Calling for better treatment of workers, about two dozen housekeepers, community organizers and supporters marched on the front lawn of the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Training Center on North Harbor Drive on Thursday, April 12.
About 26 protesters wielded signs and occasionally broke out in chant as they publicly urged improved treatment of the predominantly Filipino-American housekeepers who work at the training center’s combined bachelor’s housing complex.
The workers received a 30-day suspension and lost seven weeks of pay beginning in June 2006 because of a disagreement between the housekeepers and their immediate supervisors. In January, 13 of the original 23 workers filed complaints with the Navy because of alleged discriminatory actions by the workers’ supervisors, according to Maria Lourdes Reyes, a medical consultant and physician who helped organize the march. Reyes is the founder of One Vision One Voice, a community based organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Filipino-American workers and community, she said.
Reyes said the housekeepers want the suspension cleared from their employment records, reimbursement for the loss of pay and improvements to overall working conditions. Some of the workers in the dispute have been housekeepers for the Navy for more than 20 years, Reyes said.
Officials from the Naval Base Point Loma Public Affairs Office could not release information on the pending discrimination complaint because of “legal matters,” said Public Information Officer Chief Yan Kennon.
Reyes, one of the principal organizers of the march, has worked with the housekeepers since the start of the issue, she said.
“This (action) wouldn’t have happened if they (workers) were not treated as second-class citizens,” Reyes said. “This is cultural incompetence,” she said.
The complaint was submitted March 14 to the Equal Employment Opportunity Office of the U.S. Navy by the Employee Rights Center of the San Diego Labor Department.
The complaint alleges that workers were suspended June 20, 2006, after 23 housekeepers approached supervisor Robert Lang with questions about a recent memorandum. Such memos routinely outline changes to rules concerning the housekeepers’ duties, such as schedule changes and break times, said Ariel Hizon, who represented the group in seeking clarification of the new rules.
When workers raised questions about work conditions during the meeting with Lang, the group was told to go back to work or punch out and go home, according to Hizon. The housekeepers punched out and attempted to bring the issue to the attention of Commanding Officer Capt. Mark D. Patton, Hizon said.
Workers went to Patton’s office because of the commander’s open-door policy, according to Hizon. Patton is currently on leave and could not be reached for comment by press time.
Before workers could reach Patton’s office, however, the group was told by Navy personnel to return to their work stations for a 10 a.m. meeting, said housekeeper Zenaida Navales. While trying to return to their stations, workers were stopped and detained by Navy personnel for more than an hour, during which time the housekeepers were forced to turn over their work identifications, Navales said. Workers were then told to leave and some were subsequently suspended for 30 days, Navales said. Others were suspended for as much as seven weeks.
Of the workers involved, 16 were suspended, five were immediately called back to work and two workers on probation were dismissed, Reyes said. Since then, the remaining 21 housekeepers have returned to work, although they have been transferred to other buildings.
Community organizers and supporters from local organizations ” including 51st District Congressman Bob Filner and representatives from the Employee Rights Center, the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, One Vision One Voice ” marched alongside the Filipino-American workers April 12.
The housekeepers were treated unfairly and were the victims of overreaction by the Navy, triggering the 30-day suspension and loss of pay, said Filner.
“We’re dealing here with people who just want to do their work,” said Filner.
Filner said he tried to resolve the issue informally when the workers and their representation came to his office for help. Many of the housekeepers live in Filner’s district.
The issue has reverberated throughout the Filipino-American community and has opened old wounds with many Filipino Americans who say some workers continue to be treated unfairly because of their immigrant status, said Col. Caferina Ruiz, USAR Medical Corps, Ret.
“We love our jobs. We just want respect,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz served 30 years with the military, including more 23 years in the Army Reserve. She stood outside the base holding a full-size Philippine flag with another protestor while waving a smaller American flag in her other hand.
According to the Naval Base Point Loma Public Affairs Office, all active-duty officers complete a yearly training program aimed at curbing discriminatory behavior on the basis of race, sex and other factors.
The discrimination complaint is still in the informal phase, according to documents submitted to the Navy’s EEO Office by the Employee Rights Center. The complaint calls for the housekeepers’ suspensions to be reduced to written warnings, for reimbursement of lost pay and for the return of the housekeepers to their former assignments at Fleet ASW.
Founded in 2004, One Vision One Voice is a popular movement that works to improve the quality of life for Filipino-Americans, Reyes said. The movement has grown to include other nationalities with a goal of political empowerment through education, worker advocacy and community service, Reyes said.