Workers slam shortcomings of EDSA 1

Press Release
February 24, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the anti-contractualization coalition KONTRA slammed the shortcomings of EDSA 1 in a symbolic mass action this afternoon. Scores of workers from PM and KONTRA assembled at the Ninoy Aquino monument at the corner of Timog and Quezon Avenues at around 5:30 pm.



“The people power uprising of 1986 turns silver tomorrow but it shines no more. That is because the social deficit outweighs the political benefits of simple political turnover between factions of the elite, which is the main achievement of the post-EDSA dispensation,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.



PM and KONTRA members chanted their main call “Walang demokrasya at tunay na diwa ng EDSA hangga’t kontraktwal ang mga manggagawa.” KONTRA was formed to campaign against the proliferation of contractualization and the advocate for regular decent jobs.



Magtubo added that “The events in Tunisia, Egypt and that region are again showing that through unity in action people can assert their rights and win their freedoms. Is this not the spirit of EDSA? Unfortunately in the past 25 years it has been squandered because of the betrayal by the elite which hijacked the victory of people power.”



He furthered that “The post-EDSA regimes fell short of the people’s demands for social change. Since 1986 the poverty and destitution of the masses have continued and unemployment and desperation haunts the workers. The epidemic of contractualization and its ravages on the livelihood of workers is an indictment of EDSA 1.”



Magtubo called on the workers to lead the people’s struggle for system change. “Instead of the elite, the workers should take leadership and via labor power make sure that social demands are in the forefront of the next uprising in our country,” he asserted.