Martial law was a period of labor militancy not a golden age for workers—labor group

Globe Steel strike in the 1980's. Photo from Rappler

 

On the eve of the 50^th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the dictatorship era was a period of labor militancy not a golden age for workers.

 

“There was massive discontent by workers during the martial period over low wages, high prices, insecure jobs and employer abuse. In fact, despite repression by police and soldiers under the dictatorship, workers led protests and strikes that broke the white terror of martial law. The struggles of the labor movement would open the way for multi-sectoral rallies that culminated in the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the EDSA people’s uprising. This period is well documented if not well remembered by the present generation,” explained Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

 

PM is joining activities by various groups today and tomorrow to commemorate the dark days of martial law and to remember the sacrifices and struggles of workers and other sectors during the dictatorship.

 

“Workers will join students, women and other sectors to a candle-lighting activity at 6:00 p.m. today at the Boy Scout rotunda in Timog Ave., Quezon City. Tomorrow, groups will have a rally at the grounds of the Commission on Human Rights at 9:00 am before marching in the afternoon to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. We call on our kababayans to hold candle-lighting activities in our homes and communities tomorrow to shine a light on the darkness of authoritarianism and revisionism,” Miranda elaborated.

 

She added that “Immediately after martial law was declared, then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. signed General Order No. 5 prohibiting strikes by workers. The American chamber of commerce was one of the first groups to congratulate Marcos on the declaration of martial law. All these reveal the class character of martial law—it was not just to outflank the liberal opposition rivals of Marcos but also to suppress the resistance of the working class to plunder and exploitation.”

 

Miranda insisted that “Contrary to the fake news peddled by social media influencers and amplified by a paid army of trolls, martial law was not a time of happiness for Filipinos nor a period of economic prosperity. A case in point, nutribuns were a response to widespread hunger and malnutrition. However, plunder of the public treasury, theft of debt-financed development projects and crony control of key industries indeed resulted in a golden age for the Marcoses.”

September 20, 2022

Stop NCAP protest caravan tomorrow am

 

Advisory: Noise barrage and candle light protest tomorrow vs return of Marcos to power

 

Media Advisory

February 24, 2022

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Judy Miranda @ 09228677522

 

Noise barrage and candle light protest tomorrow vs return of Marcos to power

 

What: Protest against return to power of Marcoses

 

When: Tomorrow, Feb 25, 5:30 pm

 

Where: People Power Monument

 

Kalipunan ng Kilusang Masa which unites workers, farmers, women and students will lead the protest action. The highlight of the protest is a noise barrage and candle lighting. The riders’ group Kagulong will assemble at Mall of Asia then hold a “unity ride” to the People Power Monument to join Kalipunan.

Reinstate fired Foodpanda riders--rights group

 

The motorcycle riders’ rights group Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) called for the reinstatement of 43 riders based in Davao City who were suspended for 10 years by food delivery company Foodpanda. The app suspended about a hundred “accounts” attached to the riders for planning a protest concerning the diminution in their income per delivery. Some riders were later reinstated after they allegedly provided information about the scheduled protest.

 

Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general, said that “We are one with the members of Davao United Delivery Riders Association Inc. whose members are Foodpanda riders from Davao City in their struggle for just pay and against the suspension of 43 riders for 10 years because they are exercising their right to express their grievances.”

 

The group also welcomed the move by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to call Foodpanda and the 43 riders to a dialogue to thresh out the issue. “We are also calling on the DOLE to deliver its commitment to convene the Technical Working Group represented by rider’s groups, trade unions, worker’s organizations and concerned government agencies to start the research and investigation that would lead to creating policy standards to protect the gig workers,” Pangan insisted.

 

Food panda riders turned offline for two days and staged a 500-strong unity ride last July 16 to protest the app’s wage policy because they noticed they had been earning less lately from each delivery.

 

Grievances and protests by food delivery riders are increasing amidst their high profile as frontliners and essential workers amidst the pandemic. Last November 18, 2020 Kagulong led some 700 Foodpanda riders in Metro Manila in a protest motorcade that ended in the DOLE main office in Intramuros. The riders aired their grievances about reduced pay, imposed penalties and the lack of transparency in their working conditions.

 

Pangan averred that “What happened with our brothers and sisters in Davao City clearly manifested the need to probe the employment status of gig workers to ensure just pay, benefits and job security,” Pangan insisted.

