NAFCON Supports Prince George’s Teachers

The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns urges all to support the 1,044 teachers, mostly Filipino, wrongfully facing immediate deportation. According to Rico Foz, Executive Vice President of NAFCON, “The Department of Labor (DOL) is punishing these teachers even though it is the Prince George’s County Public School (PGCPS) that is at fault.”

After DOL determined that PGCPS owed the teachers $4,000 each in back-pay, they subsequently barred the school district from employing foreign workers for two years. “As a result, 957 Filipinos lost the job they sacrificed their entire lives in the Philippines for and to make matters worse face immediate deportation,” continued Foz.

In the short term, NAFCON urges the community to sign the petition at www.change.org/katarungan-dc, educate others of the Prince George’s teachers plight, and stay tuned for other ways to support.

In the long term, NAFCON believes it is imperative to further strengthen the nationwide immigrant and worker rights movement with more Filipinos willing to stand up and defend our rights and welfare. Foz concluded, “Too often Filipinos fall victim to employer exploitation and the failure of both the Philippine and U.S. governments’ systems to protect migrant workers. Thus we must organize so we can protect ourselves.”

In October 21-23, in New York, NAFCON will convene its General Assembly highlighting the theme, “Further Deepen the Unity of the U.S. Filipino Immigrant Movement to Defend our Rights and Welfare and Build a Better Future for our Homeland”. NAFCON envisions this assembly will strengthen our community’s ability to protect the Prince George’s teachers and all migrant workers.

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