Workers group call for release of Sumud activists, condemn Israeli interdiction of flotilla

 

Partido Manggagawa (PM) strongly condemns the illegal capture of hundreds of international activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla by Israeli naval forces. This is not just a violation of international law but proof of how the apartheid regime of Israel uses violence to defend its interests, crush solidarity, and enforce a genocidal blockade on Palestinians in Gaza.

The flotilla was a peaceful mission—carrying food and medicine as a symbolic humanitarian aid. Its interception in international waters shows how Israel acts as a fortress for global capital, keeping Palestinians oppressed and starved. The activists’ action directly challenges the siege and exposes the governments that continue to fund, trade with, or protect Israel while pretending to show “concern.”

The famine in Gaza is not an accident but an outcome of a deliberate human-made crisis and entangled with the genocide by Israel with complicity by the world’s imperialist powers. Governments enable this through arms sales, trade, and silence. The flotilla has inspired solidarity. It is proof that people can resist and refuse this system of oppression.

Workers and unions show the real alternative. Dockworkers in Genoa threatened to block all of Europe if contact with the flotilla was lost, saying not a single nail would be shipped to Israel. Italy’s general strike for Gaza shows that organized labor has the power to disrupt the capitalist war machine and stand with the oppressed.

The flotilla’s greatest value is political—it breaks through the media and political shield protecting Israel and shows that the fight for Palestine is a fight for humanity itself. The activists—workers, socialists, and people from over 44 countries—represent a growing international resistance.

With the backing of imperialist powers, Israel has once again shown its contempt for life and solidarity. Our task is to build people’s power and resistance—in workplaces, unions, and communities—to break not only the blockade on Gaza but the system that sustains it.

In line with anti-capitalist internationalism, PM demands:

§             The immediate release of all flotilla participants.

§             The lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

§             An end to all complicity by governments.

We call on workers and unions to block arms shipments and call on their governments to cut economic ties with Israel. Together we cooperate to build of a mass movement that links Palestinian liberation with the global struggle against capitalism, exploitation, and genocide.

Labor groups hold Global Day of Action vs Lululemon brand

A Global Day of Action was held at the Boy Scout Circle I Quezon City this morning to apply more pressure against a global brand Lululemon, an activewear, loungewear and footwear products manufactured in the Philippines by Metrowear, a manufacturing firm inside the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Cebu.

 

Metrowear is embroiled in a prolonged dispute with workers who it prevented from organizing a union and then refused to recognize and negotiate CBA with the latter when they succeeded to unionize. 

 

Unions and solidarity groups joined hands in denouncing the anti-union policies of Metrowear and the Lululemon brand. As an expression of international worker solidarity, the action in Quezon City was joined by activists in garment producing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, and also from Taiwan where Metrowear's owner is based.

 

The internationally coordinated action is joined by unions and labor organizations from around the world, including the Asia Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Workers United, Solidarity International (SI), Australian People for Health, Education and Democracy Abroad (APHEDA), and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).

 

In Canada, labor groups such as the Canadian Labor Organization have also joined the movement by organizing protest actions at Lululemon retail outlets, highlighting the company's alleged labor rights violations.

 

Protests was also held yesterday at the gates of MEPZ 1, led by local solidarity groups including the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO Cebu), Partido Manggagawa (PM), and the Organization of Metrowear Employees for Emporwoerment ang Genuine Advoaciy – Pinag Isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anak Pawis -OMEGA–PIGLAS Union, who stand in firm support of the MetroWear workers and their fight for union recognition and workplace justice.

 

Student organizations have also lent their voices to the cause. Groups like Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS) called on their educational institutions to review and reconsider their partnerships with Lululemon and to impose sanctions in response to the reported labor abuses in the Philippines.

 

Photos can be accessed at the FB pages of Partido Manggagawa (https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa) and Listen Up Lululemon (https://www.facebook.com/ListenUpLululemon). 

Cement company in Mindanao slammed as “misbehaving employer”

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the giant cement company, Holcim Philippines, for being a “misbehaving employer” as it took a hardline position in the collective bargaining negotiations then locked out its employees after reaching a deadlock. “Pasaway ang Holcim! The company is a Scrooge for depriving its workers of jobs as we welcome the new year,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

 

She added that “We ask that the profitable company negotiate in good faith with the two unions and share the fruits of production with its workers. Corporations should make new year’s resolutions to share it bounty with workers who create the wealth through production.”

 

Holcim Philippines in Lugait, Misamis Oriental is owned by the French multinational LafargeHolcim. It locked out 142 employees starting on January 6 this year. The company currently deadlocked in its negotiations with the Holcim Lugait Supervisory Union and the Holcim Philippines Workers Union, representing supervisory and rank-and-file workers respectively but both affiliated with the Federation of Democratic Labor Organization (FDLO).

 

Miranda explained that “Holcim took a take-it-or-leave-it position in bargaining talks with both unions. This is a sign of bad faith bargaining which is illegal according to the Labor Code. Employers and unions are mandated to negotiate in good faith and adjust their demands and offers to reach a compromise. After its hardline bargaining position, Holcim then locked out its employees thus depriving them of livelihood and income.”

 

PM expressed it support for the two Holcim FDLO unions and pledged to seek support from the international labor movement for the fight of the embattled workers. 

