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Recently reporter asked “As a surgical resident, how did you feel motivated to write re workers rights” Made me reflect re privilege I had attained by standing on community shoulders. Why I spoke up re workplace rights & my experience as an immigrant & temp worker. Thread 1/8
Health advocacy is core pillar of Medicine. As a Surgery Trainee, we are taught to advocate for patients. Its’ a core competency of every physician & a must in every physician’s toolkit regardless of specialty. I felt I was doing what I was taught -- being an advocate. 2/8
As temp worker, I used to await phone call daily from agency to be called to work next day. If called to work, there was enormous pressure to perform 100%. I had productivity targets that needed to be met --if I didn't meet these, I was not called back to work the next day 3/8
In warehouses, I had close to zero rights & was not able to speak up. I didn’t want to be in agencies’ bad books & relied on daily income. I witnessed injustices around me & nothing was ever done as workers were vulnerable, particularly immigrants & visible minority women 4/8
I couldn’t imagine stressors such environments would create during pandemic. When I heard re industrial outbreaks, I knew what was happening. Imagine you get a call for work but are unwell. Do you call in sick or head to work as you can’t afford to be on agency blacklist 5/8
I was motivated to use my privilege of voice that I once completely lacked. This led me to start Humans in Brampton, @bramptoncovid with @arash_chahal @gurbaazsra to create a safe platform for workers & advocate for paid sick leave, employment protection & basic rights 6/8
We hope our campaign highlights injustices these essential vulnerable workers experience throughout Canada. These workers deserve the basic rights and employment protection we take for granted. 7/8 Full article: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/01/12/whats-an-essential-workplace-and-whos-an-essential-worker-ontarios-new-lockdown-rules-under-scrutiny.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=GTA&utm_content=&utm_source=twitter&source=torontostar&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=&utm_campaign_id=&utm_content=
Its not easy to share lived experiences but these are critical to understand an issue.Highlights importance of EDI in medicine, public health & all sectors. Allows us to understand underlying factors impacting health. Grassroot voices should be mandatory part of health policy 8/8
Thanks to @EVYSTADIUM @SumeetDhami @YudhvirJaswal @SaraMojtehedz @OMNITelevision @ymediagroup @CBCNews @CBCHereandNow @MissiNewsRoom @PointerBrampton & everyone else who helped amplify Humans in Brampton @BramptonCovid. These workers deserve to be heard & get basic rights!
And thank you to @UofTGSx @UofTSurgery staff, mentors, colleagues, and friends for supporting this work and amplifying voices of those impacted the most during this pandemic.
And a special shout out to @TorontoStar @EVYSTADIUM for publishing the pieces initially and giving a voice to the workers!
