Journalists agree that media workers need real unions that go beyond being lateral guilds – without discounting, however, the help that the latter can extend to media people. BY KARL G. OMBION AND RYAN LACHICA Bulatlat BACOLOD CITY – Danilo Alcoriza, a columnist and a founding member of the Union of Journalists of the Philippines…
Category: Labor & Employment
The Negros Press: Keen on Unionism, but Constrained (First of a two parts)
Media workers in Negros see the gains they could reap from organizing their ranks. However, they are weighed down by a number of constraints. BY KARL G. OMBION AND RYAN LACHICA Bulatlat BACOLOD CITY – Forming a union here is like flying to the moon – arduous but just the same possible. Broadcasters and journalists…
Kin of Luisita Martyrs Benefit from Union Struggle
They did not die in vain. The families and co-workers of the Hacienda Luisita martyrs said that in spite of the tragedy, they are slowly benefiting from what their kin and comrades gave their lives for.
Nestlé Workers Mark Five-Year Strike with Barricades
Frustrated by the continued refusal of Nestle management to implement the Supreme Court’s decision by beginning the negotiations with the union, workers and their relatives marked their five-year strike by erecting a barricade blocking two gates of the factory. BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat Cabuyao, Laguna – Five years have passed when over 600 employees of…
Bananas Stained with the Blood of Workers
Since two years ago when banana plantation and packing workers began forming unions and agitating for legally mandated minimum wage rates, soldiers from the 28th Infantry Battalion have also started harassing them in their barangays (villages). The harassments took a more violent turn with the shooting of union president Vicente Barrios and four other unionists…
Japan Aid Threat Prompts GMA to Act on Peasant Leader’s Killing
Is there a connection between acting on a case of political killing and the Japanese government’s release of funding for an irrigation project? BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat.com Seven months after the incident, a human rights watchdog in the Cordillera said that Task Force Usig of the Philippine National Police (PNP)…
Bananas Stained with the Blood of Workers
Since two years ago when banana plantation and packing workers began forming unions and agitating for legally mandated minimum wage rates, soldiers from the 28th Infantry Battalion have also started harassing them in their barangays (villages). The harassments took a more violent turn with the shooting of union president Vicente Barrios and four other unionists…
Joma Sison Yearns for Mangoes, Sings `Mao’s Way’
The author interviews Jose Maria Sison to see if there is something human about a so-called “terrorist” who is considered legendary or notorious, depending on one’s beliefs. BY RUDY D. LIPORADA Contributed to Bulatlat.com In 2005, I went to Europe for a month-long vacation with my family. Hopping through Iceland, England, France, Germany and The…
Slain Guerrillas’ Remains Held by Soldiers; Kin Stopped from Claiming Bodies
Retrieving the dead to give them decent burial has become extra painful for families, especially if one is an armed dissident in Quezon, a province now battered by escalated combat operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against the communist-led New People’s Army (NPA). BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com Retrieving the dead to give…
Diagnosing the Future of Community Medicine in the Philippines
Our country is in dire need of doctors for the people. The starkest indicator of this dilemma is the state of community medicine practice in the country and likewise the dwindling number of community physicians. BY PHILIP PARAAN Bulatlat.com Our country is in dire need of doctors for the people. The starkest indicator of this…
Doctors of the People
Donning white blazers, many doctors stay in air-conditioned clinics serving well-off patients. Some work abroad for higher financial rewards. There are even those who trade their blazers for nurse’s uniforms just to be able to seek employment abroad and bring their families along with them. But there are also doctors who work in understaffed public…