Press Release

January 14, 2025

Media Advisory: Workers to hold solidarity action tonight with Myanmar/Burma

In time for a global call of solidarity by the international labor movement, workers' organizations and social movements in the Philippines led by Partido Manggagawa, Nagkaisa and Kalipunan will hold a noise barrage tonight

Feb 11, 7pm - 8pm

Boy Scout Rotonda, Timog Ave

Contact Wilson Fortaleza @ 09452182693

Strike at Korean factory ends with agreement on wages and benefits

Press Release

February 13, 2015

The two-day strike at Tae Sung Philippines, a Korean-owned metal factory at the Cavite economic zone, ended late last night with an agreement between the union and management for wage increases and additional benefits. Just before midnight, more than a hundred jubilant strikers held a “victory march” from the factory to the main gate of the export zone.

The union got a substantial pay hike which was the most contested part of the deadlocked bargaining. Management also agreed to other benefits demanded by the union such as additional leaves and annual Christmas package.

Since the strike broke out last Wednesday morning, marathon mediation meetings have been held by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB). Apparently recognizing the importance of the Tae Sung dispute, no less than the national executive director of NCMB, Reynaldo Ubaldo, together with the OIC’s of the NCMB-NCR and NCMB-Calabarzon, and the head of the DOLE-Calabarzon, facilitated the mediation.

“The workers of Tae Sung and even other companies in the ecozone have learned a valuable lesson. That they will have to unionize and fight to get a decent share in the fruits of their labor. They cannot depend on the bankrupt two-tiered wage scheme of the government,” stated Wilson Fortaleza, spokesperson of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

In the two-tiered wage scheme implemented in Calabarzon since 2012, the minimum wage is replaced by a floor wage that is set low and unchanged for five years. Increases above the floor wage will depend on negotiated productivity-based pay.

“But at Tae Sung, despite annual profits of more than USD 14 million, management did nothing to share productivity gains to its workers. Thus before the strike, most Tae Sung workers earned no more than the floor wage despite their company supplying metal parts to big electronics and auto multinationals like American Power Conversion, Honda, Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, Siemens and Deif of Denmark,” argued Fortaleza.

He added that “The Tae Sung union owes its victory to the determination of its members and to the solidarity of the labor movement in the country and abroad. The assistance of international groups was a key factor in putting pressure on Tae Sung’s multinational clients so that a fair resolution of the dispute is reached.”

Filipino workers rally in support of HK unions and protests

Press Release

October 3, 2014

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) and other groups in the labor unity coalition Nagkaisa! today held a rally at the consular office of China in Makati in response to a call for international solidarity from the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU). PM declared that “Filipino workers extend our solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the HKCTU, the students and the Hong Kong people in the struggle for democracy and equality.”

With the Hong Kong protests gearing for a possible confrontation with the government, Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice chair, stated that “We appeal to both the HK and Beijing government to stop the use of violence against its own people.  The people’s democratic government which was proclaimed in October 1, 1949, can only be more and never less democratic.  For this reason, arrest and detention as well as the use of teargas in dispersing a massive but peaceful assembly of mostly young people are patently undemocratic.”

The HKCTU had called last week for strikes by workers to complement the boycott by students and the protests in general. A PM statement asserted that "The Hong Kong working class must now join the democracy protests to break the impasse for the students cannot win the struggle on their own. But the HK workers must put the imprint of their class demands on the movement and march under their own banner of social justice and emancipation."

Rivera explained that “We are inspired seeing people – students, teachers, workers, and elderly in collective action against threats to democracy, as we are likewise indignant that this action is met by state violence.”

He added that “When PALEA launched its struggle against outsourcing and contractualization, workers all over the world, including Hong Kong, extended support. Such solidarity helped us sustain the fight until eventual victory. We shouted then that the struggle of PALEA is the struggle of all workers. Now it is time to say that the struggle of HKCTU is the struggle of all workers.”

Rivera also argued that “We are also aware that aside from the demand of democratic reforms, the people were raising the issue of gaping inequality between the business elite and the working class in Hong Kong.  We acknowledge this as a worldwide phenomenon under this capitalist world thus we easily identify with the justness of bringing this call.”

PM also expressed readiness to hold more solidarity actions for HK unions and the democracy protests when needed. Rivera averred that they will continue monitoring the development of the protests in Hong Kong and hope that the people’s demands are eventually met.

In solidarity with HKCTU and the Hong Kong People

(Reuters photo)

We, in the Partido Manggagawa (Labor Party Philippines) extend our solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), the students and the Hong Kong people in the struggle for democracy and greater equality. 

The world is witnessing yet another “occupy” and “spring” phenomenon, this time right here in   neighboring Hong Kong.  Yet while we are inspired seeing people – students, teachers, workers, and elderly in collective action against threats to democracy, we are likewise indignant that this action is met by official violence perpetrated by the State.

We condemn the use of violence against legitimate protests.  Democracy, we assert, is an indivisible body of rights that must be enjoyed by the sovereign people.  The right to chose and to freely express ourselves are but a few of the basic principles of democracy.  And even if these rights cannot be proclaimed as absolute vis-a-vis the need for certain degree of state regulation, suppressing these rights more often than not creates an absolutely dangerous predicate to destroying the very fundamental of democracy which is people’s sovereignty.  Repression must therefore be stopped at this very first level.