 

In a global study (http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/16880.pdf), labor researchers found out that food delivery riders launched the greatest number of protests among app or platform workers. The most prominent grievance concerned pay although employment status also figured as a secondary issue. In Asian countries such as Indonesia and India, gig workers have formed associations or unions. Similar organizing and struggles by food delivery riders in Europe, Australia and Latin America was also revealed in the study. 

Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong)

July 20, 2021

 

Workers to hold protests & lobby for a stronger law vs endo

Photo from Rappler

In the face of President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of the Security of Tenure bill, workers will hold initial protests on Monday in Manila and Cebu. “The Security of Tenure bill is the latest victim of killing under the Duterte regime. Workers vow to continue the fight to end endo,” declared Wilson Fortaleza, spokesperson of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

PM and other labor groups such as Sentro will launch a noise barrage dubbed “Black Monday Protest” on July 29. In Metro Manila, the protest is at 5:00 pm at the Boy Scout Circle. While in Metro Cebu, the noise barrage is also at 5:00 pm at Gate 1 of the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu City.

The groups also preparing to lobby the new Congress for a new and stronger version of the Security of Tenure bill. “Workers want a law that will ensure regular jobs is the norm in employment relations. We do not accept the excuse that employers can outsource jobs even if it is directly related and necessary to its business. That simply opens the floodgates to the abusive system of contractualization that is happening today,” Fortaleza argued.

“Workers will not forget this betrayal by Duterte of his promise to end endo. Three months into his administration, Duterte forcefully warned employers that he will kill them for continuing with the practice of endo. But now three years into his term, he is parroting the lame capitalist alibi that businesses will die if workers are made regular. Duterte’s promise to end endo is dead,” Fortaleza asserted.

He added that “In the class war between the workers and capitalists on contractualization, Duterte has revealed that he is an enemy of the working class and the CEO of the capitalist class.” 

July 27, 2019

Media Advisory: Funeral & protest march for slain Cavite union organizer tom

Senate asked to heed workers’ cry and pass Security of Tenure bill

With tens of thousands of workers from different labor groups marching across the country on Labor Day to call for regular jobs and an end to endo, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Senate to pass the Security of Tenure bill. The bill has languished in the Senate even as the House of Representatives had already passed its version last year. The proposed bill would make regular employment the norm and contractual jobs as the exception in well defined cases.

“The senators should heed the demand of Filipino workers whose cry rang loud and clear on Labor Day. Even President Duterte called them out that Congress should pass laws that guarantee security of tenure and the right to self-organization. With nine more session days of Congress left, we vow to fight endo till the endgame,” argued Rene Magtubo, chair of PM and spokesperson of the Nagkaisa labor coalition.

Yesterday in Manila, some 10,000 workers rallied under the Nagkaisa banner with the demand to pass the Security of Tenure bill as the main slogan. Similar mobilizations were held by Nagkaisa and its affiliated organizations in Bataan ecozone, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Iligan and General Santos City.

Magtubo however averred that “The President should do more than just read a speech about workers’ rights. He should issue instructions to his allies in the Senate, such as Senator Cynthia Villar, to pass the Security of Tenure bill which has stalled over the objections of key senators. Actions should match words. Promises must be fulfilled.”

Meanwhile the demand for wage and voice that were among the highlights of the Labor Day marches yesterday are reflected in the grievances of an alliance of workers in three Mitsubishi car dealerships. The alliance of labor unions is holding simultaneous lunch break protests tomorrow to flex it muscles.

The main picket is at that Otis, Paco, Manila office of Union Motors where a company board meeting is happening tomorrow. Some 50 workers are expected to participate in the Paco protest.

The Peak Motors workers union is on the verge of a strike over a deadlock in CBA negotiations for a wage hike. Meanwhile the Union Motors labor union is preparing to file a refusal to bargain complaint. Finally three officers of the DCT union are facing termination.

The alliance of the three unions are complaining that the separate issues are a concerted attack by the three car dealers which have interlocking directorates and owners. The alliance is alleging that the deadlock over wages and harassment of union officers are part of a design to weaken or bust the unions.

The alliance is called United Unions of Union Motors, Peak Motors and DCT Motors. It is made up of the Union Motors Corp. & Sales Employees Association, Peak Motors Phils. Employees Association and DCT Workers Union.

