>>APALA Convenes First National Hearing on Asian Pacific American Workers’ Rights
>>Matthews Asia Funds Founder to Be Honored by Cal-Asia for Investing in Asian Growth
>>Workshop on Starting a Franchise Business
>>CAPE & Spike TV Announce Winners of the 2009 CAPE Digital Shorts Program

Compiled by Melissa He
NATION
APALA Convenes First National Hearing on Asian Pacific American Workers’ Rights
Washington D.C. - APALA and the AFL-CIO, in partnership with over 20 national and local organizations, convened the First National Asian Pacific American Workers’ Rights Hearing recently. The historic hearing allowed Asian Pacific American workers from around the country to testify on the right to organize and immigrant worker exploitation before a distinguished panel and an audience of over 200 people, representing a broad cross section of elected officials, labor leaders, community allies and academicians.
“AAPI workers are likely targets of labor violations in the workplace because they can be vulnerable and isolated immigrant workers who may be less informed of labor laws, may not speak English, and come to the U.S. with a distrust of the government and fear of immigration retaliation,” said Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32) a hearing panelist.  ”As a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, I am proud to stand with all workers who choose to form or join unions.”
“Contrary to misperceptions about Asian Pacific Americans, segments of this workforce still experience a litany of abuses in their jobs and worksites, including wage theft, union suppression and immigrant worker exploitation,” said John Delloro, APALA National President.
In his testimony, Ricky Lau, an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and an immigrant from China, spoke of how his former employer, NBC Contractors, paid him and his immigrant co-workers substandard wages and forced them to toil up to 12 hours a day, six days a week.  One of four named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the company, Lau testified that NBC Contractors was recently charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office for 48 felony counts, including massive wage theft, insurance fraud and perjury, involving millions of dollars.
“Our case highlights how immigrant workers, who may not speak English or know their rights, can be victimized by unscrupulous employers who cheat workers by not paying the proper wage,” said Lau.  ”It also shows how unions, in this case the IBEW, can and must play an instrumental role to assist immigrant workers in asserting our basic rights.”
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BAY/CAL
Matthews Asia Funds Founder to Be Honored by Cal-Asia for Investing in Asian Growth
San Francisco - The California-Asia Business Council (Cal-Asia) will present its 2009 New Silk Road Award to G. Paul Matthews, founder of San Francisco-based Matthews International Capital Management and the Matthews Asia Funds, at the non-profit business group’s 15th annual Asia Night gala.
The dinner event will take place on Friday, Nov. 20, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. For more info, visit www.calasia.org; www.matthewsasia.com; www.AsiaNight.org
Paul Matthews is being honored for:

his pioneering role in enabling American and other investors to readily participate in the long-term growth of Asia, and

for helping to stimulate the development of Asian markets.

With over $10 billion in assets, Matthews International Capital Management is the largest Asia-dedicated investment specialist in the United States.
About 400 people, including executives of California companies doing business in Asia and their spouses and guests, will attend the Asia business networking dinner and award presentation.
Special guests will include Asian ambassadors, consuls general and commercial officers based in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, said Aris. Countries expected include Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The gala will also feature a silent auction of Asian art objects and trans-Pacific airline and travel packages; an Asia-fusion dinner created especially for Asia Night; presentation of the award and Matthews’ acceptance remarks; and entertainment. William L. (Bill) Lee, San Francisco’s director of International Economic and Tourism Development, will emcee the event.
Companies wishing to sponsor dinner tables (10 guests), or individuals wishing to buy tickets, may contact Jeremy W. Potash or Xander Kameny at Cal-Asia, tel. (415) 986-8808 or xanderk@calasia.org, or visit www.CalAsia.org or www.AsiaNight.org. Seats start at $275.
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COMMERCE

Workshop on Starting a Franchise Business
San Francisco — Did you know that the owners of Papa Beard Sweets Café at Yerba Buena Lane and Westfield Center and Ms. Fields on Sutter Street in San Francisco are Filipinos? How many more Filipinos are into successful franchise business? Will other Filipino entrepreneurs and investors be interested in starting a franchise business?
The Bayanihan Community Center is hosting a workshop on starting a franchise business on December 1, 2009, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The workshop is organized by the Southeast Asian Community Center with the funding support from Wells Fargo. The Center is at 1010 Mission Street corner 6th Street near downtown San Francisco.
The main resource person is Gordon Dupries, a franchise consultant with FranNet. His bio says that Gordon Dupries has been president of FranNet San Francisco since 1990. He provides FREE consultations to individuals, matching their goals for personal, professional and financial achievement with carefully selected national franchise companies. Gordon regularly facilitates business acquisition workshops sponsored by the Small Business Administration in San Francisco, Small Business Development Centers and various nationally recognized private outplacement firms.
The other resource persons are Victor His, the director of the small business development and microloan program of SEACC and a representative of Wells Fargo.
Among the topics to be discussed in the workshops are: What is a franchise business? What are the different types of franchise opportunities? What are the capital requirements and financing programs available to start a franchise business? What are the steps to start a franchise?
The workshop is part of the Good Business Sense workshop series of the Filipino American Development Foundation’s Small Business Assistance Program. The program provides assistance, support and advocacy for Filipino entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Bay Area.
If interested to attend or for more information, please contact MC Canlas at 415-574-8718 or email him at mccanlast@aol.com.
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ARTS

CAPE & Spike TV Announce Winners of the 2009 CAPE Digital Shorts Program
Los Angeles — The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) Foundation, Inc., a non-profit arts and entertainment organization, is proud to announce Mr. Teddy Chen Culver as the winner of the 2009 CAPE Digital Shorts Program sponsored by Spike TV for his short film script THE BOXER.  As the winning filmmaker, Mr. Culver will receive not only $5,000.00 (USD) to produce and complete a professional quality short film of his winning script, but also the expertise and guidance of a CAPE mentor to help advise him through the production process.
For more information, please visit: www.capeusa.org/DigitalShortProgram_FAQ.html
1st runner up (Mr. Kenneth Cheng; THE ANSWER) and 2nd runner ups (Mr. Paul Seetachit and Mr. Barrington Smith-Seetachitt; THE PANDA), will receive $250.00 (USD) and $100.00 (USD) respectively as well as the benefits of a CAPE mentor.
While there are many film festivals that showcase short films, the opportunities to secure financing to physically produce a short are extremely limited.  In keeping with its mission, the goal of CAPE is to provide these much-needed funds and the guidance to produce a high quality short film that will generate attention for the filmmaker. The completed film will be announced and showcased at a future CAPE event as well as on the CAPE website (www.capeusa.org).
CAPE¹s Board of Advisors include distinguished executives and artists such as Ang Lee, John Woo, Terrence Chang, Dean Devlin, Warrington Hudlin, David Henry Hwang, Lou Diamond Phillips, Richard Sakai, B.D. Wong, Chris Lee, Fritz Friedman, Janet Yang and Teddy Zee.
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