Hence, we appeal to both the HK and Beijing government to stop the use of violence against its own people.  The people’s democratic government which was proclaimed in October 1, 1949, can only be more and never less democratic.  For this reason, arrest and detention as well as the use of teargas in dispersing a massive but peaceful assembly of mostly young people is patently undemocratic.

We call on the Hong Kong working class to join the democracy protests to break the impasse for the students cannot win the struggle on their own. But the Hong Kong workers must put the imprint of their class demands on the movement and march under their own banner of social justice and emancipation

We are also made aware that aside from the demand of ensuring promised democracy, the people were raising the issue of gaping inequality between the business elite and the working class in Hong Kong.  We acknowledge this as a worldwide phenomenon under this capitalist world thus we easily identify with the justness of bringing this call.

Furthermore, Hong Kong is also host to tens of thousands of Filipinos and other Asian workers.  Thus it is safe to assume that for many years they already have shared the values of the Hong Kong people in upholding democracy.  We likewise appeal to the Chinese government to treat migrant fairly in the face of this political uncertainty.

In solidarity,

The Executive Committee

Partido Manggagawa – Labor Party Philippines

30 September 2014

Labor groups picket Korean embassy

Press Release

January 10, 2014

PALEA

The labor groups Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) picketed the South Korean embassy today in protest at labor repression in Korea and Cambodia.

The picket-protest was in coordination with a general strike in South Korea. The groups also presented a letter of concern addressed to the Korean ambassador Hyuk Lee.

“The peril to labor rights and conditions in any country is a disadvantage to workers everywhere in this globalized world,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice chair.

In a joint statement, the groups declared their outrage that a South Korean firm, Yakjin Cambodia Inc., called for the intervention of the armed forces of Cambodia that ended in the killing of four garment workers and the wounding of 23 others last January 2 and 3.

The Philippine workers also expressed their solidarity with the Korean workers fight against rail privatization and for labor rights. Even as the strike of the railway workers ended last December 31, the South Korean government has continued to pursue criminal charges against leaders of the Korean Railway Workers Union (KRWU) and civil damages against the union in the amount of over 7.7 billion won. The Philippine groups are also concerned about the threat of dismissal and disciplinary action against some 490 KRWU members.

Together with the police raid on the office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) last December 22, Rivera averred that “These events constitute a clear and present danger to workers rights in the Republic of Korea.”

In their letter to the Korean ambassador, the groups insisted on the demand for the:

1. withdrawal of criminal charges against KRWU leaders;
2. withdrawal of damage suit against KRWU;
3. stop to the dismissals and disciplinary actions against KRWU members;
4. end to labor repression in the Republic of Korea; and
5. end to rail privatization.

Rivera ended that “We serve notice to the Korean embassy that Philippine workers will be monitoring the developments in South Korea and will be ready to undertake solidarity actions in the Philippines in coordination with our brothers and sisters in Korea.”

Contractualization slammed in “Global Day of Action”

Press Release

September 27, 2012

PALEA

Nationwide rallies denounced contractualization as labor groups in the Philippines marked the “Global Day of Action against Outsourcing.” Meanwhile airline unions and other workers abroad held protests spanning four continents in an expression of global resistance to outsourcing. “Actions by workers, on the same day, in a coordinated way, all over the world, gives the struggle against outsourcing strength and effectivity,” declared Gerry Rivera, president of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

Some 1,000 members of PALEA and the labor coalition Nagkaisa staged a rally at Mendiola this morning. This was followed by a motorcade to the PALEA protest camp for an afternoon mass meeting. Mobilizations were also in Cebu at the PALEA picketline near the Mactan International Airport this morning and in Davao at the Buhangin underpass this afternoon.

Aside from commemorating the anniversary of PALEA’s protest against outsourcing last year, the protests also pushed for the passage of the security of tenure bill pending at Congress. “Aside from the reproductive health and freedom of information bills, the security of tenure measure is also jammed at the legislative mill. This social reform proposal seeks to restrict the epidemic of contractual work and the proliferation of 6 months endo jobs,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

A picket the House of Representatives is planned for October 8 to call for the plenary discussion of the security of tenure bill. The House Labor Committee has reported out a consolidated version of the bill but the Committee on Rules has not scheduled it for sponsorship and interpellation at the plenary level.

The “Global Day of Action” was spearheaded by PALEA, the Turkish civil aviation union Hava-Is, Qantas unions, the Lufthansa flight attendants union UFO, Canadian airline workers union CAW-TCA, Air India unions, UNITE-HERE in the USA and the Australia Asia Worker Links. Rallies, leafleteering, mass meetings and other protest actions at airports were held in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, Istanbul in Turkey, Frankfurt in Germany, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Saint John in Canada, Mumbai in India and Honolulu in Hawaii. Solidarity messages have also been extended by labor centers and unions in Hong Kong, Seoul, Hanoi and San Francisco. The day of action was several months in the making with the International Transport Workers Federation starting the ball rolling by endorsing it in a meeting of the Asia-Pacific civil aviation section meeting in Kuala Lumpur last July.

