Daily Archives: May 23, 2017

The latest issue of The Atlantic Magazine has a simple, almost forlorn, photograph of a Filipino woman, Eudocia Tomas Pulido, the subject of a story by Filipino-American writer Alex Tizon. Taken from an impoverished family in Tarlac, Lola, as the family members called her, was a gift from the authors grandfather to his mother. Lola served Tizons family (including his own, after his marriage) for 56 years, 21 in the Philippines and the rest in the United States. Only in her last 12 years of service did she receive a salary.

Lola was their sole domestic helper, cleaning, cooking and laundering, and caring for the five Tizon siblings. She was able to enter the United States because Tizons father was assigned to the embassy there. The family stayed on after the consular assignment, even as Lolas own travel papers expired, making her TNT (tago ng tago), an illegal immigrant.

Tizon was a respected journalist, having received a Pulitzer, and the story of Lola was his last. He died in March, before his story saw print. I listened to his widow being interviewed on BBC, and she said her husband grappled for years with this dark family secret, captured in the storys title: My Familys Slave.

Slavery?

Its the word slave that has caused so much furor in social media. We dont have slaves, we declare. We think of slaves as people bought and sold and kept in chains and, indeed, there are a few places in the world that still have them. We like to think we are a civilized people and what we have in our homes are not even servants or maids but helpers, domestics, housekeepers, katulong or kasambahay.

Our present system of domestic helpers may seem modern, even governed by a law prescribing a minimum wage, SSS, Pag-Ibig and Philhealth coverage. But in practice, it still carries vestiges of the precolonial alipin and the Spanish colonial hacienda serf or tenant system.

The alipin system was different from, and not as brutal as the chattel slavery of the Greeks and Romans, and from the slavery in the United States. A more proper term was debt servitude, where someone or an entire family had to pay off their debt by working in the household of the debtor.

Spanish colonialism introduced feudalism and haciendas, where hundreds of families might work for one landlord family. The term alipin was not used, but the tenants were indentured, too, in an uneasy patron-client relationship with the landlords who provided for the minimum needs of tenants, womb to tomb, and expected total loyalty, which many tenants did give.

Unfortunately, we still retain many vestiges of these old systems. In exchange for food, shelter, a minimal salary and benefits, employers have a strong sense of entitlement, with helpers expected to be at their beck and call 24/7.

Helpers are also expected to be loyal, without question. We certainly see that in Lola, fiercely loyal to Tizons mother, despite the latters abuse. Theres an account in the article of Lola intervening once when her employer was having an argument with her (Tizons mother) second husband. Imagine a tiny woman, 411, stepping in between her Filipino employer and a burly 250-pound man: Ivan, she calls out his name, and he backs down.

We argue, too, that most of our helpers are not subjected to physical abuse and, indeed, Tizons story of Lola paints a relatively mild picture compared to the many stories we have of Filipino women-helpers, here and overseas, of mauling, battery, rape. Lolas abuse was more often verbal, and psychological, although there was one horrendous account in the story where Lola, a young girl at that time, had to take a whipping in place of her mistress.

Neglect

Amid all that loyalty, Lola had no salary, and few concessions when she needed them. When Lola had dental problems she was told to better take care of her teeth. Both times when Lolas parents died and she wanted to return home for their funerals, she was admonished for even asking, and that there was no money, no time for her to return home.

Tizons article made me look up an earlier case involving a Filipino-American couple in Milwaukee, both physicians, who in 2006 were convicted of conspiracy to obtain labor and services by threats of harm and physical restraint. Their victim, also Filipino, was kept in virtual slavery for 19 years, paid $100 a month the first 10 years, then $400 a month. Her only contact with her family back home was through two letters a month, sent in an envelope without a return address.

The two physicians, already in their 60s, were sentenced to four years imprisonment, later increased to six years, and ordered to indemnify the helper an amount close to $1 million. They were deported back to the Philippines after serving their sentence.

The case is now cited in American books on law and social work as an example of trafficking, and one where conviction occurred even though there was no violence against the victim. Note, too, that the victim was paid a salary, although it was way below the minimum prescribed salary of $824 a month.

We need to raise the bar higher, addressing the issue of neglect in all its forms. Enslavement exists when theres no way out, when there are no options. Ive seen households where the helpers are third-generation, meaning their lola was the first to work for the family, then her daughter, then her granddaughter. They may be treated very well, but you still have to ask why, after three generations, they are still working as helpers.

