Migrant workers’ plight continues in Canada so does their resistance

Toronto– Due to forced migration, more and more Filipinos leave the country everyday. 

Data shows that almost 8,000 Filipinos are forced to work abroad in hopes for a better life. However, instead of a “better life”, host countries exploit and abuse these workers as cheap labor enabled by the Philippine government. 

While wage theft, precarious working conditions, job insecurity, workplace harassment, loss of legal status persist, so does the strength, courage, and perseverance of migrant workers and the migrant rights movement in Canada and across the world.

In the recent Migrants Resource Center Canada (MRCC) 8th anniversary dinner and fundraiser in Toronto, Marisol Bobadilla, a migrant worker and mother, shared her story and how she, together with fellow migrant workers, continue to push back even after surviving exploitation and labor trafficking in the hands of their employer.

“Like many others, I left the Philippines to work abroad due to lack of livable jobs and opportunity back home. I wanted to give my three children a better future. As the sole breadwinner of the family, I have no choice but to do everything and anything so my children and parents can live comfortably,” Bobadilla said.

Bobadilla first arrived in Canada in 2012, landing in Prince Edward Island (PEI) on a work visa for a seasonal job in a fish plant. She came to Canada without family or friends, and with no knowledge of Canadian policies or her rights as a migrant worker. That lack of awareness, she noted, left her vulnerable. She was deceived into signing documents that drained her financially and ultimately cost her legal status.

Bobadilla was defrauded and exploited by Jeanette Moskito, an illegal recruiter who brought her to Toronto in 2014. She added that opportunists like Moskito prey on migrant workers who do not know their rights, turning their labor into profit through coercion and deception.

She recounted how Moskito brought her to a mushroom farm with promises of a work permit and eventual permanent residency. There, she met Lourdes and other migrant workers facing the same exploitation. Bobadilla said she quickly learned she was not alone, and that many others were working under harsh, precarious conditions for poverty wages. 

She worked 12 to 16-hour shifts, seven days a week, with no benefits, no freedom to talk to co-workers, and years spent locked inside the farm. Their immigration status was tied to the employer, and without health benefits, they were forced to work even when sick. After two years of grueling labor, she discovered she no longer had legal status in Canada.

This was the beginning of Bobadilla’s “long journey of struggle for migrant justice.” 

Bobadilla and three co-workers from the mushroom farm decided to take action against their and her agency Link4Staff. Their efforts went beyond filing complaints. They started on educating themselves, organizing fellow victims, and raising awareness about labor trafficking.

With support from MRCC and Migrante, she learned about migrant and workers’ rights, including that lacking immigration status does not strip anyone of their right to health care. That knowledge, she said, allowed them to access medical services without fear of detention or deportation.

Political education, she added, revealed the deeper roots of their exploitation — the Philippine government’s neglect of migrant workers and its reliance on the labor export program.

“Instead of our remittances being used to support the Philippine economy through social services and respond to the needs of the Filipino people, the government systematically corrupts public funds. Filipinos migrate in thousands every day because the government prioritizes corruption over creating jobs.” Bobadilla added.

Bobadilla, along with three other fellow workers. filed a case against Moskito and her agency in March 2019. In the same year, they launched the “Justice for Mushroom 4! Justice for All Migrant Workers” campaign, which aimed to fight against labor trafficking and push for policy reforms that would provide stronger protections for migrant workers and prevent further exploitation.

After years of organizing and advocacy, the four workers involved in the campaign were finally granted permanent resident status last year. This allowed them to return home and reunite with their families.

“After ten long years of being separated from my children and my mother, I was finally able to hold them in my arms again,” Bobadilla said.

Fight is not over

Bobadilla said the fight is far from over. She noted that Jeanette Moskito, now operating under different agency names, continues to target Filipinos hoping to migrate to Canada.

“I hope one day all migrants will gain full access to their rights as workers and more importantly, I hope that all migrants realize the power that they have, and to continue the fight for a society where migration is no longer a necessity for survival. In Migrante, we will continue to fight for a Philippines where families are not broken up by the urgent need to survive, while at the same time advocating for our rights and welfare here in Canada.” 

The migrants rights movement

Migrante Ontario, an organization of Filipino migrant workers advocating for rights and welfare, held its second general assembly on Sunday, November 30 at the OPSEU Hall in Toronto. 

With the theme “Reinvigorate and expand our organization to lead the struggle for the rights and welfare of Filipino migrants and their families. Strengthen our fight to end all forms of corruption, oppose the US-Marcos-Duterte regime and advance the fight for national democracy,” members reflected on seven years of organizing and the challenges ahead.

Outgoing chairperson Leny Simbre reminded members that their work began in the same room seven years earlier. 

“It’s been 7 years. Dito rin tayo nagsimula. Salamat sa pakikiisa at patuloy na pakikibaka (It was here that we started. Thank you for the unity and the continued struggle),” Simbre said.

Simbre emphasized that the pandemic had been one of the harshest challenges for Migrante Ontario, as migrant workers faced threats of deportation and widespread insecurity. She noted that through campaigns, mobilizations, and collective action, they proved that unity can win victories, including the Justice for Mushroom 4 campaign.

She added that while there have been many setbacks, the struggle has never been for personal gain. She urged continued organizing and exposure of the crises in the Philippines, including human rights violations, red-tagging, and corruption, which she said are rooted in the US-Marcos-Duterte regime. For Simbre, the struggles of migrants abroad are inseparable from the fight for genuine change in the Philippines.

In the keynote speech, Dennise Velasco, deputy secretary of Migrante Canada, urged members to confront the rotten political system built, rooted in bureaucrat capitalism.

The assembly also presented a report on the conditions of Filipinos in Canada, identifying persistent issues such as low wages, high rent, workplace harassment, illegal recruitment, the loss of legal status due to ever-changing immigration policies, red-tagging, job insecurity, and the labor export policy that treats Filipino workers as cheap labor.

Members noted that many lose their status as international students and temporary workers because of sudden policy changes, leaving them even more vulnerable to exploitation.

Despite these challenges, Migrante Ontario reported that the organization continues to persevere. 

In its General Plan of Action, the group committed to leading campaigns for jobs, just wages, and rights for all migrant workers. 

The plan includes expanding membership, strengthening outreach in Filipino communities, deepening research on overseas Filipinos, including seafarers, and continuing political education through Paaralang Migrante.

Migrante Ontario also reaffirmed major campaigns against corruption, fascism, labor trafficking, and undocumented status. Members highlighted the upcoming Zero Remittance Day on December 18, which underscores the Philippine government’s dependence on migrant labor and remittances.

The newly elected officers of Migrante Ontario are Chairperson Marisol Bobadilla, Vice Chairperson Lourdes Dela Peña, Secretary General Zharmaine Ante, Education and Propaganda Officer AQ Alquinto, and Solidarity Officer Daisy Espinosa. (RTS)

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