MLA aide understands worker rights

Name: Laarni de los Reyes

Job Title: Constituency Assistant to New Democrat MLA Raj Chouhan

Union: BCGEU

In her role working as the Constituency Assistant for MLA Raj Chouhan, Laarni de los Reyes sees first hand every day how workers rights can be violated. Raj Chouhan, New Democrat MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds, also serves as Labour Critic in the BC Legislature, so Laarni is very well-versed in labour issues. “Working for Raj has allowed me to hear people’s concerns and has made me even more passionate about the Labour Movement and how important it is to get involved.”

Laarni was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as an infant. She has always been an ardent supporter of the Labour Movement, as both of her parents had unionized jobs, which in turn helped enable Laarni to get post-secondary education and have a comfortable upbringing.

Laarni is very knowledgeable about the plight of Filipino people working abroad. In fact, she visited the Philippines in 2008 on a two-week human rights tour with the Vancouver and District Labour Council’s delegates from local unions.

“I wanted to understand why so many Filipinos leave their families at home while they come to work in Canada,” says Laarni. Generally, the primary reason Filipinos come to Canada is the lack of employment opportunities in the Philippines. They see more opportunities if they can get permanent residency in a country like Canada. The temporary foreign workers who come to Canada, however, can wind up with inadequate working conditions. In the Philippines, workers are oftentimes not treated fairly and it can be very dangerous to speak out against an unfair employer or to try to organize a union in the workplace. So they bring with them this fear of speaking out and defending their rights. Laarni heard horrible stories from activists about workers speaking up for themselves when she was in the Philippines on the human rights tour. “You can get killed, tortured, or disappear entirely. You don’t know how dangerous it is.”

Laarni encourages new Canadians to educate themselves and learn more about their rights and about the advantages of union membership. “Talk to union organizers, ask them questions,” says Laarni. “Unions can help workers to have a voice, to empower employees. This empowers them to speak out and break the silence so that they can join the social justice movement to change society.”

But Laarni recognizes that getting this message out will not be an easy task. “The challenge we face is fear. People coming from the Philippines will remain quiet and work hard despite even the most deplorable working conditions. But under Canadian law, people have the right to join a union, and unions are here to defend those rights.”

Laarni hopes that Filipinos and other new Canadian workers learn more about how union membership can improve their working conditions in so many ways. “It’s important for Filipinos to understand the importance of joining a union and getting behind the Labour Movement. It opens the door to a better life for themselves and their children by increasing job security, wages and our dignity as workers.”