Thousands of Filipino women with degrees in midwifery and education leave each year to work overseas because they feel that they are at least exploring an option, of a larger salary that can be remitted home, allowing their children to get to college.

We continue to have armies of domestic helpers because of grinding poverty. Like the Tizon family, the lolas in our lives allow us to pursue our careers, make our child-rearing so much easier. Beyond the minimum wage and food and shelter, we owe our helpers a way out, and I think its worth looking into how we might help them find options, a way out of poverty. One obvious place to start would be with their education, or their childrens education, giving a better fighting chance for social mobility.

(Tizons full article is available on The Atlantic site with links to other articles that have appeared in response to the story. Do read through, and I would suggest having it read and discussed with kids at home and in school, too. Dont limit the discussion to helpers. Our modern-day slaves often include yayas, houseboys, drivers, even caregivers.)

mtan@inquirer.com.ph

Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.

Read the rest here:

A way out for 'slaves' - Inquirer.net

Last updated11:26, May 24 2017

Seven Sharp

You can't escape it in the US, but Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett is keen on it becoming more common here.

OPINION: Deputy PM Paula Bennet has called for Kiwis to tip hospitality staff more often, to improve the quality of service, and the 'hospitality industry' apparently agrees.

The problem is that a culture of tipping creates a different, and entirely inequitable economy; it's not the answer on any level, it's not even the right question.

I've been in almost every imaginable role in hospitality for over 20 years, even waiter of the year and industry judge that specialised in service, and the co-founder of a fine-dining waiter school millennia ago. I've been an owner, a lecturer, a COO and a dishy; not in that order, and I deeply disagree with a tipping culture.

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett is calling for Kiwis to tip hospitality staff more often, in an effort to increase the quality of service (file photo).

As a young buck, during a study trip on international service standards in Europe and America, I had a sort of epiphany.

READ MORE: *Deputy PM Paula Bennett calls for more tipping *American in New Zealand weighs in on tipping

DEAN KOZANIC/FAIRFAX NZ

Hospitality industry veteran James O'Connell says a culture of tipping creates a different, and entirely inequitable economy (file photo).

When a hospitality business is run well, and the team is put first, all parties win; and I mean all parties, customers, suppliers, leaders and owners. I deliberately call employees 'the team' because that is how they should be treated. It must always be the business owners who have the responsibility for their team, and they need to love and appreciate them a great deal. This is no less true for hospitality as it is for all business, but in hospitality the way we do business is written on our sleeve.

Happy employees mean happy customers, and unfortunately 'tipping' doesn't solve problems of systematic failure, inequity, sexual harassment, employment liability issues, and it doesn't do much for the bottom line of the business either. A tipping culture heightens conflict within a team and creates a need that shouldn't be there in the first place.

Put simply, a tipping culture doesn't significantly solve the 'quality of service' problem, and it creates a whole set of new problems because it is inherently inequitable. A restaurant is run by a team in the back of house, as well as the front of house, and the owner will always be responsible for ensuring that all is fair. Fairness within a tipping culture is a hornet's nest.

My wife spent last month in New York studying this very issue. The tipping culture has been shaken in recent years due to subminimum wage increases. Her report is detailed and practical. The Deputy PM is an open-minded person so we'd like her to read our report; or at least let us put her in touch with some knowledgeable people in the U.S who have a different point of view.

The United States does not have a comfortable tipping culture, it never has. The level of service is varied, with more of the extremes at both ends in comparison to New Zealand. In fact, the tipping culture is debated widely. Many grass-roots labour organisations are horrified by the practice and rightly remind everyone of its roots in slavery. There is no denying the history, it is a practice deeply rooted in slavery and the underpaid, and often, abused servants of Europe.

Tipping has held back minimum wage reform, and for no good reason.

It worries me that hearts are not always in the right place when some in the industry vocally support liberalising immigration law. I hope it's genuine compassion that is the motivation.

I'm sure it mostly is, but I don't believe a steady stream of workers who are prepared to work for minimum wage is the answer for the hospitality industry. Tips or no tips.

Incidentally, there is a lot of angst in the United States because it's the 'white men and women' who gain the most in a tipping culture, not the immigrants who are forced to work for a restaurant economy that has learnt to rely on tips, and live in a subminimum wage state.