Similar to PALEA, the groups participating in the day of action are embroiled in labor rows over job security and working conditions. Hava-Is is demanding the reinstatement of 305 members dismissed over protests against a controversial government ban on strikes in the aviation industry. Qantas management grounded its entire fleet last year in response to rolling strikes by its pilots and ground crew.

UFO recently won substantial concessions including limits to outsourcing after a strike that disrupted Lufthansa’s flights. CAW-TCA and other Air Canada unions were involved in disputes over pay and outsourcing, just like Air India workers. The hotel workers union UNITE-HERE is campaigning for a boycott of the global hotel chain Hyatt over a host of issues including use of contract labor.

For updates on the Global Day of Action: https://www.facebook.com/events/399444630110706/

Advisory: Protests mark Global Day of Action vs. Outsourcing tomorrow

WHAT: PALEA and labor coalition Nagkaisa to hold rally and motorcade

WHEN:  Tomorrow, September 27, 9:30 am assembly; 10:00 am rally; 12 noon motorcade

WHERE: Assembly at Morayta; Rally at Mendiola; Motorcade to PALEA protest camp

DETAILS: Airline unions abroad will join the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) in a “Global Day of Action against Outsourcing” spanning four continents tomorrow. The September 27 action coincides with the anniversary of PALEA’s protest last year.

Nationwide mobilizations are to be held in Cebu at the PALEA picketline near the Mactan International Airport and in Davao at the downtown area.

Rallies, leafleteering, mass meetings and other protest actions at airports are to be held in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia (Qantas unions & Australia Asia Worker Links), Istanbul in Turkey (civil aviation union Hava-Is), Frankfurt in Germany (Lufthansa flight attendants union UFO), Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Saint John in Canada (airline workers union CAW-TCA), Mumbai in India (Air India unions ) and Honolulu in Hawaii (UNITE-HERE).

The campaign vs. outsourcing continues onto October 8 when PALEA and Nagkaisa pickets House of Representatives to push for the Security of Tenure bill.

Airline unions to join PALEA in “Global Day of Action”

Press Release

September 24, 2012

PALEA

Airline unions to join PALEA in “Global Day of Action”

Airline unions are set to join the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) in a “Global Day of Action against Outsourcing” spanning four continents on Thursday. The September 27 action coincides with the anniversary of PALEA’s protest last year that led to the cancellation of all flights of Philippine Airlines and marked the start of a bitter fight over contractualization at the flag carrier.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) asserted that “We frequently hear the alibi that outsourcing is an international trend that workers have no choice but to bear. But the reality is that resistance to outsourcing is a global phenomenon.”

“If airline workers take industrial action, on the same day, in a coordinated way, all over the world, the struggle against job outsourcing will be stronger and more effective,” asserted the groups which are coordinating for the global day of action. Aside from PALEA, the Turkish civil aviation union Hava-Is, Qantas unions, the Lufthansa flight attendants union UFO, Canadian airline workers union CAW-TCA, Air India unions, UNITE-HERE in the USA and the Australia Asia Worker Links are participating.

Together with the labor coalition Nagkaisa, PALEA will stage a rally at Mendiola on September 27 and then hold a motorcade to the protest camp after. Simultaneous mobilizations are also planned in Cebu at the PALEA picketline near the Mactan International Airport and in Davao at the downtown area. Meanwhile rallies, leafleteering, mass meetings and other protest actions at airports are to be held in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, Istanbul in Turkey, Frankfurt in Germany, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Saint John in Canada, Mumbai in India and Honolulu in Hawaii. Solidarity messages have also been extended by labor centers and unions in Hong Kong, Seoul, Hanoi and San Francisco.

As a build up to the day of action, last September 21 PALEA held a “Jog for Regular Jobs” around the perimeter of its protest camp in Manila and a mass meeting to commemorate the union’s 66^th year. “PALEA @ 66 pledges never again to outsourcing,” declared Rivera. The day of action was several months in the making with the International Transport Workers Federation starting the ball rolling by endorsing it in a meeting of the Asia-Pacific civil aviation section meeting in Kuala Lumpur last July.

Similar to PALEA, the groups participating in the day of action are embroiled in labor rows over job security and working conditions. Hava-Is is demanding the reinstatement of 305 members dismissed over protests against a controversial government ban on strikes in the aviation industry. Qantas management grounded its entire fleet last year in response to rolling strikes by its pilots and ground crew.

UFO recently won substantial concessions including limits to outsourcing after a strike that disrupted Lufthansa’s flights. CAW-TCA and other Air Canada unions were involved in disputes over pay and outsourcing, just like Air India workers. The hotel workers union UNITE-HERE is campaigning for a boycott of the global hotel chain Hyatt over a host of issues including use of contract labor.

PALEA also announced that on October 8 Nagkaisa will hold a picket at House of Representatives to push for the plenary discussion of the Security of Tenure bill. “It is not just the bills for reproductive health and freedom of information that are jammed at the legislative mill, but other real social reform measures such as the security of tenure bill which seeks to restrict the epidemic of contractual work and the proliferation of 6 months endo jobs,” Rivera explained.

PALEA calls on PAL stockholders to reinstate regular workers

Press Release

August 29, 2012

PALEA

On the eve of its annual meeting, the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) today called on the stockholders of Philippine Airlines (PAL) to reinstate the regular workers who were retrenched in the controversial outsourcing scheme. “There will be no industrial peace at PAL without justice for workers. PALEA is part of the solution to the problems of the flag carrier,” insisted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa.

