Gone East

Something flaming liberal

Sherm writes: "if you're looking for something flaming liberal to post on monday, there is a nice commentary on labor day in newsletter #4"

Since Sherm's newsletters are not posted on the web anywhere (a REAL SHAME I've always said) I'm reprinting this particular item here.

Sherm writes: "if you're looking for something flaming liberal to post on monday, there is a nice commentary on labor day in newsletter #4"

Since Sherm's newsletters are not posted on the web anywhere (a REAL SHAME I've always said) I'm reprinting this particular item here.

Excerpt from:
The (UC Berkely) Social Welfare Undergraduate Newsletter

Fall 2003 Semester - Issue # 4 Sunday, August 31, 2003

3. Labor Day Commentary

But while you are all taking it easy on Labor Day, keep in mind the folks who do some of the toughest labor in this country. Prof Vu-Duc Vuong teaches a course on Immigration for the School of Social Welfare in the Spring and in the Summer. He sends the following message along to keep in mind on Monday:

Friends:
I don't have a press agent, so this will have to do:
This monday, Labor Day, yours truly will have a "Perspective" piece on
KQED-FM (88.5) in the Bay Area, and on KQEI-FM in the Sacto area.
All of 2 minutes to lift up the millions of international migrant workers
who help maintain our standard of living, send home remittances to keep
their families alive, and often keep the economies of their native countries afloat.

On KQED, it will be aired at 6:07 am, 7:37 am, and 11:37 pm in case you
can't . But better still, you can listen to it at any time on the web: KQED.com -- go to "Radio Programs" -- then to "Perspectives" . It will be archived as soon as it is broadcast.

Below is the full text, for your preview. It is shortened somewhat to fit
into the 2-minute slot. As someone once said: Workers of the World, Unite!
Peace,
Vu-Duc Vuong

PERSPECTIVES - LABOR DAY 2003
For KQED-FM (88.5) - 8/25/03

IN PRAISE OF THE MIGRANT WORKERS
By Vu-Duc Vuong

As we take a day off to honor labor in this country, let us pay special
tribute the migrant workers. The image of the "migrant worker" in this country is that of farm workers, from the Japanese and Filipinos in the 19th Century, to the "braceros" during World War II, all the way to Cesar Chavez and today's strawberry pickers. Our standard of living depends heavily on this army of kitchen helpers, janitors, maids, gardeners, roofers, cooks, hotel cleaners, and assorted food workers. The vast majority of these workers are brown and immigrant; and the majority of them, surprisingly, are women. But their impact reaches far beyond our cozy life. Today's migrant workers send a portion of their earnings home and keep their families housed, clothed, fed, educated and medicated. And in some cases, they virtually keep the economies of their native lands from collapsing. In 2002, Latin America received at least $32 billion in remittances from workers abroad, a sum that equaled all direct foreign investment in the region. Mexico's share alone was over $10 billion, more than what that country earned in tourism. In El Salvador, remittances made up 14% of the country's gross domestic product, while in Colombia they equaled half of the value of coffee exports.

In other parts of the world, tens of millions of workers seek jobs outside
their countries every year. Bangladesh sent out three million of its workers who in turn sent home over $2 billion in remittances.
The Philippines, with a population of about 85 million, sends 7 million of
its workers to find jobs elsewhere. Filipino maids ring the continent, from
Japan and Hong Kong to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait; construction workers built much of the Middle East, including replacing thousand of Palestinian workers during this intifada, and now are ready to rebuild Iraq. And the list goes on: Indonesians in Malaysia, Bengali in Singapore,
Vietnamese in Eastern Europe, Sri Lankans in the Middle East, etc...
Their jobs vary, but they share fundamental dynamics: they are lonely,
their individual rights don't matter much, and there is little support or
protection from any governments, even their own. Yet each of them, on
average, supports from three to ten family members back home.

So, on this Labor Day, let's tip our hat to the millions of workers who are
unrecognized and unprotected, yet absolutely indispensable to the global
economy of the 21st Century.

Posted by jghiii at September 2, 2003 09:23 AM