Just wanted to say the Atlantic article you included in your post really touched me and I had no idea this was an issue. Thank you for trying to do the right thing!
im really glad it resonated! im filipino but my family is in the upper echelon of rich and assimilated filis that are out of touch/don't really care about other people lol. oddly enough i found that article through the comments on an snl sketch. alex tizon also has a lot of other great writings
this tiktok was also making the rounds online: https://www.tiktok.com/@chiefnosybystander/video/7235309170759634218. its a reupload because op deleted, its still crazy to me.
I remember that article and thinking just how evil his mom was. It’s one thing for her to have been clueless when she was a child. But the behavior after she was an adult (especially after her own children told her how wrong she was) was disgusting. I’d actually have been ok with the poor woman allowing the mother’s second husband to beat her once, just so the mother could get a taste of abuse.
Please do what you can to stop your parents.
There are easier and cheaper ways to keep a house clean, even when compared to underpaying a live in worker/slave. Cleaning services are a thing, people who are too busy to get all the house work done can easily get someone in once or twice a week to pick up the slack. Meal services are also a thing, nevermind takeout and delivery.
I strongly suspect that your parents are doing this because someone that they know that is also upper middle class/low end wealthy has done the same thing and is bragging about it. It's a classic case of "Keeping up with the Jones' ". I highly doubt this was an original idea of theirs. Which makes it even shittier of them because they are less interested in the service aspect and more interested in showing off that they essentially have a slave.
This could be useful information to you though. If someone they know has done this, maybe you can find out who they are and report them. That will actively show your parents the consequences of being such shitty people and kill this idea before it can go any further.
Was looking for the 'Keeping up with the Jones' comment.
It's insane how much control these Jones characters have over these upper middle class families. They end up so insular and self-serving that they end up in their own little bubble.
They're like French aristocrats compared to us peasants, they're barely aware other people exist.
[OFW according to this wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Filipino_Worker) is Overseas Filipino Worker but I suppose that overseas foreign worker is an alternate meaning.
I only had to look because your original entry assumed everyone knows what it stands for.
If your parents were not racist they would be proud of you, as any sensible person that reads you is also proud of what you are doing.
But it is difficult to stop them in their plans, because they have money, they are motivated and they know what they want and the laws of your country allow it.
Also now they have been alerted that you are going to be an obstacle, so they are going to avoid you and ghost you about this. So, to stop them you need to have a plan and an strategy and you need more information.
So in order to have more information from them you need to make them believe that you are not going to stop them. In fact you need that they believe that you are going to help them, so that they keep you in the loop. With that information it is more possible that you will be able to stop them.
Please note, if they are able to make a Philippine person come to the USA, then you should do nothing further. In order to not put that Philippine person in hazard. Immigration is risky and going back is risky too, this person may be in debt with mafias in order to come to the USA, and by going back so soon he/she won't be able to pay the debts and be in problems as well as his/her family.
So you need to stop them beforehand.
There are anti immigration movements and groups in your country, you can ask them what can you do to stop an illegal immigration; they are very well organized so they may have legal information and resources for this, but also they are very hateful and violent so don't share real details with them.
I hope you succeed in your plans.
OP did say they were racist, it sounds like an internalized racism kind of situation. People achieve a level of success that they then use to differentiate themselves from other people of the same background.
(Ie. all the Americans who immigrated from a place like Mexico and then vote for Trump saying they think Mexicans shouldn't be allowed to immigrate.)
The girl from the tiktok video and her family are latin americans
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are latin american descendants too as well as George Zimmerman
Latin american descendants can be more racist than whites.
Philippines share with latin americans that we both mixed our blood with Spaniards during the colonial times. Other european colonialists did not mix their blood with their colonized.
Philippines was also colonized for a *very* long time, and was even founded as a nation to be a colony. It was a Spanish colony for longer than the United States has even existed. It’s practically impossible to extricate colonial culture from Filipino culture.
It’s actually pretty interesting how many people of color that I’ve met who are lowkey (or high key) racist towards other minorities and/or their own. It baffles me and I don’t understand it. It’s like an internalized form of self-hatred leaking out and being projected onto others.
Are you literally advising him to just let his parents exploit someone if that person is already here? I am literally an immigrant, and this is very, very bad advice. Being a slave is far from the only method of survival even for undocumented workers.
