Joy Santos: One tough Filipina unionist!

by Levy Abad

Reflecting on the manuscript I wrote about Filipino union leaders of Winnipeg from 1968 to 1998, the name Joy Santos appears often. Several women unionists mentioned her name.

By coincidence, Crissy Aquino came by the Once Young Filipino Seniors hang out. The first chance I got, I asked Crissy if she was a unionist, to which she proudly confided that she worked at Olympic Sportswear near McDermott and Albert Street when she arrived in 1969, earning $1.25 per hour. She added that they belong to the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and their union rep was Joy Santos.

Danny Henson, who arrived in 1974, also remembers Joy Santos as a union rep in the mid-70s. This was also confirmed by Sister Mildred Caldo, union organizer of Workers United. She added that before retiring, Joy used to be the rep in charge of Nygard, Peerless, Freed & Freed, and TanJay clothing. Before becoming a member of the Workers United, Joy was a well-known and respected rep of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) in the 80s and 90s.

According to a friend, Felino De Jesus, Joy Santos – also a member of the Philippine Solidarity Group (1983-1996) – was from Central Luzon. He recalls Joy telling him that her father was part of the Anti-Japanese resistance, Hukbalahap. Maybe that’s where Joy got her courage and left-wing tendencies. Mildred Caldo, her union sister, shared that when Joy was a kid in Manila, she used to sell banana-cue to save for her education and help the family.

Just to provide the context of Joy Santos’ involvement and union history, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in the ‘90s to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE likewise merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) in 2004 and formed UNITE HERE. In 2008, “numerous local unions between 105,000 to 150,000 members left UNITE HERE” and became Workers United. With this history, it becomes clear why pioneer Filipino women union leaders and members of the above unions know Joy Santos as she was part of the merging process.

Community union outreach

Sometime in 1982, Joy Santos became a member of the board of the Federation of Filipino Workers of Manitoba (FFWM), together with Fran Balagot, Florencio Antonio, Aurora Casem, Oscar Carbonel, Joe Sulit, Ben Esteban, Greg Sevillo, Jose Gonzales, Francisco Juan, and Ed Bumanlag. The formation of the FFWM can be considered one of the earliest attempts of the Filipino community to form a serious Workers’ Union (Silangan magazine, Oct. 1982). Joy Santos’ involvement with the federation was part of the immersion and outreach to organize and popularize workers’ unionism, thus advancing their rights and welfare.

Government task force and board appointments

I found the following Manitoba government news releases about Joy.

“Joy Santos was appointed to part of the Multicultural Task Force representing the International Ladies Garment Workers Union Local 288.” (May 22, 1987)

“Minimum wage board’s new and existing members will assess the current minimum hourly wage…Joy Santos, employee representative, staff representative, International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union division/ UNITE/ Winnipeg.” (May 26, 1998)

Human rights and democracy activism

Back in 2012, in one of my interviews with Neri Dimacali, former Vice-Chair of Boeing Union and pioneer community activist, he mentioned that I should look for Joy Santos and interview her. Joy was an original member of the Philippine Solidarity Group, fighting for human rights and democracy in the Philippines, together with Dante Buenaventura, founder of Magdaragat, Conrado Gomez (Philippine Echo Newsletter), Felino De Jesus (Knights of Rizal), Danny Gomez, Manny Reyes, Elisa Buenaventura (Grassroots Women), Cleto Buduhan (author), and Ruffy Salcon (Rhythms and Resistance: Narrative of Filipino Musicians and Activists of Winnipeg 1972- 94, Levy Abad).

Looking at the years that Joy Santos devoted herself to labour activism, becoming the union representative of the local at Olympic Garments, and doing community labour outreach with FFWM and Philippine Solidarity, it is just fitting to write a tribute article for her dedication to serving the labour movement and the community from the 70s until her retirement as a representative of Workers’ United. Strangely, you can barely see postings online about her service. Fortunately, brothers and sisters in the labour movement remember her and share her achievements to serve as exemplars for future workers to emulate.

Sources:

Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Ladies_Garment_Workers_Union

Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNITE_HERE

Manitoba government, May 22, 1987, https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/archives/1987/05/1987-05-22-multicultural_policy_taks_force_appointed.pdf

Manitoba government, May 26, 1998, https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=23439&posted=1998-05-26

Levy Abad authored a book titled Rhythms and Resistance: Narrative of Filipino Musicians and Activists (1972-1994). Levy is also a singer-songwriter, poet, and migrant rights activist who has released four albums centred on the life and struggles of migrants.