Introduction from the Massage Parlor Organizing Project (MPOP):
During AANHPI month on May 20th, the MLK Labor Council passed a historic resolution initiated by the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), standing in solidarity with the ongoing organizing of Asian massage workers, and opposing ongoing police and fire department raids. This marks the first time a resolution has passed supporting an active campaign pushed by Asian massage workers (Safety Not Stigma), instead of memorializing those lost to police or white supremacist violence.
This resolution is part of larger efforts by Asian massage workers in Washington state to improve their working conditions and push back against the racist conflation of unlicensed massage and human trafficking. Massage Parlor Organizing Project (MPOP) — a grassroots massage worker immigrant rights organization — has outreached to hundreds of parlors over eight years and identified the real reason why unlicensed Asian massage workers exist: systemic barriers.
There is no Chinese language for the massage licensure exam, administered by nonprofit FSMTB (Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards). Language accommodation was explicitly struck during the drafting of Washington state law in 2012 after racist anti-Asian testimony; only English and Spanish are offered. Additionally, workers must complete a Department of Health certified massage school — usually only offered in English — costing between $13-17,000 and require upwards of 625 unpaid training hours. These barriers are extremely difficult to overcome for poor, immigrant, Asian massage workers with limited English proficiency. The massage licensing process does not account for the years of experience and cultural practice Asian massage workers have.
Following in the footsteps of other fights for accessible certification and workplace protections, namely the successful Doulas For All legislation and Strippers Bill of Rights, Asian massage workers are fighting for culturally relevant, accessible, legal pathways to work. Below is a speech from E, a Chinese massage worker and organizer at Massage Parlor Organizing Project (MPOP):
A Chinese massage worker and MPOP organizer in her own words:
Hello! I am a massage worker in Seattle. I want to talk about the difficulties we face.
The government often has stereotypes about Asian women who do not speak English. They often think women who work in Asian massage shops are all “trafficked.” They think our shops are places where crime happens. But I want to say: we should not be treated as criminals or victims just because we work in the massage industry.
Bad working conditions are not the same as trafficking. Many workers do live hard lives. Some do not get paid fairly. Some work too many hours. Some sleep at their workplace to save money on rent. These problems are real — but they also happen in many other industries. We want to solve them by protecting workers’ rights.
Instead, the government responds with police raids. Police rush in, search us, handcuff us, take our money and belongings, and arrest us. In the end, it is the workers who get hurt. How is that good for us?
Many workers are most afraid of the police. After a raid, a worker often loses her income and her home. She cannot take care of her children. She may even be jailed or deported.
Because of this fear, many people will not call the police when they are hurt. They do not ask for help. They are afraid to go to the hospital or talk to any officials. When migrant workers are treated as either criminals or victims who need to be “saved,” it makes us more isolated and more vulnerable. Even when police say they are “rescuing” us, we know the truth: for a migrant worker, once your name is in the police system, you lose more than you gain.
There is a lot of stigma against us. If we do not pass the difficult English-only exam to get a massage license, we are seen as criminals. Some medical words are so long, so hard to remember. I just remember [when] I passed the exam, the teacher said “Congratulations!” I couldn’t say thank you. I just smiled and ran to the restroom and vomited, because there was too much pressure on me. I was too nervous. I worked very hard to get my license. Without it, I would be too afraid to speak here today. But many of my coworkers still live in fear every day because they do not have a license. They have years of experience and strong skills. Customers love them. They work just as hard as I do. But they have no time or money for massage school. Or the exam is too hard because they do not speak English. The current licensing system makes it very hard for them to live without fear.
I sometimes feel that the government does not listen to us migrant workers. They speak for us and make laws based on stereotypes and biased views of Asian women. What is truly good for us? We need to be able to report wage theft and violence without fear of being criminalized or deported. We need translators, lawyers, doctors, and affordable housing. If police raids and shop searches only make us poorer and more silent, then they are not helping us. We hope you will listen. Please use the city’s money to improve working conditions — not for police raids. Please help migrant workers reduce the barriers to working legally.
Thank you for listening to my voice.
***
大家好！我是一名在西雅图工作的按摩师。我想讲讲我们所面对的困境。
政府对不会说英语的亚裔女性往往存在很多偏见。他们常常认为，在亚裔按摩店工作的女性都是”人口贩卖”的受害者。他们认为我们的店是犯罪发生的地方。但我想说：我们不应该仅仅因为从事按摩行业，就被当作罪犯或受害者来对待。
恶劣的工作条件并不等同于人口贩卖。很多工人确实过着艰难的生活。有些人没有得到公平的报酬。有些人工作时间过长。有些人为了省房租而睡在工作的地方。这些问题是真实存在的——但它们在许多其他行业中同样存在。我们希望通过维护工人权益来解决这些问题。
然而，政府的回应是警察突击搜查。警察冲进来，搜查我们，给我们戴上手铐，没收我们的钱财和物品，并逮捕我们。到头来，受伤的还是工人自己。这怎么能说是为了我们好？
很多工人最害怕的就是警察。每次突击搜查之后，工人往往失去收入和住所，无法照顾自己的孩子，甚至可能面临牢狱之灾或被驱逐出境。
正因为这种恐惧，很多人在受到伤害时不敢报警，不敢求助，甚至不敢去医院，不敢和任何官员交谈。当移民工人被当作罪犯、或是需要被”拯救”的受害者来对待时，我们只会变得更加孤立、更加脆弱。即使警察声称是在”解救”我们，我们也清楚真相：对于一个移民来说，一旦你的名字进入警察系统，你失去的远比得到的多。
我们承受着巨大的社会偏见。如果没有通过那个只用英语考试的按摩执照考试，我们就会被视为罪犯。我非常努力才拿到了自己的执照。如果没有它，我今天根本不敢站在这里发言。但我的很多同事每天都生活在没有合法执照的恐惧之中。他们有多年的经验和精湛的技术，深受顾客喜爱，工作也和我一样努力。但他们没有时间和金钱去读按摩学校，或者因为不会说英语而无法通过考试。现行的执照制度让他们很难摆脱这种恐惧、安心生活。
我有时觉得，政府根本不听我们移民工人的声音。他们替我们”发声”，却根据对亚裔女性的刻板印象和偏见来制定法律。什么才是真正对我们好？我们需要能够在不担心被定罪或驱逐的情况下举报欠薪和暴力行为。我们需要翻译、律师、医生和负担得起的住房。如果警察突击搜查只会让我们更加贫困、更加沉默，那它根本不是在帮助我们。希望你们能倾听我们的声音。请把城市的资金用于改善工作条件，而不是用于警察突击行动。请帮助移民工人减少合法工作的障碍。
谢谢你们听我说话！
