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Issue No. 30                        September 9-15,  2001                    Quezon City, Philippines

Adamson U Teachers to Conduct Lessons in Picket Line

Starting this week until the strike is over, students of Adamson University will still go to class to learn the hard lessons of fighting for one's right and the struggle for change --- direct from the picket line.

By DANILO ARAÑA ARAO
Bulatlat.com

The lessons in the classroom may have ended abruptly last week, but the learning process continues at Adamson University (AU). The strike that started last September 3 will not prevent students from meeting their teachers as the organizers announced the holding of alternative classes in the picket line starting September 10.

Leaders of the Adamson University Faculty and Employees Association (AUFEA) interviewed by Bulatlat.com said  that Adamson students will learn more from what the school is going through right now.

AUFEA President Babylin Tero said that the teach-in is an opportunity for students to also know their side of the issue. She denounced the school administration’s move to discredit them by coming out with various propaganda materials like full-page advertisements in newspapers which claim that the strike was being done in bad faith.

On the contrary, Tero claimed that the administration is oppressing its workers by refusing to sign the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the contents of which have already been agreed upon. To make matters worse, six of the AUFEA leaders were dismissed two days after the strike (September 5). Tero said that these are clear moves to weaken unionism in the school.

She also disclosed that they have been subjected to periodic harassment by police officers and scabs who would try to break the picket line. As of press time, no untoward incident has been reported, but Tero claimed that the threat of violence persists.

In a September 8 manifesto, the AUFEA claimed that the administration’s decision to terminate the six union leaders including Tero is “a vain attempt to coerce our members to abandon the cause of fighting for our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) --- the most solid ground of collective power in dealing with the administration.”

The strike gained the support of both the Adamson University Student Government (AUSG) and the Adamson University Parents Association (AUPA).

Other progressive groups that rendered support to the strike are the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN, New Patriotic Alliance), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May One Movement), Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND), Anakbayan and League of Filipino Students (LFS).

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