PALEA vowed to press on with its fight against outsourcing at PAL as it commemorated the other day the 11^th month of its picketline with an assembly of several hundred workers at the protest camp outside the PAL In-Flight Center. The union is busy preparing for the anniversary of its protest with a planned global day of action on September 27 which will be marked by rallies and activities in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, Ankara in Turkey, San Francisco in the USA, Lahore in Pakistan and in several other countries.

The PAL stockholders meeting will be held 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Century Park Sheraton Hotel in Manila. While Lucio Tan and his group retain a majority of the stocks, management control has been ceded to Ramon Ang and the San Miguel group. Rivera said that ”Let us fly the flag proud with regular workers not just with new planes,” in response to news yesterday that PAL is acquiring Airbus jets in addition to earlier announced Boeing aircraft.

Rivera clarified that “Even as PALEA calls on the new management of PAL and its stockholders to end the dispute in order to revive the flag carrier, we remain vigilant in the face of continuing attacks on our members such as the criminal charges against the PALEA 300.” Last July 27 and August 3 respectively PALEA filed at the Municipal Trial Court and the Department of Justice motions to review the finding of “probable cause” against 234 of its members for alleged violation of RA 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Law, specifically Section 81 (b) (5) which sanctions “any person who destroys or seriously damages the facilities of an airport or disrupts the services of an airport.”

In a resolution dated June 20, 2012, the city prosecutor recommended the filing of information against respondents to the case which means that warrants of arrest may be issued anytime them. Rivera avers that “PALEA’s protest at the airport last September 27, 2011 was an exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed right of workers to concerted action and thus not illegal nor criminal.”

PALEA asserts that despite PAL’s use of contractual employees to replace its regular workforce, the lack of skilled workers and a boycott campaign has cut the airline’s passenger and cargo load factor. After almost a year of protest, a majority of the 2,400 PALEA members who were retrenched still refuse to accept their retrenchment and are determined to fight for regular jobs. Even among those who availed of separation, many nonetheless rejected working for the service providers.

The call for a global day of action by PALEA and has been endorsed by International Transport Workers Federation aviation section in the Asia Pacific, Qantas unions, the Australia-Asia Workers Links and the Turkish airline union Hava-is among others. “If airline workers take industrial action, on the same day, in a coordinated way, all over the world, we will be stronger and more effective,” declared participants to the global day of action (https://www.facebook.com/events/399444630110706/).

Protesta laban sa $1B pautang sa IMF: Grupo ng manggagawa susugod sa Central Bank bukas

Press Release

June 26, 2012

Ang mga manggagawang myembro ng Partido ng Manggagawa ay susugod bukas ng umaga sa opisina ng Central Bank at Department of Finance sa Roxas Boulevard sa Maynila upang batikusin ang planong $1 bilyong pautang ng Pilipinas sa International Monetary Fund (IMF). Ang pautang ay para diumano sa Euro crisis pero nag-aaakusa ang Partido ng Manggagawa na gagamitin ito ng IMF para magpataw ng kontra-manggagawang austerity schemes sa Europa.

“VIP treatment kay PNoy ang mga bankero sa Europa na makikinabang sa $1 bilyong pinagpawisan ng ating OFW’s. Samantala deadma lang si PNoy sa hinaing ng manggagawang Pilipino noong Mayo Uno para sa dagdag sahod at trabahong regular,” giit ni Renato Magtubo, tagapangulo ng Partido ng Manggagawa.

Paliwanag ni Gerry Rivera, pangulo ng unyong Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), “Ang mismong pagtutol sa utang ang paraan para tumulong sa mga taga-Europa sapagkat magiging biktima lang sila ng mga dikta ng IMF gaya ng pagkaltas sa sweldo, pagbabaklas sa proteksyon sa paggawa, pagsasapribado ng mga kompanya at pagtitipid sa mga serbisyo publiko. Ang IMF ay manunuba di manunubos.”

Sasama sa rali bukas ang mga miyembro ng PALEA na nasa ika-10 buwan ng kanilang laban kontra kontraktwalisasyon sa PAL. Nananawagan ang PALEA sa bagong management ng PAL sa pangunguna ni Ramon Ang ng San Miguel Corp. na ibalik ang mga regular na manggagawa upang makalipad muli ng maayos ang flag carrier ng bansa.

Dagdag ni Magtubo, “Pakikiisa hindi pautang ang tamang pagtulong sa mamamayan ng Europa. Sinusuportahan namin ang sigaw ng mga manggagawa ng Europa para sa growth sa halip na austerity, ibig sabihin, umento sa sahod, regular na trabaho, serbisyong panlipunan at pagbubuwis sa mayayaman upang ibangon ang ekonomiya ng mga bansang sadlak sa krisis gaya ng Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy at Cyprus. Sa katunayan ganitong patakaran din ang dapat ipatupad ni PNoy sa Pilipinas.”

Workers slam PNoy’s $1B loan to IMF

Press Release

June 26, 2012

The labor party Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today slammed the government’s decision to loan $1 billion of the country’s foreign reserves to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The fund is intended for the Eurozone crisis but PM avers that it will be used by the IMF to impose anti-workers austerity schemes in Europe.

