BOSTON'S CHINATOWN: A WORKING CLASS COMMUNITY. Contrary to images promoted in the media of Asians as the "Model Minority,"

Transcription

1 Terri Oshiro Chinese Progressive Association and its new Workers Center BOSTON'S CHINATOWN: A WORKING CLASS COMMUNITY Contrary to images promoted in the media of Asians as the "Model Minority," the Third World American success story, Boston's Chinese community is a lower stratum, working class community. Like all working class communities, and especially communities of color, Chinatown's people are subject to severe exploitation in the workplace, class and national oppression, unemployment, poverty, and racism growing at alarming rates. The crime of the Asian "Model Minority Myth" in the U. S. is that i.t brutally distorts the reality of living and working conditions which immigrant communities face daily, it allows government policy- makers to casually dismiss the urgent political, social and economic needs of the community, and it is a divisive tactic aimed at preventing the unity of Third World people in their demands for rights, justice, and e~uality. In other words, the Asian "Model Minority Myth" is a lie. Chinatown is the social, political, and cultural center to approximately 7,000 Asian immigrants, predominantly Chinese. 72% of Chinese immigrant women are employed in the rapidly declining garment industry. 77% of Chinese immigrant men are employed in non-unionized restaurants. The majority of Viet Namese and Cambodian immigrants, concentrated in the Greater Boston Metropolitan area, Revere, and Lynn are employed in lower stratum positions in manufacturing industries and hotels. Boston, A Statistical Overview, a report from the Mayor ' s Office shows that 22.4% of Boston ' s Asians lived below the poverty line in The updated 1985 BRA survey on poverty rates reported that the number of Asians in Boston living below the poverty line rose to 40%. In view of these statistics, could Asians possibly be the "Model

2 Minority?" The answer is no. The class structure and institutionalized opression of minority peoples does not allow for any "Model Minorities" in reality. The concrete conditions in Third World working class communities in U. S. society reveal high percentages of non-unionized industries, sub-minimum to slightly higher than minimum wages, long work days, plant closures, sub-standard living conditions, evictions, land development tearing up communities, inferior education, lack of political power and representation, racist violence and police brutality, and continual discriminatory practice. Model minorities do not emerge out of these conditions, but a fighting spirit aimed against oppression does. Have you ever wondered when you eat at a Chinese restaurant why your waiter doesn't place your plate gently in front of you with a smile on his face? It is because Chinese restaurant workers work 12 hours a day, 6, sometimes 7 days a week. They receive, no benefits - health insurance, vacation, sick pay, or workers' compensation. The restaurants are not unionized. If a worker gets sick or is injured for a long period of time, he is not guaranteed his job upon recovery. If you walk through Chinatown at 10:00 A. M. and 3:00P.M., you'll see many Chinese men standing around on the street. They are waiting for vans to come pick them up and take them to the restaurants in the suburbs. There are not enough places for the workers to socialize while waiting for their rides. The streets are their social center. These are the conditions which face the restaurant workers everyday of their lives. The garment industy, rapidly declining in the Boston area employs threequarters of the Chinese community's women. Chinese immigrant women have historically been locked into the garment industry because of language barriers and discrimination. Garment workers are paid by piecerate. Their wages are

3 determined by how quickly they sew. Somedays, the workers may work a full day, and earn only $10 because of the piecerate system. In addition, garment work is seasonal, and many workers find themselves unemployed in the slow seasons. Garment workers earned $6-7,000 in good years when the garment industry was still strong. In the last few years, workers have earned $3-4, 000 because of the 1ndt.1 shy~ de(; lrne Presently, factories are closing leaving many workers unemployed. Over the past year, the Chinese Progressive Association has helped the garment workers organize into one of the most militant, unified, organized, and victorious labor struggles nationwide. Why militant? Because of what the garment workers are up against - racism, class and sex oppression. Why unified? Because workers were not only fighting for their indi vidual rights guaranteed by government law, but for the future of their families, the survival of their community, equality for Asians, and freedom from oppression of Third World working class people in the USA. Why organized? Because organization is the only tool minority working class people have to push the system of reforms to work and institutionalized racism to cease. It is the militance, unity, and organization of the workers and their supporters which have made their victories. Following the plant shutdown of P&L Sportswear Co., Boston's largest garment factory, Beverly Rose Co., Boston's 2nd largest garment shop, and 10 other smaller factori s f ollowed suit. The Chinese, immigrant, garment workers remained without job retraining for 9 months. Simultaneously, white, ma l e dominated industries of meatpacking, shipyard, and utility plants effected by s hutdowns had retraining programs and benefit packages set up f or displaced workers within 3 days of closure. The sharp discrepancies in time duration

4 from plant closure to retraining program start-up, between white male dominated industries and minority, women dominated industries points to the blatant forms of discrimination excercised by govern1ne~fagencies in prioritizing the ranks of unemployed. Within the 9 month period garment workers went without job-retraining, workers organized to fight for those retraini~g programs, extension of health insurance benefits, and decision-making power over the funding; curriculum, and evaluation of job retraining programs from the State and City government agencies. The garment workers won on all their demands. The fight for retraining was the struggle for state guaranteed rights, the fight for health insurance extensions was for the survival of their families because the garment workers supply their family's health insurance, and the fight for decision-making power was the struggle for political power and Democracy for minority, working class people. Workers did not win these demands without major struggles it took a rally, numerous negotiation meetings, building community support, building support from labor groups and politic ians, publicity, and continual pressure applied on State and City agencies. The workers' victory was a triumph for all women, the Chinese community, Third World people, and the working clas8. The garment workers have a long struggle ahead of them as the challenge of job placement nears and more garment factory shutdowns are predicted, however, they have created the mechanisms for organization and greater Democracy for displaced workers in the future. Although Chinatown's garment workers' struggle created a vision of hope for minority, working class people, it does not change the overall anti-minority, anti-worker, and anti-women conditions facing the U.S. today. Dukakis' miricle State economic situation is not a miricle for Third world, working class communities. From , Boston's Asian, Black, and Hispanic populations under the poverty line have increased dramatically. While unemployment

5 .. across the state is at national lows, unemployment for the working class is on the rise as industries close, moving to other regions where unions are weak and the grounds Asians is increasing for exploitation, fertile. Racist violence against liu. Mu..r.iJN,.._ frapidly.achinatown has lost one-third of its land over the last 15 years is not enough for developers and the city agencies standing on the s ide of big developers. Chinatown and other communities of color have only one choice - to continue to organize for their rights, equality, and justice. A system of oppression and exploitation cannot reign forever.