Partido ng Mangggagawa (Labor Party) - USA
Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP)
Bantay - Los Angeles
Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC)
Joint Press Statement
December 18, 2012
We, members of the Filipino community and different
Filipino-American groups here in the US, extend our congratulations to the
hundreds of Filipino teachers for their victorious struggle against their
deceitful recruitment agency Universal Placement Inc. (UPI) and its owner Lourdes
Navarro. We are happy that after four years of brave and sustained efforts on
different fronts and winning different battles along the way, the case has
reached the federal court which found these defendants liable for engaging in
fraudulent practices.
In the federal class suit against Los Angeles-based UPI and Navarro,
the jury awarded the teachers $4.5 million in damages for violation of the
California Employment Agency, Employment Counseling and Job Listing Act; for
violation of the Unfair Business Practices under the California Business and
Professional Code; and for misrepresentation under the California Civil Code.
We commend the persistent efforts and unwavering resolve of the
Filipino Educators Federation of Louisiana (FEFL) who spearheaded the efforts
on behalf of all the teachers. We also applaud the American Federation of
Teachers (AFT), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the law firm Covington
and Burling LLP and other advocates who supported the teachers in their quest
for justice.
From 2007 to 2009, more than 300 teachers from the Philippines were
recruited and deployed in different school districts in Louisiana to teach
science, math and special education under the H1B visa program. After a
selection process in the Philippines, the UPI’s shady recruitment scheme
required each teacher to pay an amount of more than $5,000. The recruiters made
it appear that this is all that they will have to pay. However after receiving
the initial payment, the recruiters demanded more and more for different kinds
of fees and charges.
Having sold their properties and borrowed money to cover for the
initial excessive payment, the teachers cannot back out as the recruiters would
not refund those fees. The recruiters would then threaten to give their slots
to other applicants if additional payments were not made immediately. In
violation of the laws of the Philippines, the state of Louisiana, and now it is
proven that it violated the laws of the state of California as well, each teacher
ended up paying an exorbitant amounts of $16,000 and even more.
This is a ground breaking class action lawsuit and this should serve
as a strong message to shady labor contractors who prey on the vulnerabilities
of foreign workers whose main aim is to provide a brighter future for their
respective families. Migrant workers rights should be respected, defended, and
promoted as fervently as any human right. We should not allow these greedy
recruitment agencies to deceive and take advantage of the dreams of migrants
for their children and their families.
While the decision fell short in not finding that UPI and Navarro
violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, we believe that what they
orchestrated was a human trafficking scheme that systematically victimized
hundreds of Filipino teachers and their families. Human trafficking is the
recruitment and transportation of human beings for commercial exploitation by
means of force, fraud, threats, deception, coercion or other means. Trafficking
is characterized by taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of victims and can
include different forms of exploitation such as forced labor or involuntary
servitude among others.
Indeed, here there were no physical force or violence employed to
coerce the teachers, but certainly another type of force was used - a force
that is equivalent to economic duress. UPI and Navarro utilized different
coercive and fraudulent methods to threaten serious economic harm to these
teachers and their families who are already deep in debt by virtue of the exorbitant
fees they were made to shoulder.
We strongly believe that the jury erred in this regard. Simply
because the experiences of these Filipino teachers are not to the degree that
involves violence or forced labor, it does not mean that this case is not a
case of human trafficking. While our common notion of trafficking involves
loading humans into the back of a van at gun point or coercing women and
children into sex slavery, trafficking in any form is trafficking and should be
punished to the utmost degree. The fact that what happened to these teachers
does not fall into our ordinary notion of trafficking, does not diminish the
atrocities of UPI, PARS and Lourdes Navarro.
At any rate, this is a big victory for the teachers who are now free
from the onerous contract forced upon them by these labor contractors, which
was declared void by the court. And the $4.5 million in damages is a potent
lesson that UPI and Navarro will surely learn from. Further, this is a victory
for all migrant workers and an inspiring story of sacrifice, courage and unity.
Signed:
Ian Seruelo
US Liaison Officer
Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party)
+1-281-455-2462
ianseruelo@yahoo.com
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