“We call on PNoy to reconsider his decision. $1 billion is better used for social protection at home than social devastation abroad. The workers and people of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and even France have rejected austerity through the polls and by protests,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

Tomorrow PM together with the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) will stage a rally at the Central Bank headquarters and office of the Department of Finance in Manila in protest of the loan to the IMF. The rally also coincides with the 9^th month anniversary of PALEA’s fight against outsourcing. Last year, on September 27 PALEA launched a protest action at the airport against contractualization which was forcibly suppressed by airport police and security guards. PALEA is calling on the new management of Philippine Airlines led by Ramon Ang to revive the flag carrier by reinstating its regular workers.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president, said that “PNoy readily comes to the aid of European bankers but he is blind and deaf to the cries of the Filipino workers for wage increase and regular jobs. In opposing the loan to the IMF, we are extending the hand of solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Europe. Let us help the needy not the greedy. The IMF will use our $1B—which is the blood and sweat of our OFW’s—to bail out the bankers of Europe and squeeze money from the workers through cuts in wages, pension, subsidies and social programs.”

Magtubo added that “The IMF wants the workers to pay for the crisis of the capitalists. The Eurozone crisis is a result of European governments’ bailing out their bankers which were saddled by failed speculative investments in the subprime housing market in the US that collapsed in 2008. As a result of austerity tied to loans, Greece is in recession for five years running with unemployment at more than 20% in general but more than 50% for the youth. This year Spain fell into a double-dip recession with unemployment rates similar to Greece which will be aggravated by austerity measures dictated in the recent bailout scheme.”

“Just like Europe, the Philippines too is a victim to the anti-labor and anti-people policies of the IMF. Liberalization has led to the collapse of Philippine industry and agriculture resulting to job losses and rural unemployment. Privatization and deregulation has led to price hikes and worsening poverty. It is time for a paradigm shift. International solidarity instead of IMF austerity. Uphold growth and hope instead of recession and injustice in Europe and the Philippines. Shift to a new paradigm of living wages, regular jobs, taxes on the rich, social services, national industrialization and agrarian reform,” Rivera explained.

PALEA ok’s CA mediation, calls on PAL to reinstate workers

Press Release

April 21, 2012                 

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) yesterday submitted a manifestation to the Court of Appeals (CA) expressing its willingness to participate in mediation to seek a settlement to the labor dispute. “The new management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) should recognize that the solution to the flag carrier’s woes involves not only need a refleeting of its aging aircraft but more so the reinstatement of its skilled regular workers,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

The CA Tenth Division in a resolution dated March 27, 2012, asked the parties to the case docketed as CA G.R. SP No. 120977, if they are willing to have the issue referred to the Philippine Mediation Center-Court of Appeals for “a final opportunity to explore the possibility of coming up with an amicable settlement of their dispute.” The parties were given 10 days from receipt of the resolution to file their manifestations.

Rivera explained that “PALEA considers the CA’s mediation offer as an opening to end the labor row which could not happened without the perseverance in protest by some 2,000 of our members for more than six months and in the face of three typhoons, two attacks on its campout and spending the Christmas holidays at the picketlines. The CA resolution further spurs us to continue the protest actions until we have finally won our demands.”

In the coming Labor Day celebrations, among the issues to be raised is the recall of retrenched PALEA members in particular and the protection of job security in general. Meanwhile a leader of the Qantas engineers union is on a solidarity visit and has spoken at the PALEA protest camp in the last few days about concrete support in the fight against outsourcing. The visit follows a two-week solidarity tour of Australia by the PALEA vice president and an officer of Partido ng Manggagawa to solicit moral and material support for PALEA.

Rivera is also scheduled to go on another two-week tour this time of the United States. He will attend a May Day forum in Washington DC and then proceed to Chicago, San Francisco and Honolulu to meet labor unions and Filipino-American groups about PALEA’s struggle.

PALEA holds solidarity action for Port of Auckland wharfies

Press Release

March 14, 2012

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) picketed the New Zealand embassy in a show of solidarity for the embattled Port of Auckland workers. “We extend the hand of solidarity to our brother and sister wharfies who are for fighting for job security and better working conditions. The struggles they are waging mirror the same demands that we are currently fighting for at Philippine Airlines,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party-Philippines).

He added that “The fight against outsourcing and contractualization is a global battle being fought by Auckland wharfies in New Zeland, PAL employees in the Philippines, Qantas workers in Australia and longshore workers in the US.” Members of PALEA picketed the New Zealand embassy along Buendia in Makati by 10:00 a.m. A delegation went to the embassy premises to deliver a letter of concern.

The picket was in response to the call for support by the International Transport Workers Federation, a global union federation of some 5 million workers in 155 countries. PALEA’s letter also expressed concern at the struggles of locked out meat workers at AFFCO and striking rest care workers of Oceania in New Zealand.

The PALEA protesters shouted “Ang laban ng wharfies ay laban ng PALEA. We are all wharfies.” Rivera explained that “PALEA condemns the drive by the management of Port of Auckland—as well as AFFCO and Oceania—to slash labor costs, undercut labor standards and weaken job security, all in the name of competitiveness.”