May 2, 2019

Cavite EPZA workers picket factory anew to protest lockout

The restive workers of an electronics subcon in the Cavite EPZA, the country’s biggest export zone, have once more setup a picketline in protest at the lockout of union members and union busting. The Seung Yeun Techonology Industries Corp. (SYTIC) was supposed to have shutdown yesterday but starting last night, non-union workers went back to work at the factory.

“We want our jobs back as regular workers. Management has admitted in a conciliation meeting that SYTIC has existing orders to fulfill from its multinational electronics customers for the next several months and thus there is no valid reason to shutdown. The closure of SYTIC is feigned not real, is temporary not permanent. It is just a maneuver to bust the union, deny us our regular jobs and continue its violations of labor standards on payment of wages, overtime pay, health and safety, and illegal deductions,” averred Frederick Bayot, president of the SYTIC Workers Association.

The SYTIC workers are demanding the reopening of the factory, their return to work as regular employees and recognition of the newly-formed union. They are manning a picketline round the clock to protest the illegal lockout and guard against an attempt to runaway shop.

Management announced that there was no more work at the SYTIC factory starting yesterday. However, SYTIC union members refused to accept the separation pay offered by management and were escorted out of the factory while non-union workers were later allowed back to work in the night.

Bayot added that “We suspect that management will try to transfer machines and tools to a non-union location. Management has already shipped out half-finished goods to a warehouse where scabs will work on them for the next few days.”

“We won the first round of the fight. We will win the second as well,” he insisted. An earlier five-day strike in April by SYTIC workers ended in a victory with 18 workers, who were illegally terminated for union activities, reinstated back to work. However, the company later filed for permanent closure which the union is contesting is a union busting scheme.

Cavite EPZA workers who participated in the Labor Day mobilizaton pledged support for the “round two” of the fight of SYTIC workers. “Ang laban ng SYTIC workers ay laban ng lahat ng EPZA workers,” insisted Rene Magtubo, chair of the militant Partido Manggagawa and its partylist nominee. The former union president of Fortune Tobacco Corp. committed to mobilize solidarity from the labor movement in the country and abroad.

SYTIC manufactures plastic products that provide protection to integrated circuits and electronic components from physical and electrostatic discharge during storage and shipping. Its three biggest customers are ON Semiconductor Philippines Inc. in Carmona, Cavite, Analog Devices General Trias Inc. in the Gateway Business Park in General Trias, Cavite and Texas Instruments factories in Baguio and Clark ecozones. All are local subsidiaries of US multinational companies. ON Semiconductor is a spinoff of Motorola. SYTIC also supplies to Cavite-based factories of local subsidiaries of US electronics companies Maxim Integrated and Cypress. It exports part of its production to C-Pak Cergas in Malaysia.

May 5, 2016

Advisory: Sanofi med reps protest/flash mob @ DOLE during make or break mediation tomorrow

MEDIA ADVISORY

January 25 2016

Contact: Joseph Corpuz @ 09175451276

   To coincide with make or break mediation today:

Sanofi med reps protest/flash mob @ DOLE

WHAT: Med reps of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis to hold picket-protest and flash mob/dance

WHEN: Today, January 25, 2016, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Department of Labor and Employment main, Intramuros

DETAILS: The mediation today called by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz between the union and management of Sanofi Aventis (Phils) Inc. is a make or break meeting as the notice of strike has already matured last week and the union has already been preparing for a work stoppage for the past several days through sustained protests.

The highlight of the protest at the DOLE today is a flash mob/dance by several SAEU members wearing Guy Fawkes (movie “V”) masks as an expression of their determination to fight for a wage increase and decent benefits.

Lei Lucido, president of the Sanofi Aventis Employees Union (SAEU), stated that “We have already reduced our demands, including for a wage increase, in an effort to break the collective bargaining deadlock. But since October, management has refused to meet its employees halfway. We are simply asking for a salary we deserve. We are just claiming a wage increase proportionate to labor productivity and company profitability.”

Since last week SAEU has organized daily protests in cities across the country. On the first day of protests pickets were held in the Sanofi office in Makati and the DOLE regional offices in the cities of Angeles in Pampanga, Cebu, Bacolod and Davao. Last Thursday, prayer rallies were held in the cities of Makati, Calamba in Laguna, Angeles, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod and Davao.  Last Friday, SAEU members previewed in Makati the flash mob/dance that they will perform in the protest tomorrow.

