This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 12, April 30-May 6, 2006
ANALYSIS
Historically, May 1
or Labor Day is commemorated through a mass demonstration of workers
to fight for their rights. And given the conditions of Filipino workers
today, the commemoration of May 1 this year is no different. BY
BENJIE OLIVEROS Press Secretary Ignacio
Bunye called on the organizers of May 1 rallies to “respect the day meant for
workers.” He said it is not for “rabble-rousers and lawless elements” to
desecrate and destroy the May day commemoration “as part of their orchestrated
efforts to bring down the government.” This statement clearly betrays the
ignorance of Bunye and the Arroyo government, of which he is the mouthpiece, on
the history of Labor Day. It also makes one wonder what the Arroyo government
means by respect for workers. Internationally, workers’
movements trace the history of May 1 to the struggle of American workers for an
eight-hour workday. Workers led by the
Federation of
Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada
declared that starting May 1, 1886 a working day should be reduced to eight
hours from the current practice of ten, twelve, fourteen hours a day. Chicago
was the center of the struggle.
But on May 3, 1886, police fired at
a crowd of strikers at the McCormick Harvester Machine Company, killing at least
one striker, seriously wounding five or six others, and injuring an undetermined
number. Workers met the next day at Haymarket Square. As the workers were about
to end their program, Chicago police moved in to disperse the crowd. A bomb was
mysteriously lobbed at the police killing one instantly. This was used as an
excuse to crackdown on the anarchist and labor movement. Police ransacked the
homes and offices of suspected radicals, and hundreds were arrested without
charges. A reign of police terror swept over Chicago. Staging “raids” in the
working-class districts, the police rounded up all known anarchists and other
socialists. “Make the raids first and look up the law afterward!” publicly
counselled the state's attorney. Anarchists in
particular were harassed, and eight of Chicago’s most active were charged and
convicted with conspiracy to commit murder although there was no evidence
linking them to the bombing. They were later hanged. In the
Philippines, the first labor day was celebrated on May 1, 1903 by a
demonstration of 100,000 workers led by the Union Obrera Democratica de
Filipinas (UODF or Democratic Labor Union of the Philippines).
The demonstration was held in front of Malacañang with the workers shouting
“Down with U.S. Imperialism.” Within the same month, the home of UODF president
Dr. Dominador Gomez and the printing press where the UODF organ was printed were
simultaneously raided. Gomez was charged with sedition and illegal association. Historically, May 1
or Labor Day is commemorated through a mass demonstration of workers to
fight for their rights. And given the conditions of Filipino workers today, the
commemoration of May 1 this year is no different. With a record of 10.9
million Filipinos, or a third of the labor force, either jobless or
underemployed in 2005, the Arroyo government earned the dubious distinction of
having the worst sustained joblessness rate of any administration in the
country’s history. It generated a mere 98,000 jobs for salary and wage workers
in 2005. For every five
workers one is a casual, contractual or part-timer worker. This excludes other
forms of contractual labor arrangements such as subcontracting, agency-hiring,
job-out, home work and other schemes that deny workers their security of tenure.
The nominal
wage for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) is pegged at P325 ($6.28
at $1:P51.78) per day while inflation has jacked up the daily cost of living for
a family of six to P650.17 ($12.56). Prices or basic goods and services
continue to increase with the Restructured Value Added Tax (R-VAT) and oil price
hikes. Hard-earned
trade union rights are being attacked with government-supported practices of
contractualization and union busting, the denial of the right to strike by
issuance of assumption of jurisdiction orders, and the violent dispersal of
picket lines and the practice of charging union leaders and striking workers
with criminal offences. The representative of workers in Congress, Crispin
Beltran, is currently in detention and charged with rebellion. All other
rights gained by workers and the Filipino people in the struggle against Martial
Law are being threatened by moves of the Arroyo government to amend the 1987
Constitution. This is being done to kowtow to the economic and political
interests of foreign monopoly capitalists especially that of U.S. corporations
and the Bush administration; and to further burden the Filipino people with the
perpetuation of the Arroyo government. More and more,
the Arroyo government is moving towards authoritarian rule and is reacting to
mass demonstrations in a manner consistent with how the U.S. government and
Chicago police reacted in 1886 and how the U.S. colonial government tried to
suppress the Filipino workers’ movement in 1903. Filipino
workers survived the U.S. colonial government and the attempts of subsequent
administrations to suppress workers’ rights. They, together with all patriotic
and democratic classes and sectors in Philippine society, were able to bring
down the Marcos fascist dictatorship. Filipino workers have had setbacks but
have always emerged stronger afterwards. That is why the Arroyo government is
doing everything to destroy their unity and organization. Bulatlat
© 2006 Bulatlat
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May 1st, a History of Struggle
Bulatlat