I taught ESL in Thailand for 6 years. I am well aware of their labor issues at home. The only way to do it is through the proper channels. Necessity for them, much like the trickle-down abuses facing the working class of America, causes them to make a hard choice. They will come anyway, help the one you can and advocate on the side. Good luck
Assuming that this unfortunate person will need to acquire some kind of visa and isn't already in the United States, you could try [writing or e-mailing](https://ph.usembassy.gov/consular/) the U.S. Embassy in Manila with whatever information you have (your parents' names, the name of the employee if you know it, et cetera). There's a specific item on the visa inquiry contact list to report fraud and scams- it will go to the fraud prevention team, who will review the information and take appropriate action (as allowed by U.S. immigration law). Because there are a *lot* of workers coming in from the Philippines, the more information you can provide, the better.
There is also a range of contact information to [report human trafficking](https://www.state.gov/domestic-trafficking-hotlines/). The first section on that page is specifically about sex traffickng, but if you scroll down, there are a bunch of links with advice about how to report things like forced labor that don't quite rise to the level of trafficking. You can obviously report it at the state level, but a lot of this stuff- illegally long hours, illegally low wages, being denied freedom of movement, having someone who is out of visa status working for you (which often happens if the person hiring the worker just... doesn't bother to follow up with paperwork) can have federal implications, as well.
Good for you for trying to take steps to prevent this kind of mistreatment. There are so many cases of people innocently chasing jobs in the U.S. thinking that they're securing a better life for themselves and their family only to realize too late that they were scammed into a really bad situation and have no way out.
That article you linked to was really something else to read. What a heartbreaking story, to be a young girl and have your life and future taken from you so rudely. And her strength to endure it and come out on the otherside without losing her spirit. Another awful example of modern day slavery. Thank you for putting your foot down with this. Not sure I can help you with the legal side of things, you seem to be doing to right thing already. You know who to report them to if it comes to it. Keep doing what you're doing.
Oh my freaking Bob, I'm sorry that you have shit parents. They should be proud they have raised someone with a strong moral compass and the strength to speak up for the people that can't advocate for themselves. Keep on being awesome.
You could report them to immigration. You can send an anonymous email saying that you know they are helping someone come into the country who will “disappear” and will not go back after their visa expires. Its better than saying your parents are trafficing human beings to work as slaves
You might wanna be prepared to move out and be financially independent if you aren’t already.
Idk the right answer to this post I just thought no way they’ll let you live with them if they’re fighting a human trafficking case cause you reported them.
You do what you feels right but be prepared. I don’t know exactly what will happen but I know this is serious.
If they are bringing her from overseas, that might be qualified as either human trafficking and/or visa violation. You might want to add actual police and FBI into the mix. But I’m no lawyer, just a person who met a bunch of domestic workers back in a day lol. Double check with a lawyer.
There’s a reason this is illegal. It’s very close to slavery/human trafficking. Like as close as you can get and have it still not technically be it.
I would personally report them, and consider cutting off contact.
Would the OFW live with them, if so that would likely be taken into account when paying. Sending your parents to jail while sponging off them… interesting family dynamic.
There are labor laws in california that prevent lodging and meals from adding up to account for too of the employees paycheck [https://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/IWCArticle15.pdf](https://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/IWCArticle15.pdf) on pg 7.
Also I don't typically live with them, I'm staying with them for a month. I should have clarified that lol
I read on page 6 that if a dedicated room and 3 meals are providedaprox $100 a week can be deducted from minimum wage if both parties agree. Did I read that wrong?
The people that bring them over often take their passport, and the families may say they will pay one thing for x hours but actually pay far less for far more hours.
There are many people who get brought over by family members to work for them in their homes or in their businesses and have wages stolen and/or are abused.
Wage theft is rampant.
In theory, yes. There will certainly be *a* wage indicated in, say, the paperwork for the visa application. But once the person actually arrives, they are at the mercy of this family to pay them, house them, and treat them according to the contract that was signed. Not-infrequently, that's not how things go. By that point, however, the worker is already in the US (either at great personal expense or because the person hiring them paid, which they'll use as leverage to compel work by saying that the worker must continue working in order to "pay back" the flight, visa fees, et cetera), may no longer have their passport in their position, and may also be hearing from their employer that if they leave the job, they'll have to return to their home country (which they probably left because they desperately needed to earn money to send home).
There *are* people who follow all the rules and pay an appropriate wage and have good relationships with the domestic workers that they hire. But there are many who don't, and when these kinds of situations go bad, they go *really* bad. Like, modern slavery/human trafficking kind of bad.
Dude, your wife works to have money in case she wants to leave you.