Advisory: Restive med reps to hold prayer rally tomorrow on 2nd day of protest

MEDIA ADVISORY

January 21, 2016

Contact: Joseph Corpuz @ 09175451276

Pharma firm Sanofi on the verge of a strike:

Med reps to hold prayer rally on 2^ndday of protest

WHAT: Med reps of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis to hold prayer rally

WHEN: Today, January 21, 2016, 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Sanofi-Aventis, Feliza Building, 108 V.A. Rufino St, Makati

DETAILS: On the second day of protests over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations, med reps of pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-Aventis are holding a prayer rally this afternoon. Since October last year, CBA talks have been deadlocked over ten items from salary hike to hospitalization plan.

In protests held nationwide yesterday, some 100 med reps launched a rally at the Sanofi corporate headquarters in Makati while scores of other union members picketed the Department of Labor and Employment regional offices in the cities of Angeles in Pampanga, Cebu, Bacolod and Davao.

Any day now the union Sanofi-Aventis Employees Union(SAEU) can organize a work stoppage as their notice of strike already matured last Friday. SAEU vowed to sustain daily actions to push for the resolution of the CBA deadlock.

Lei Lucido, president of the said that “We call on management to meet halfway the demands of its loyal, hardworking employees. Sanofi med reps are just asking for a salary we deserve. We are appealing for a fair share of the fruits of our labor.”

Cancel MRT contract if you have real political will, Palace urged

Press Release

January 6, 2015

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) lambasted Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya for bragging about ‘political will’ in justifying the MRT and LRT rate hike, saying political will is best understood when imposed against a mighty force and not on the hapless poor.

Abaya claimed over media interview the other day that political will defined the major difference between the past and the present administration in dealing with the MRT and LRT fare hike.

“Political will do not differentiate the past and present regimes over this issue as they all bear the same class bias and more or less, the same failures.  PNoy is bolder to tread on the unpopular but that doesn’t mean a triumph of tuwid na daan.  If the President and the entire government cannot go after corporations and powerful people behind this railway scam, that political will assumes no effective meaning other than imposing the burden to the poor,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

PM and other labor groups under Nagkaisa! participated in yesterdays protest actions held at select MRT stations.  They called on the government to run after private contractors who messed up with the metro rail system rather than shifting the burden to the poor.

“Everybody knows that this crashing railway system, the MRT3 in particular, was a product of an onerous contract.  The test of political will, therefore, is in the cancellation of this contract and the prosecution of people and corporations behind the scam, not penalizing the people who are the rightful beneficiary of this social good,” argued Fortaleza.

Fortaleza argued further that the Palace is making gross misrepresentation in labelling government appropriations made for the maintenance and operations of the MRT as ‘subsidy’ to commuters when in fact it is a guaranteed payment to that onerous take-or-pay contract. 

“The government bleeds heavily from this and congressmen from Visayas and Mindanao complain about inequalities created by this subsidy. We never see them complain, however, against powerful forces behind this mess whom they certainly know and perhaps worked hand in hand with,” concluded Fortaleza. ###

Workers to PNoy on MRT, LRT fare hike: ‘Penalize private contractors not us’

NEWS RELEASE

05 January 2015

The government must penalize the private contractors who messed up the operation of the MRT system instead of running after the meager income of workers who use the metro rail system regularly. 

 Labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa! made this call as they kicked off the first working day of the year with protest actions against the MRT and LRT fare hike implemented by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) last Sunday. 

 Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) President and Partido Manggagawa (PM) Vice Chair Gerry Rivera, who led the protest action today at the MRT-Pasay Taft station said, “Liabilities borne out of an onerous contract should not be passed on to consumers penalizing them in effect as in the case of the Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) contract with the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) that built the MRT3 in 1997.”

He added that an ordinary worker who use the MRT will have to shell out at least P8,000 to cover the rate increase in one year. 

Rivera lamented further that instead of penalizing the private concessionaires for messing up with its contract to efficiently operate and maintain the system, “the government is rewarding them with steady flow of income from the fare hike shouldered by lowly-paid workers.”

On his part, Josua Mata, Secretary General of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (SENTRO) who led the protest action together with Public Services Labor Conferederation (PSLINK), PM and other members of Nagkaisa! at MRT’s North Avenue station, said the government should finally rescind the contract and take over the operation of the entire system so that the concept of ‘subsidy’ does not become a misnomer anymore for the take-or-pay contract. 

