ANALYSIS
May 1st, a History of Struggle
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
Bulatlat
 |
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.
An illustration of the May, 1886
Haymarket Square demonstration of workers in Chicago |
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
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