By MARYA SALAMAT
Unlike other post-martial law administrations that used assumption of jurisdictions (AJ) mostly to quell already ongoing strikes, the Arroyo regime has used these orders not only to quell ongoing strikes but also to make sure workers cannot strike at all. As a result, fewer strikes have been recorded, allowing Arroyo to claim that “industrial peace” is improving. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Kilusang Mayo Uno said the “assumption of jurisdiction” order issued by the labor secretary has been abused and has been used in many instances to break up strikes, often violently, as what happened in Hacienda Luisita in 2004.
By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com MANILA — In their concluding press briefing early this month, the high-level mission from the International Labor Organization expressed appreciation for the “full cooperation and extensive information provided to it” by the Philippine government, its agencies and the workers’ and employers’ organizations. Now, the battle between the “contradictory statements concerning violence…
By MARYA SALAMAT
A high-level team of the UN’s International Labor Organization has proposed, among others, trainings and “continuing education” for the Philippine police, military, the judiciary and the labor department on how to respect union rights and uphold labor laws.
Sidebar: Responses to ILO High-Level Mission
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Congressman Mikey Arroyo seemed to have their roles down pat by now. When the big three oil companies raised oil prices yet again this Oct. 20, despite the disaster-wracked times and despite charges of persistent overpricing thrown their way, these three government officials just continued their role – speak like they want to change the situation but allow the oil companies to have their own profitable way in the end.
By MARYA SALAMAT
While the government bears down on small businesses and producers, warning them against profiteering in the wake of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, it has allowed Shell, Caltex and Petron to increase oil prices at will.
Carrying the pictures of their loved ones, relatives of slain and arrested union leaders and unionists demanded justice for workers who suffered “state-sponsored” repression under the Arroyo regime during a protest march to Mendiola last Sept. 18. The said protest, led by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), was part of the campaign to highlight violations of…
Members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno hold a protest outside the Philhealth’s office in Pasig to demand that the Arroyo regime pay its P19.2 billion in arrears to the health-insurance agency. (Photos courtesy of KMU)
MANILA — Apart from the threat of massive retrenchment, global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s buyout of rival Wyeth would also result in higher drug prices as the giant firm would further control the drug industry. This was the contention of Wyeth workers and the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), who recently held their seventh picket-protest at Wyeth’s…
By MARYA SALAMAT
The massive layoffs in the Philippines brought about by the global financial crisis and the increasing appetite of companies for more profit have exposed yet again the Arroyo regime’s sympathy not for workers but for capitalists. And instead of ensuring that workers’ rights are protected, the Department of Labor and Employment has become an even more willing tool by companies to satisfy their greed.
By MARYA SALAMAT
Hundreds of workers at Wyeth, the pharmaceutical giant, have been holding protest pickets to seek guarantees for their jobs and the survival of their 50-year-old union as the company sets to merge with Pfizer.