[Marxism] Philippines: Labor unrest simmering

[Tom O'Lincoln]

An end of year statement from the Partido ng Manggagawa [Labor 
Party-Philippines]

***

Labor unrest simmering below the surface

In contrast to the yearend declaration of the Department of Labor that all 
is quiet at the labor front, the truth is that workers unrest is simmering 
below the surface. Labor discontent is just under the radar and when it 
breaks out into open protest, it is immediately suppressed. In fact the 
Labor Department's data that only six strikes were launched this year is not 
a sign of industrial peace but of labor repression. This is the peace of the 
grave with the right to strike being buried six feet under the ground 
through assumption of jurisdiction orders [the state's power to command 
striking workers to return to work and if defied the strike is declared 
illegal and workers are vulnerable for dismissal].

Proof of the seething labor unrest is the long-running dispute at the PNCC 
Skyway [PNCC or Philippine National Construction Corp. is a government-owned 
company while PNCC Skyway Corp. is a subsidiary of PNCC that operates the 
elevated highway to the south of the capital Metro Manila] that has broken 
out into a strike against massive layoff.   The labor movement is in 
solidarity with the fight of the PNCC skyway patrol, toll tellers and 
maintenance workers for job security and against termination, union busting 
and contractualization [a form labor flexibilization where regular workers 
are replaced by temporary or contractual workers]. The dispute at PNCC 
Skyway has been a long drawn-out battle against management's scheme to bust 
the unions in order to cheapen the cost of labor and raise profits of the 
foreign company Citra [a subsidiary of Indonesia's P.T. Citra Lamtoro Gung 
Persada that will takeover the operation of the elevated highway].

Early this year collective bargaining negotiations broke down and led to a 
strike last May 1. However, t he PNCC Skyway workers had just setup their 
picketlines that day when the assumption of jurisdiction order from the 
Secretary of Labor [the head of the Department of Labor] immediately arrived 
at around 8 a.m. The labor dispute at PNCC Skyway that matured into a strike 
was however not recorded into the statistics. Labor officials ridiculously 
claimed that PNCC Skyway workers merely celebrated May Day but did not 
launch a strike. Labor repression and data manipulation is the truth behind 
the Labor Secretary's boast of a 50 percent drop in the number of actual 
strikes nationwide.

The fight for wage hike and against labor contractualization was the main 
themes that animated the plight of labor for the year 2007. The various 
labor groups that campaigned for and lobbied for a legislated wage hike 
managed early this year to push the lower house of Congress [the US-style 
parliament with an upper and lower house] to ratify House Bill 345 providing 
for an across-the-board increase of PhP 125 [about USD 3 at the present 
exchange rate] over three years. The wage hike bill was however sabotaged by 
a last minute motion for reconsideration by Rep. Boying Remulla [a 
reactionary member of parliament] that labor groups believe was not a lone 
initiative but a maneuver concocted by business and Malacanang [the palace 
that is the seat of government].

Labor unity materialized again later in the year for the struggle against 
contractualization with the formation of Koalisyon Kontra-Kontraktwalisasyon 
[Coalition Against Contractualization]. The coalition united the various 
groups that supported the fight of the union at PLDT [Philippine Long 
Distance Telephone Company is the former monopoly in the telecommunications 
industry before the advent of deregulation] against massive layoff. More 
than 500 regular workers of the telecom giant were terminated and replaced 
by contractual labor. The same groups are now in solidarity with the PNCC 
Skyway workers who are facing the same predicament since the regular 
workforce of around 800 workers will be terminated with only a tiny minority 
to be rehired under a new contract as irregular workers. ###