Solidarity message on the All India General Strike of December 14

On behalf of the Filipino workers, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement Labor Center, KMU) expresses its support, solidarity and militant greetings to the Indian working class on the occasion of the General Strike on 14 December.

We support the Indian trade unions in their movement to intensify the struggle against price hikes, disinvestments and privatization, ban on recruitment, anti-worker labor law changes, outsourcing of work and contratorization and for employment generation, comprehensive enactments for unorganized and agricultural sector workers.

Your struggle is a very important contribution to the worldwide struggle we have to wage against the neo-liberal agenda of imperialism. All over the world imperialisms’ instruments like the World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund and World Bank push countries to attack workers’ rights, to promote flexible labor and to privatize public services. To maintain the capitalist monopolies’ profits and to solve its crisis, imperialism tries to abolish labor laws protecting the workers, Trade Union rights and people’s democratic rights.

In the Philippines, we also fight labor flexibilisation and attacks against our rights due to the neo-liberal policies of the US-sponsored Arroyo government. Mainly contractual labor (temporary contracts) is used here to lower wages and benefits and to deny the workers’ right to collective bargaining. We try to organize the contractual and unorganized workers in the factories and in the communities and we are struggling for their regularization. At the meantime our work is brutally hit by the US-Arroyo regime. Strikes and workers actions are being declared illegal and attacked. Union organizers and other progressive leaders are being killed, as for now we count almost 800 political killings under the presidency of Arroyo.

We stand by the Indian Unions and Workers in their struggle. Stop anti-workers labor law reforms! Stop price hikes! Stop privatization! Real jobs for all workers! Rights for agrarian and unorganized workers!

Your struggle is our struggle. A historic success for the December 14 countrywide General Strike!

Long live the workers struggle!

Long live international solidarity!

In Solidarity,

Elmer C. LABOG

KMU Chairperson