The Port of Auckland strike is arguably the biggest labor dispute in New Zealand at the moment. Some 300 port workers have been dismissed after going on strike and in the midst of contract negotiations. Moreover port management has announced that it will outsource its stevedoring services.

PALEA’s letter of concern stated that “We urge the government of New Zealand to address the demands of workers at the Port of Auckland, AFFCO and Oceania. New Zealand is signatory to international labor conventions that guarantee basic workers rights and labor standards, and thus bound by its provisions. The international labor movement would ensure through solidarity actions that your government provides an environment in which workers rights and welfare are secured.”

Rivera insisted that “We will be monitoring the situation at the Port of Auckland, AFFCO and Oceania. We will continue to hold solidarity actions until our concerns have been acted upon in the interest of the workers of New Zealand.”

PALEA gets support of world’s biggest flight attendants union

Press Release
February 9, 2012
PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) got the support of the world’s biggest flight attendants union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, in its long-standing dispute with Philippine Airlines (PAL). The US-based AFA-CWA, which represents some 60,000 flight attendants at 23 airlines, submitted a letter of concern to PAL’s office at the Los Angeles International Airport last February 6.

“We are honored to receive the support of our sister and brother flight attendants from America. Their voice of support adds to the growing chorus of solidarity for PALEA’s fight against outsourcing and union-busting which is a common concern with workers everywhere,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

In its letter to PAL, AFA International President Veda Shook said that “Your employees want a life of dignity for workers and their families, and recognition for the sacrifices they have made to make your airline profitable… We will stand in support of the public boycott of Lucio Tan-owned PAL and Air Philippines until management has heeded workers’ demands for a return to their regular jobs.”
AFA-CWA’s solidarity action for PALEA coincided with the Occufly protest staged at LAX by scores of flight attendants and union supporters. The Occufly action was in opposition to corporate greed and union busting by US airlines. The Occufly protesters lambasted the restriction on collective bargaining rights contained in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill pending in the US Congress.

“This controversial labor provision is nothing less than an attack by the 1% against the 99%. We saw it in Wisconsin and Ohio, now we see it for airline and rail workers who are simply seeking the benefits of collective bargaining or fighting to hang on to collective bargaining rights,” Shook explained of Occufly.

US-based unions and Filipino-American groups are spearheading boycott campaigns in the West Coast cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Vancouver where PAL has its most profitable flights. Rivera met with the top union officials of the AFA-CWA and the AFL-CIO last January 24 in Washington DC to solicit support for its fight against contractualization and the boycott campaign.

The meetings with American union leaders were on the side of Rivera’s testimony on the suppression of labor rights by the Philippine government. Rivera faced-off with government officials led by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz at the hearing held by the US Trade Representative (USTR). At stake at the hearing were trade benefits accorded by the United States government to countries which it deems respects core labor rights and standards.

PALEA gets backing of Occupy protesters

Press Release

December 16, 2011

PALEA

Just as truck drivers and longshore workers got the support of Occupy rallyists in the US, the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) received the solidarity of Occupy protesters in Canada. Occupy Toronto activists together with Canadian airline unions held a solidarity action at the Toronto international airport last December 10. Last Tuesday various ports along the West Coast such as Oakland, Los Angeles and Portland were shutdown by community pickets of Occupy protesters with the support of port workers who refused to cross the picketlines. As is the practice in Occupy protests, the Toronto rally was called a “general assembly” and speeches were “echoed” by the participants.

The series of solidarity actions for PALEA continued with a picket at the Tokyo office of Philippine Airlines (PAL) by Japanese railway workers last December 12. On December 14 another rally was held at the Philippine consulate in Melbourne that was attended by PALEA vice president Alnem Pretencio, the head of the two million-strong Australian Council of Trade Unions Geraldine Kearney and leaders of the Australian Services Union which represents airline workers including Qantas, Maritime Union of Australia, Victorian Trades Hall Council and Australia Asia Worker Links.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of the Partido ng Manggagawa, said that “We salute the Occupy shutdown of the West Coast ports to demand justice for truck drivers and longshore workers. The fight for better pay, job security and union rights is a common struggle of port workers, airline employees and workers around the world. PALEA stands shoulder to shoulder with Occupy protesters.”

The latest series of solidarity actions for PALEA is the second wave after earlier rallies staged in late October to early November in Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Renato Magtubo, chair of PM and co-chair of the Church-Labor Conference, declared that “The latest rallies in support of PALEA are a level up from earlier actions since the call for a boycott of Lucio Tan-owned PAL and Air Philippines are explicitly expressed. The widespread boycott campaign will hurt PAL since the regional flights to Australia and Japan, and the transpacific flights to the US are among its most profitable operations.” He added that “The fact that PAL is having a promo during the Christmas peak season belies its claims that its operations are back to normal.”

Rivera claimed that “The convergence between the youth-led Occupy protests and the workers struggles for wages, jobs and rights is a welcome development. Social change will come from the unity and action of the 99%.”

