Nikki Huang worked in nail salons across the GTA for two years after she arrived in Canada as a student from China in 2014. During that time, she says she often worked 10-hour days, received no training on the use of potentially hazardous products and was shortchanged on her wages to the tune of $3,000 by her last employer.“For rights at work, I would say the employer probably prefers the employees didn’t know much about it,” says the 28-year-old Markham resident.That is what the Nail Technicians’ Network is now seeking to change — emulating successful efforts in places like California to organize low-wage immigrant women and encourage safer working conditions.The initiative was born out of the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre’s nail salon workers project, launched in 2013 to identify and tackle health concerns including exposure to toxic substances with links to a range of health conditions such as cancer, respiratory illnesses, neurological damage and reproductive issues. There are over 1,120 licensed nail salons in the Toronto area.A 2015 report from the project, which has visited more than 80 workplaces, found a lack of training, limited access to safety information and language barriers all conspired to put workers at risk — particularly at budget establishments where competition to keep prices as low as possible is ferocious.Crucially, says project co-lead Anne Rochon Ford, there were few spaces where women, largely newcomers from Vietnam and China, could come together and advocate for themselves on the job. “It’s an absolutely critical piece to making change. They need an opportunity to test out their voice.”Yan Chen, a community legal worker with the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (CSALC), has helped spearhead that effort, which began last year with delivering informational flyers and establishing a social media presence on platforms like WeChat. The Nail Technicians’ ...
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