Wages, Work and Rights campaign

Kilusang Mayo Uno picketed the house of Congress Labor Committee Chair Magtanggol Gunigundo today to strongly remind him of his promise to call for a committee hearing on the P125 wage hike bill within August.

The promise was made in an earlier picket at his same residence in Baranggay Marulas at Valenzuela last June 19, where he faced the labor leaders in a dialogue.

“We cannot wait any longer for the passage of a substantial legislated wage hike. This has been long overdue for the workers,” said Joselito Ustarez, KMU Executive Vice President.

On August Friday the 13^th of 1982, about a hundred KMU leaders were illegally arrested from their homes, offices, and other whereabouts to suffer years of illegal detention and torture under the Marcos regime.

After 26 years, workers commemorate this one dreadful part of labor history by intensifying calls against all forms of workers rights’ repression.

Biyernes a-trese, tinotoo ni Marcos ang banta ng lagim na kaakibat ng petsang ito. Agosto ng araw na iyon, taong 1982, pinaghuhuli ang may isandaang lider-manggagawa ng KMU, kasama sina Ka Crispin Beltran, Bert Olalia, atbp, sa bintang na sila’y terorista. Tinugis ang mga obrero sa kani-kanilang mga bahay, opisina, at iba pang pinaglalagian, sapilitang ikinulong, ginulpi at tinortyur. Matapos ang ilang araw, bumisita sa US si Marcos, at ipinagmalaki ang katiwasayan ng lagay ng bansa.

After fourteen years of silent terror, around 200 women workers at the Bleustar Manufacturing and Marketing Corporation (BMMC) – a manufacturer of Advan branded footwear – found courage to make public the harrowing experiences they suffered from their Filipino-Chinese employer, Jimmy Ong.