The vast majority of Filipino workers are documented and they are not going to be deported for reporting wage violations.
And while they may be happy making only 80% of minimum wage, that doesn't mean it's ethical, much less a favor, to pay them that. 🙄
You sound like an absolutely horrible person.
We need to make sure we’re reminding people: minimum wage exists to protect the worker who might receive less than minimum wage, but also to protect OTHER low wage workers from being underbid for low wage jobs and having a “race to the bottom”. Just because someone has a lower living cost they should not be paid less.
u/objectionne, just because a specific wage would work for someone in another country, does not make it reasonable to pay that individual that wage if it is not livable or sustainable in the country they currently reside. You are perpetuating exploitation of overseas and foreign workers, which runs strongly counter to the message of r/antiwork. Your comment has been deleted for being pro-exploitation.
Doesn't matter if the *employee* doesn't mind being paid less than minimum wage (and in most cases they probably do mind, they just accept it because it's better than nothing) -- it's *still* wrong. OPs parents are *WRONG*.
I don’t have an answer for you but I would say, it might also be helpful to post this on r/legaladvice. They may also have some ideas.
thank you so much!
You bet! I hope it works out. Your parents sound like a piece of work.
they really are lol. thanks
Just wanted to say the Atlantic article you included in your post really touched me and I had no idea this was an issue. Thank you for trying to do the right thing!
im really glad it resonated! im filipino but my family is in the upper echelon of rich and assimilated filis that are out of touch/don't really care about other people lol. oddly enough i found that article through the comments on an snl sketch. alex tizon also has a lot of other great writings this tiktok was also making the rounds online: https://www.tiktok.com/@chiefnosybystander/video/7235309170759634218. its a reupload because op deleted, its still crazy to me.
I saw the original video years ago, very fucking disturbing to say the least.
I remember that article and thinking just how evil his mom was. It’s one thing for her to have been clueless when she was a child. But the behavior after she was an adult (especially after her own children told her how wrong she was) was disgusting. I’d actually have been ok with the poor woman allowing the mother’s second husband to beat her once, just so the mother could get a taste of abuse. Please do what you can to stop your parents.
The article you linked made me cry. I am a 39 year old man. What a sad, beautiful story. Lola was too good for this world.
you got a strong moral compass kid...good luck!
lmfao thanks, i do asian and international studies. i don't enjoy the fact that my parents think this is perfectly okay
yeah, it's not. it's a shame that they won't listen to your voice of reason. I hope everything works out :)
What is an OFW?
Overseas Filipino Worker. There're also OCWs: Overseas Contract Workers.
foreign worker
Oops, your right! My brain crossed wires there.
There are easier and cheaper ways to keep a house clean, even when compared to underpaying a live in worker/slave. Cleaning services are a thing, people who are too busy to get all the house work done can easily get someone in once or twice a week to pick up the slack. Meal services are also a thing, nevermind takeout and delivery. I strongly suspect that your parents are doing this because someone that they know that is also upper middle class/low end wealthy has done the same thing and is bragging about it. It's a classic case of "Keeping up with the Jones' ". I highly doubt this was an original idea of theirs. Which makes it even shittier of them because they are less interested in the service aspect and more interested in showing off that they essentially have a slave. This could be useful information to you though. If someone they know has done this, maybe you can find out who they are and report them. That will actively show your parents the consequences of being such shitty people and kill this idea before it can go any further.
Was looking for the 'Keeping up with the Jones' comment. It's insane how much control these Jones characters have over these upper middle class families. They end up so insular and self-serving that they end up in their own little bubble. They're like French aristocrats compared to us peasants, they're barely aware other people exist.
Right??? I was like - what kind of a psychopath even needs a live in servant when catering and cleaning companies exist?
Maybe if you're going to use an abbreviation, you can use what it stands for one time for context?
Plus saying Philippino OFW (Overseas Filippino Worker) is a bit redundant.
its overeseas foreign worker lmao
[OFW according to this wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Filipino_Worker) is Overseas Filipino Worker but I suppose that overseas foreign worker is an alternate meaning. I only had to look because your original entry assumed everyone knows what it stands for.
