Workers come forward for many different reasons. For many immigrant women, EWP classes provide a welcome break, a chance to relax and do something for themselves alone. Confidence-building is probably the most important achievement of EWP programs. It has enabled hundreds of immigrant women workers to speak out and stand up for their own rights:

. A Polish woman, who had been forced to do her bosses' personal laundry for many years, filled out a grievance form and regained her dignity in the workplace.

. A Greek woman, a custodial worker, received thousands of dollars in back wages because her employer continually passed her over in the promotion process. After she raised the issue in the EWP classes, the union fought a successful case on her behalf.

. Two immigrant women, members of the CUPE local at a health care institution in Toronto, have recently become stewards in their local - a major step forward.

. A Chinese sewing machine operator who had endured backache for the last ten months, finally gathered up enough confidence and English to ask the mechanic to adjust her seat. She came back to the class with a renewed sense of pride.

Our EWP program is now taking on a new direction to recruit and train other workers to become potential EWP instructors. Hopefully through this process, we will be able to open up new possibilities for the immigrant women who have been silenced and whose previous training and credentials from their home countries have been totally discarded. These women workers can very well be ideal EWP instructors, as they will have a good knowledge of the workplace and empathy for the participants in the program.

The Center is also exploring new training programs that will address the mother-tongue literacy needs of our EWP participants. These immigrant women are in a double jeopardy position in the broader political, economic and social context. It is a basic human right and an access to learning that they have been TWICE denied We strongly see the need for a bridging program in which bilingual instructors will be able to provide the additional support and pre-basic functional ESL training for these learners with social needs.

We see our English at the workplace Programs as a stepping-stone for immigrant women to have more options and to be able to move on. It is an empowering process which, at times, can be frustrating because training alone is not the only solution. Training does not create jobs. Nor does it resolve the systematic in, equalities that immigrant women face on a daily basis. However, an acknowledgment of all these limitations does not immobilize us. Instead it has given us a much clearer focus to provide the support and tools for immigrant women to SAW their chains of isolation and "illiteracy,' It is this collective strength of our sisters that will empower us all.

Winnie Ng, Pramila Agarwal and Brenda Wall have worked for many years in immigrant women's programs. They are now involved in Metro [Toronto] Labour Education & Skills Training Center.