Attacks vs. workers, labor unions a major component of Arroyo’s counter-insurgency campaign

Labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) announced in a press conference today the holding of an International Day of Protest against Trade Union Repression and Political Killings in the Philippines on November 16. The activity will coincide with the second anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre which killed 7 farm workers in 2004 after the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) issued an Assumption of Jurisdiction order directing the dispersal of the sugar mill and farm workers’ strike.

“Our main demand is justice for all the victims of state-sponsored violence and punishment to all the accomplices and mastermind behind these killings and violations. On November 16, we will assemble at four areas in Manila and march from Liwasang Bonifacio to Mendiola. We will bring our demands right at the doorstep of Malacanang,” said KMU Chairperson Elmer Labog.

KMU allied labor unions and organizations from Australia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Korea and Hongkong will hold similar protest actions in solidarity to Filipino workers. In Sydney, the Philippines Australia Union Link and Philippines Australia Solidarity Association will protest at the Philippine Consulate at Wentworth Ave & Goulburn St. “We hope that thru international pressure we can stop the violations of workers’ and human rights and expose Arroyo’s sham “human rights concerns” and efforts to resolve the killings,” Labog added

“Of all the existing labor groups in the Philippines, government forces are focusing their damaging attacks to members and affiliates of KMU,” the labor leader emphasized.

At present, KMU and the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) recorded 72 cases of extra-judicial killings involving labor leaders, trade union and urban poor community organizers and advocates of the militant labor movement. Twenty-nine were killed this year alone, 10 remain missing while harassment and surveillance against labor leaders, trade unionists and labor lawyers continue to escalate.

According to the labor leader, cases of trade union and human rights violations perpetuate as a result of the government’s blanket counter-insurgency campaign which victimize mostly civilians and unarmed sections of the population. Based on the CTUHR summary of Trade Union and Human Rights Summary Report from January to October 2006, the government had integrated labor and industrial-related affairs into the nationwide counter-insurgency program in effort to weaken and crush the base of the progressive and militant trade unionism. This is part of the deliberate policies of the Macapagal-Arroyo government to prevent workers’ from asserting their rights in fighting for better wages and humane working conditions.

“Workers are being coerced by the military to cooperate with local anti-insurgency campaign through the Barangay Defense System (BDS) in Bulacan. In Davao, Philippine Army soldiers give orders to banana plantation workers to disaffiliate from the KMU Southern Mindanao chapter. In Cavite, striking workers at the export processing zone experience frequent harassment and dispersals as ordered by the PEZA administration and local government. These and more incidents of attacks against workers are the basis of our complaint to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) regarding violations on labor rights and welfare of Filipino workers.”

Over the years, reactionary governments have maliciously branded the KMU as a legal front of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). “The continued illegal incarceration of KMU Chairman Emeritus Crispin Beltran due to trump up charges of rebellion is a proof of this. With Ka Bel being a veteran labor leader, an outstanding solon and a committed advocate of the people’s cause, he is considered by Malacanang and AFP as a “trophy catch.” Holding a respected leader of the progressive people’s movement in captivity rouses the blood-hungry motives of Arroyo’s military thugs.