If your parents were not racist they would be proud of you, as any sensible person that reads you is also proud of what you are doing. But it is difficult to stop them in their plans, because they have money, they are motivated and they know what they want and the laws of your country allow it. Also now they have been alerted that you are going to be an obstacle, so they are going to avoid you and ghost you about this. So, to stop them you need to have a plan and an strategy and you need more information. So in order to have more information from them you need to make them believe that you are not going to stop them. In fact you need that they believe that you are going to help them, so that they keep you in the loop. With that information it is more possible that you will be able to stop them. Please note, if they are able to make a Philippine person come to the USA, then you should do nothing further. In order to not put that Philippine person in hazard. Immigration is risky and going back is risky too, this person may be in debt with mafias in order to come to the USA, and by going back so soon he/she won't be able to pay the debts and be in problems as well as his/her family. So you need to stop them beforehand. There are anti immigration movements and groups in your country, you can ask them what can you do to stop an illegal immigration; they are very well organized so they may have legal information and resources for this, but also they are very hateful and violent so don't share real details with them. I hope you succeed in your plans.
They are Filipinos, racism isn't the factor here. They do that BECAUSE they can hire a cousin actually
OP did say they were racist, it sounds like an internalized racism kind of situation. People achieve a level of success that they then use to differentiate themselves from other people of the same background. (Ie. all the Americans who immigrated from a place like Mexico and then vote for Trump saying they think Mexicans shouldn't be allowed to immigrate.)
The girl from the tiktok video and her family are latin americans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are latin american descendants too as well as George Zimmerman Latin american descendants can be more racist than whites. Philippines share with latin americans that we both mixed our blood with Spaniards during the colonial times. Other european colonialists did not mix their blood with their colonized.
Philippines was also colonized for a *very* long time, and was even founded as a nation to be a colony. It was a Spanish colony for longer than the United States has even existed. It’s practically impossible to extricate colonial culture from Filipino culture.
It’s actually pretty interesting how many people of color that I’ve met who are lowkey (or high key) racist towards other minorities and/or their own. It baffles me and I don’t understand it. It’s like an internalized form of self-hatred leaking out and being projected onto others.
Are you literally advising him to just let his parents exploit someone if that person is already here? I am literally an immigrant, and this is very, very bad advice. Being a slave is far from the only method of survival even for undocumented workers.
I taught ESL in Thailand for 6 years. I am well aware of their labor issues at home. The only way to do it is through the proper channels. Necessity for them, much like the trickle-down abuses facing the working class of America, causes them to make a hard choice. They will come anyway, help the one you can and advocate on the side. Good luck
Assuming that this unfortunate person will need to acquire some kind of visa and isn't already in the United States, you could try [writing or e-mailing](https://ph.usembassy.gov/consular/) the U.S. Embassy in Manila with whatever information you have (your parents' names, the name of the employee if you know it, et cetera). There's a specific item on the visa inquiry contact list to report fraud and scams- it will go to the fraud prevention team, who will review the information and take appropriate action (as allowed by U.S. immigration law). Because there are a *lot* of workers coming in from the Philippines, the more information you can provide, the better. There is also a range of contact information to [report human trafficking](https://www.state.gov/domestic-trafficking-hotlines/). The first section on that page is specifically about sex traffickng, but if you scroll down, there are a bunch of links with advice about how to report things like forced labor that don't quite rise to the level of trafficking. You can obviously report it at the state level, but a lot of this stuff- illegally long hours, illegally low wages, being denied freedom of movement, having someone who is out of visa status working for you (which often happens if the person hiring the worker just... doesn't bother to follow up with paperwork) can have federal implications, as well. Good for you for trying to take steps to prevent this kind of mistreatment. There are so many cases of people innocently chasing jobs in the U.S. thinking that they're securing a better life for themselves and their family only to realize too late that they were scammed into a really bad situation and have no way out.
That article you linked to was really something else to read. What a heartbreaking story, to be a young girl and have your life and future taken from you so rudely. And her strength to endure it and come out on the otherside without losing her spirit. Another awful example of modern day slavery. Thank you for putting your foot down with this. Not sure I can help you with the legal side of things, you seem to be doing to right thing already. You know who to report them to if it comes to it. Keep doing what you're doing.
Oh my freaking Bob, I'm sorry that you have shit parents. They should be proud they have raised someone with a strong moral compass and the strength to speak up for the people that can't advocate for themselves. Keep on being awesome.
I'm sorry. You are doing the right thing to threaten to report them before they do it and then report them after they do it. They suck.
That article you linked was incredible. That writer owes you a commission, I'm buying everything he writes.
It's crazy that your parents are filipino yet are racist and would pay the OFW fairly.