For a video of the Toronto action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV8lFtTCo7Q

For photos of the Melbourne action: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.283439828375106.80352.100001272721169&type=1&l=94715c3e50

For photos of the Tokyo action: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.282035501848872.80162.100001272721169&type=1&l=adb20681a6

PALEA takes fight to Australia and Canada



PALEA VP Alnem Pretencio meeting ASU airlines delegates (Photo courtesy of ASU)



PALEA VP meeting with ASU organizers (Photo courtesy of ASU)

Press Release

December 8, 2011

PALEA

The embattled Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) is taking its fight against the outsourcing and contractualization plan of Philippine Airlines to Australia and Canada. The vice president of PALEA, Alnem Pretencio, is in Australia now on a tour sponsored by unions with the aim of soliciting international support.

This coming Saturday (Eastern Standard Time), Canadian unions and groups together with the Filipino community will hold a demonstration at the Toronto international airport in solidarity with PALEA. Toronto hosts the biggest population of immigrant Filipinos in Canada.

Meanwhile yesterday Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz was questioned by a delegate in the ILO regional meeting in Kyoto, Japan about the government's handling of the PALEA labor dispute. The challenge to Baldoz is an expression of the snowballing international support for PALEA.

Aside from expressing for PALEA’s demand for immediate reinstatement, the Canadian groups will be disseminating information about the boycott campaign against PAL and Air Philippines, both owned by Lucio Tan. Yesterday representatives of various civil society organizations of migrants, students and NGO’s held a press conference to call for “Don’t fly PAL and AirPhil” and denounced Tan as “a Grinch who stole Christmas from some 2,600 PAL employees.”

On its second day of the tour, Pretencio had already met with bus, tram and train unions in Melbourne. Also he is scheduled to meet with airport workers represented by the Australian Services Union (ASU), the Qantas aircraft engineers union ALAEA and the Qantas ground crew union TWU. More meetings are planned in the weekend and next week including with the militant Maritime Union of Australia. Pretencio’s tour was held in coordination with the Australia-Asia Workers Links and ASU.

In Toronto, the airport workers represented by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), Canadian Union of Public Employees and the International Association of Machinists took the lead in organizing the rally for PALEA. Activists of the Occupy Toronto are also slated to participate in the solidarity action.

Among the reasons for the warm reception received by Pretencio in Australia is the solidarity shown by PALEA for the Qantas workers who are in a similar dispute with management over outsourcing, job security and pay. PALEA has twice picketed the Qantas office in Makati during the lockout in November 1 and as part of the global day of action for Qantas families last November 16.

The support by Canadian unions does not end with the Toronto rally. Early next year, the groups are planning to hold a similar solidarity action in the Vancouver international airport. CAW has vowed to make an active boycott campaign in the Vancouver since PAL operates flights to and from the international airport.

Solidarity Message to SITIAPES from PALEA

December 4, 2011

We extend the hand of solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the Union of Employees and Allied Workers of the El Salvador Airport (SITIAPES) who are fighting for union recognition, collective bargaining rights, decent pay, better working conditions and protection of job security. The struggles you are waging mirror the same demands that we are currently fighting for at Philippine Airlines, the flag carrier of our country.

PALEA supports the campaign by SITIAPES and its sister unions, SITEAIES and SIGTRASEL, for the immediate reinstatement of the fired workers of AERODESPACHOS. We support your demands in the hope that international support can put pressure on AERODESPACHOS so it will heed workers demands.

PALEA condemns the intransigence of AERODESPACHOS, its anti-union maneuver, refusal to recognize the union, opposition to bargaining negotiations and termination of workers active in union organizing.

The same issues animate the struggles that PALEA is facing at the moment. Some 2,400 PALEA members have been locked out and terminated as part of a plan to outsource the airport services, inflight catering and call center reservations departments of Philippine Airlines. Majority of those affected are in the ramp, baggage, cargo and passenger handling aside from inflight catering. PALEA represents these workers and the remaining 900 ground staff of Philippine Airlines.

In fact as can bee seen from the number that were retrenched and those remaining, the outsourcing plan seeks not just to demolish job security but bust the union itself. In fact the outsourcing plan came on the heels of a 13-year suspension of the collective bargaining negotiations with PALEA which was forced on the union through government intervention.

To resist the imminent implementation of the outsourcing plan, on September 27 PALEA undertook a protest at the Manila International Airport that paralyzed the operations of Philippine Airlines. The swift answer of the government and management was the forcible eviction of protesting PALEA members from the airport and other offices using police forces and security guards. PALEA members have been locked out since and then terminated starting October 1.

At present PALEA protest camps are set up outside the international airports of Manila and Cebu, the two biggest cities in the Philippines.  Every day several hundred PALEA members are alternating in shifts to maintain the protest camps until the workers demands are heeded.

PALEA demands that Philippine Airlines stop the lockout of workers and allow those terminated to go back to their regular jobs. We know that this is a difficult battle but through the solidarity of the workers movement in our country and even abroad, we will prevail.

Further we are inspired by the struggles for labor rights and social justice of fellow aviation workers such as yours in El Salvador and by general strikes around the globe such as that in Greece and Portugal recently.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Gerry Rivera

President, Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA)

Vice Chair, Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party-Philippines)

Vice Chair, Ground Staff Committee of Aviation Section, ITF

International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) solidarity campaign for PALEA:

http://www.itfglobal.org/itfaviationblog/?p=1783

Online petition in support of PALEA:

http://www.change.org/petitions/fight-corporate-greed-support-locked-out-workers-boycott-philippine-airlines