‘Sahod, Trabaho at Karapatan...Ipaglaban!’*

Militant workers in various parts of the country once against took to the streets and demanded decent wages, jobs and union rights. Instead of heeding these calls, which included the three-year old P125 wage hike demand, the Macapagal-Arroyo government offered free rides in the Metro and Light Rail Transits, a free concert, free admission to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games, and discount on bus fares on Labor Day.

BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat.com

(Above) Militant workers at the foot of Mendiola Bridge; Beloved labor leader and Bayan Muna Representative Crispin Beltran narrates KMU's history

At least 55,000 workers and allies joined the nationwide Labor Day celebration of Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement) last May 1. May 1 also marked the 100^th year of the socialist-oriented labor movement in the Philippines. More than 20,000 people took to the streets in Metro Manila, 10,000 in Bicol, 10,000 in Southern Luzon, 7,000 in Negros, 5,000 in Davao and 3,000 in Central Luzon and Baguio.

Protest celebrations were also staged in Iloilo-Panay, Samar, Tagum City, Kidapawan City, Cotabato City, Cagayan de Oro City, Agusan, Iligan City and other major cities in the country.

In Manila, protesters gathered at 9 a.m. in eight assembly points: Plaza Miranda, Plaza Moriones, Liwasang Bonifacio, T.M. Kalaw, Intramuros, Abad Santos, Bonifacio Shrine, and Blumentritt.

They converged in Liwasang Bonifacio at 12 noon. Many unions on strike or are in the middle of negotiations with management paraded in front of the stage and were warmly applauded. They included unions of Rustan’s Department Store, Shoemart Inc., Triumph International and Manila Midtown Hotel, as well as government employees’ groups at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), National Housing Authority (NHA), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Bureau of Customs.                               

Foreign delegates to the International Solidarity Affair (ISA), an annual international labor conference hosted by KMU, also joined the activity. They came from Indonesia, Canada, Burma, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Germany, and the United States.

The cultural group Sining Bayan performed a dance interpretation of “Bilanggo” while folk musician Jess Santiago recited the famous “Kung Tuyo na ang Luha Mo.” Both pieces were written by labor leader Amado V. Hernandez whose centennial will also be observed this year. Musikang Bayan, Pula, Maso, Tambisan sa Sining and Pol Galang also performed during the rally’s program.

Newly-elected KMU chairman Elmer Labog reported on updates of the regional mobilizations taking place at that same time. He also said that a group of marchers from Baseco, Tondo, Manila were prevented by policemen from joining the rally. The same thing happened to marchers from Caloocan City. The latter however still managed to get to the site.

Meanwhile, a group of peasants in Sto. Tomas, Batangas was also stopped by policemen and allowed only to pass after they staged a die-in protest that caused heavy traffic in the area. In Southern Mindanao, protesters encountered travel interruptions after every police checkpoint.

At 4 p.m. and after braving the intense summer heat, the protesters at Liwasang Bonifacio proceeded to the Don Chino Roces Bridge (formerly Mendiola) which leads to the presidential palace and where the second part of the program was held. A five-layer, fully-geared anti-riot police teams greeted the protesters, standing behind barbed wires and steel bars. Elements of the Western Police District (WPD) also mixed with the crowd and some watched from the platform of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) being constructed.  

Agony of the labor sector

KMU secretary general Joel Maglunsod denounced the proposal of Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Donald Dee to revive the labor-management social accord.

Contrary to Dee’s claim that this will resolve the increasing dissent of different labor unions through “stability on the country’s industrial relations system,” Maglunsod asserted that "ECOP`s proposal further proves that employers are not bent on listening to the demands of workers for increase in wages, fair labor practices and other rights.” Instead, he said, “they are desperate to quell militancy by dragging workers into a one-sided, self-serving and unjust accord.”

Labog criticized what he called “short term pleasure” bargained by the government. Instead of a P125 wage increase, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration launched a free concert, offered free use of the MRT and LRT, allowed free entry to the PBA games, and gave discounts on bus fares on Labor Day. Furthermore, he castigated the lobbying by big Chinese businessmen to ban labor strike for 10 years.

Labog denounced Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas who accused KMU of “provoking workers to despise her and the Arroyo government,” and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye’s “loose comments” on the militant labor leaders as “mang-ngangawa” (loudmouths).

“Anong klaseng Kalihim ng Paggawa ang magsasabing nanunulsol lang at tamaan sana ng kidlat ang mga manggagawa dahil sa nagpapahayag kami ng mga hinaing sa gobyerno?,” Labog said.

“We cannot simply ignore Bunye’s malicious and impertinent comments against workers pressing for their legitimate demands, which the government disregards,” he said.

In retaliation, Aling Mameng Deunida, vice chairperson of Anakpawis, called the president “Gloria Makapal-ang-mukha-Arroyo (Gloria Shameless-Arroyo)” and blamed her for the worsening poverty of the people.