A tipping culture is a false economy and it doesn't do anyone any favours. We are New Zealanders, we are privileged to have dodged some of the complexities that burden the United States and Europe. Let's learn from their mistakes, by at least debating the tipping issue with all its warts. I, for one, am horrified that we appear to be heading in a tipping direction. We should be talking about business leadership, the living wage, performance share and work-place culture.

The debate in the States is lively and many of the most successful, and ethical, restaurants are moving away from tipping, and that's not easy to do once entrenched, almost impossible once used by law as an escape route.

Once the economy of a restaurant, and a nation, relies on a tipping culture, it's like having to re-build the economy; like a micro version of the British Empire after the abolition of slavery.

I beg each restaurant owner, no matter how hard-working, to stop and consider automatic tipping, before it becomes too hard to change. Every restaurant counts because increasing numbers create a cultural shift.

When restaurants like recently named number one in the world, Eleven Madison Park eliminate tipping and great restaurateurs like Danny Meyer of Union Square Cafe,

Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack call tipping, "one of the biggest hoaxes ever pulled on an entire culture" then we should at least take notice.

Issues of fairness aside, I have another concern which is for the restaurant owners themselves.

If restaurant owners do not ask the right questions they are unlikely to get the right answers for their business. I believe the answers have more to do with understanding how to create a restaurant economy that puts your team first, that creates a work-place culture that deeply values genuine hospitality and service.

Tipping doesn't make the world a better place; but great businesses who value their team and focus on great hospitality and service together changes a great deal including the bottom line. Customers adore businesses who make them feel important; it takes a whole team who look after one-another to achieve that, and it's not as hard as you think.

Not everyone in the hospitality industry agrees with a tipping culture; many take their responsibilities extremely seriously and fully understand how important it is that they create an ethical economy in their business.

James O'Connell is a Hospitality Business Educator and Coach and can be contacted at http://www.thehospitalitycompany.co.nz.

-Stuff

More here:

To tip or not to tip, that isn't the question - Stuff.co.nz

Channeling the spirit of workplace reform, the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations on Wednesday favorably moved two bills by Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans one to ultimately increase the states minimum wage to $8.50 an hour and the other to enact a non-discrimination policy for Louisiana employees who identify as LGBTQ.

Senate Bill 153, which was approved for full Senate debate on a 4-2 vote, would increase the states minimum wage from the federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25 to $8 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2018, and $8.50 beginning Jan. 1, 2019.

Senate Bill 155 carried 3-1, with committee chairman Neil Riser opposing. It would enact the Louisiana Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would add language to existing law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

Carter said the minimum wage has not been increased since 2009, though the cost of goods has continued to rise some by as much as 35 percent.

Jan Moller, Louisiana Budget Project director, said 42 percent of Louisiana households struggle to meet a survival budget. He reported only 10 percent of minimum wage workers are teenagers, two-thirds are women and half are African-American.

Gov. John Bel Edwards in a statement issued Wednesday expressed his support for the measure.

If we say that family values are critical to our way of life here in Louisiana, its time to start valuing the hardworking families who contribute a great deal to our communities.

We have a crisis in Louisiana a crisis of systemic poverty, said former Rep. Melissa Flournoy, who chairs Louisiana Progress Action and spoke in support of the bill.

While Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, lamented that moving from $7.25 to $8 really just isnt enough, Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City, fumed at a bill supporter who attacked Walmart for not providing its employees a livable income.

I cant believe you would single out a corporate company that is very generous, Peacock said, arguing Walmart is the biggest contributor to the Louisiana Food Bank. Peacock voted against sending the bill to the Senate floor.

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry head Jim Patterson argued the minimum wage is an entry-level starting wage and is not intended to be a living wage.

Similarly, Dawn Starns of the National Federation of Independent Businesses said it is never a good time to increase the cost of doing business, which she said is what the minimum wage increase implies.

In his closing, Carter chided opponents who said his legislation might cripple the American system of free-market capitalism.

Our American system was to build our country on free labor, Carter said. We dont call it slavery anymore, but we might as well.

Senate Bill 155 proved a much quicker debate, with Dylan Waguespack from Louisiana Trans Advocates testifying on behalf of the proposed act.

Waguespack, who is a transgender male and works in the Capitol, said he had to decide whether he should come out to the lawmakers he saw on a regular basis.

Nobody should have to leave in fear of being fired because of who they love or who they are, said Sarah Jane Guidry, director of the Forum for Equality.

Read more:

Bills upping minimum wage, protecting LGBTQ advance - The INDsider