I was
report them to the cali dept of labor
You could report them to immigration. You can send an anonymous email saying that you know they are helping someone come into the country who will “disappear” and will not go back after their visa expires. Its better than saying your parents are trafficing human beings to work as slaves
I’d let them do it and wait 2-3 years then report it so that the worker got paid a nice big chunk all at one time.
You might wanna be prepared to move out and be financially independent if you aren’t already. Idk the right answer to this post I just thought no way they’ll let you live with them if they’re fighting a human trafficking case cause you reported them. You do what you feels right but be prepared. I don’t know exactly what will happen but I know this is serious.
If they are bringing her from overseas, that might be qualified as either human trafficking and/or visa violation. You might want to add actual police and FBI into the mix. But I’m no lawyer, just a person who met a bunch of domestic workers back in a day lol. Double check with a lawyer.
There’s a reason this is illegal. It’s very close to slavery/human trafficking. Like as close as you can get and have it still not technically be it. I would personally report them, and consider cutting off contact.
Wow that article made me tear up
Would the OFW live with them, if so that would likely be taken into account when paying. Sending your parents to jail while sponging off them… interesting family dynamic.
There are labor laws in california that prevent lodging and meals from adding up to account for too of the employees paycheck [https://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/IWCArticle15.pdf](https://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/IWCArticle15.pdf) on pg 7. Also I don't typically live with them, I'm staying with them for a month. I should have clarified that lol
I read on page 6 that if a dedicated room and 3 meals are providedaprox $100 a week can be deducted from minimum wage if both parties agree. Did I read that wrong?
No, you cannot exploit people just for food and shelter anymore.
I don’t have a dog in this fight but it seems reasonable that room and board with have an impact on pay.
Turns out you gotta pay people more, not less, if you want them available for you 24/7. Plus provide room and board.
Wouldn't they worker know their pay before they come though?
The people that bring them over often take their passport, and the families may say they will pay one thing for x hours but actually pay far less for far more hours. There are many people who get brought over by family members to work for them in their homes or in their businesses and have wages stolen and/or are abused. Wage theft is rampant.
In theory, yes. There will certainly be *a* wage indicated in, say, the paperwork for the visa application. But once the person actually arrives, they are at the mercy of this family to pay them, house them, and treat them according to the contract that was signed. Not-infrequently, that's not how things go. By that point, however, the worker is already in the US (either at great personal expense or because the person hiring them paid, which they'll use as leverage to compel work by saying that the worker must continue working in order to "pay back" the flight, visa fees, et cetera), may no longer have their passport in their position, and may also be hearing from their employer that if they leave the job, they'll have to return to their home country (which they probably left because they desperately needed to earn money to send home). There *are* people who follow all the rules and pay an appropriate wage and have good relationships with the domestic workers that they hire. But there are many who don't, and when these kinds of situations go bad, they go *really* bad. Like, modern slavery/human trafficking kind of bad.
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Dude, your wife works to have money in case she wants to leave you. The vast majority of Filipino workers are documented and they are not going to be deported for reporting wage violations. And while they may be happy making only 80% of minimum wage, that doesn't mean it's ethical, much less a favor, to pay them that. 🙄 You sound like an absolutely horrible person.
We need to make sure we’re reminding people: minimum wage exists to protect the worker who might receive less than minimum wage, but also to protect OTHER low wage workers from being underbid for low wage jobs and having a “race to the bottom”. Just because someone has a lower living cost they should not be paid less.
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It's not an "arbitrary minimum" -- it is the *legal minimum wage which employers are REQUIRED to pay*.
Wage violations are crime. Would you try to justify someone stealing 300 a month from your wife? It's theft.
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u/objectionne, just because a specific wage would work for someone in another country, does not make it reasonable to pay that individual that wage if it is not livable or sustainable in the country they currently reside. You are perpetuating exploitation of overseas and foreign workers, which runs strongly counter to the message of r/antiwork. Your comment has been deleted for being pro-exploitation.
That's what they tell *you.* 🙄 I've never in my life known a population who was happy to only be exploited a little.
Doesn't matter if the *employee* doesn't mind being paid less than minimum wage (and in most cases they probably do mind, they just accept it because it's better than nothing) -- it's *still* wrong. OPs parents are *WRONG*.
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Because hiring a foreign national for slave wages is okay, so long as you don't get disowned, right?
jokes on u, im already kinda disowned B)
Nobody should be judged for the misfortune of being born into a family of Nazis (for example).
Content deemed to be trolling or otherwise in bad faith will be removed at the moderators' discretion.