“To be hit by thunder is not enough..they (Sto. Tomas and Macapagal-Arroyo) should be bombed,” she fumed.

Renato Reyes, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan - New Patriotic Alliance) spokesperson, shared to the crowd the alleged insult to the workers made by the president.

Reyes identified these four insults: first is her applause for the Korean donation of 20,000 bicycles (ironically, there is a proposal to ban pedicabs, a three-wheeled manually-operated vehicle, by the Metro Manila Development Authority) and sewing machines; second is the president’s praise for Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) endorsement of “tripartism,” a martial law-vintage concept already rejected by other labor groups due to the scheme’s management bias; third, “artificial reduction” in the Power Purchased Adjustment (PPA) instead of its abolition; and fourth, planned privatization of the power industry.

Reyes also castigated the president’s announcement of the PPA reduction in July. According to him, this is only a “praise release” of the president since she will have her State of the Nation Address in July.

Meanwhile, Confederation for the Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) chairperson Ferdinand Gaite emphasized the important role of government employees in the labor movement. He called on the government employees in the rally to raise their fists and intensify their protests against reorganization and privatization plans in government agencies. 

These schemes, the Courage leader said, will lead to the lay-off of around 121,000 workers from BIR, NFA, NHA, Philippine Postal Corporation, Bureau of Customs, National Telecommunication Company (NTC), National Printing Office (NPO), Maintenance and Equipment Departments of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and 14 other agencies.

Even migrant workers blamed the government for the exploitation they experience.

“Filipinos are being forced to migrate in search for better opportunities abroad.  Currently, eight million Filipinos live and work in over 186 countries – making the Philippines the largest migrant nation in the world,” reported SIKLAB, an overseas Filipino workers’ organization in British Columbia. “The government rakes in over $10 billion a year from the remittances of its overseas workers while President Arroyo’s government only pays lip service to genuinely protecting our rights and welfare.”

Workers and the anti-imperialist campaign

2003 also marks the centenary of May 1 celebration in the Philippines and the 23-year old KMU not only witnessed the ups and downs of the labor sector, but also lived with it.

Bayan Muna Rep. Crispin Beltran, honorary chair of KMU, recounted the group’s early years under the Marcos dictatorship. Despite suppression in 1980, he said, KMU’s 50,000 members increased to 150,000 by the end of the year and reached more than 500,000 member-workers after five years.  

Bayan Muna and KMU leaders  light up the centennial torch to signify 100 years of May 1 celebrations

Beltran became its chair in 1986 after surviving an assassination attempt together with 35 others, while his predecessor, labor leader and lawyer Rolando Olalia, along with his driver, was brutally murdered.

The legislator said that from the start, KMU has been part of the world’s battle against imperialism. KMU played a major role in the creation of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS).  Beltran was elected chairperson of ILPS which has 342 member organizations worldwide.

Maglunsod recalled what Dominador Gomez, considered father of the Philippine labor movement, said about American democracy. “If America is the mother of democracy, then why is it afraid to confront those who desire democracy?”

Poe Gratela, Migrante chair, likewise made the same scrutiny that “U.S. is the chief enemy of peasants, workers, and migrants.”

“Kung may lalabas (ng bansa) na migrants at magkaka-SARS, di ‘yan pananagutan ni Gloria. Kailan ba pinanagutan ni Gloria ang mga mamamayan? Pwe!” Gratela said.

Hope                             

Meanwhile, workers see hope in a congressional inquiry on the massive contractualization of workers which started on April 30, after Bayan Muna Rep. Liza Maza exposed in a recent privilege speech the labor violations experienced by Shoemart (SM) employees.

Maza called contractualization as “illegal and extremely exploitative of Filipino workers,” especially in women. She added that it denies workers the right to job security and tenure, to organize as well as rights to benefits.

Citing the study of the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), Maza revealed that of the estimated 60,000 hired yearly in Shoemart’s 15 malls, only 4,000 of them are regular employees.

Even a labor department survey shows there was a 60.4 % increase in the practice of contractualization from 1992-1997 alone.

"More alarming is the fact that despite its obvious breach of labor laws, the Department of Labor has cleared SM of any violations...due to Department Orders 10-97 and 18-02 which virtually legalized the practice of contractualization by narrowly defining security of tenure within the duration of contract for temporary employment," lamented Maza.

In line with this, Maza filed House Bill 4461, also known as Act Strengthening the Right to Security of Tenure. The bill seeks to recognize as regular a person's employment from the time of its commencement in the absence of a written agreement. It also asserts that those employed for a specific seasonal project be entitled to all rights and privileges of a regular employee. Furthermore, it declares probationary and casual employment as illegal and seeks to penalize employers who fail to grant his or her employees their rights by as much as P500,000 to P700,000 fine and imprisonment for employers that illegally terminate workers. Bulatlat.com

*Fight for wages, jobs, and rights!

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