated!) and “¡Amnistia ahora!” (Amnesty Now!). The crowd was diverse, including workers and supporters of many nationalities standing in solidarity with one another. Among the organizations represented was the Filipino Workers Center.
The Filipino Workers Center is a new project of the Philippine Forum, a New York-based education and advocacy organization. The Filipino Workers Center aims to arouse, organize and mobilize Filipino workers to work for social and economic justice for immigrant workers and to build a movement of Filipino workers aware of their rights and confident to lead actions to change or abolish oppressive structures. It organizes Filipino domestic workers, restaurant workers and other Filipino workers in the New York City area.
Robert Roy, executive director of the Philippine Forum, summed up the feelings of many: “It was a good march. It is heartening to see people of so many different nationalities coming together to demand justice for all people regardless of so-called ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’ status.”
Dan Wilson is a founding member of the Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP). NISPOP and the Filipino Workers Center can both be reached at 212-741-6806 or [email protected].