Mata argued, “When the government takes money from commuters through a fare hike and transfers that money to fraudulent hands of private companies, that is not subsidy. That’s malady.”

He noted that the fare hike is not meant for service upgrade but for debt payments to a private concessionaire.

The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) which led the protest action at MRT-Cubao station likewise believes that the fare hike is the bitter fruit of a failed privatization program of the country’s mass transport system.

Nagkaisa! vowed to conduct more protest actions this month against the fare hike.

Workers up against ‘assault on labor’ on first working day of 2015

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA!

04 January 2015

 

Labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa! are set to welcome the first working day of 2015 with a protest against what they consider as government’s assault on workers’ living condition – the implementation of fare hikes in the MRT and LRT system.

 

The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) proceeded with the implementation of the rate hike yesterday, amid oppositions from labor, commuter groups and legislators. 

 

Based on surveys, lowly-paid workers and students make up the bulk of regular train riders.

 

Members of Partido Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) will be leading the protest at the MRT Pasay-Taft station while the Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (SENTRO), Public Sevices Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), PM and other members of Nagkaisa are taking the MRT North Avenue station. The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) is taking the Cubao station.

 

Aside from the mass action, Nagkaisa! will be distributing leaflets explaining why commuters should reject the fire hike and how they can express their protest.

 

In opposing the fare hike Nagkaisa! contends that:

 

·      Fare hike is not meant for service upgrade but for debt payments to a private concessionaire;

·      Most of train riders belong to lowly-paid workers;

·      Government cutting MRT/LRT subsidy but hiking travel budget of public officials;

·      Fare hike is a move towards privatization

 

The group said commuters can express their opposition in various forms  including:

 

·      Making selfies or group pics holding mini posters and posting it on their social media accounts accompanied by #MRTprotest hashtag;

·      Joining online petitions addressed to the DOTC, Malacanang and Congress;

·      Seeking remedy from the courts; and

·      Joining scheduled mass actions

 

“The fare hike is the first oppressive policy of the year, the first assault by government on workers’ living condition.  Workers were first to pay their taxes but they were also the first to carry the burden of budget cuts and other unjust policies by government,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

 

He added: “Sa daang matuwid, manggagawa ang tinitipid.”

 

On his part PALEA President Gerry Rivera, lamented that while fares in other modes of transportation, including airlines, are dropping significantly because of the sharp drop in oil prices, but fares in the MRT and LRT are rising by as much as 87%.

 

SENTRO Secretary General and Nagkaisa! convenor Josua Mata said, “The true logic of removing the MRT subsidy is the government shifting to the role of shameless facilitator to the transfer of public money to private hands. In this particular a case, the commuters subsidizing the guaranteed returns of private investors.”

 

The Nagkaisa in a series of dialogues with the President has called for a cost-effective and efficient mass transport system since the heavy traffic has been eating up a lot of productive hours of workers. 

 

“The PNoy administration has not only failed to address the traffic mess, it is shamelessly adding a three-fold burden to workers who will have to shell out more for their own train fare and that of their children who go to school,” said Julius Cainglet of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW).

Subsidy is a good social policy; corruption and fraud are privileges of the rich and powerful

News Release

December 26, 2014

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) supported the view of Senator Allan Peter Cayetano that unless trillions of pesos of lost revenue due to smuggling, tax evasion and official corruption is plugged, the removal of MRT/LRT subsidy is painfully and socially unjust. 

“Subsidy is a good social policy.  It is a right, an entitlement of poor people while corruption and fraud are privileges enjoyed by the rich and powerful.  By removing the subsidy, the government is renouncing  a good policy,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

Quoting the World Bank, Cayetano said in every P1 collected by the government, P2 remain uncollected. This is estimated to be between P2 to P4 trillion of lost revenue or bigger than the recently approved budget of P2.6 trillion.

The Senator said he will take up this issue next year amid the plan by the government to remove government subsidy to the metro rail system. The plan will double the MRT and LRT fares beginning January 4. 

The labor coalition Nagkaisa in which PM is a member will be meeting next week to draw up plans against the impending fare hike.

Fallacy

Fortaleza said removing the P7-P10 billion annual train subsidy to free up money for other social services is a fallacious argument, saying the poor, who are entitled to government subsidy in varying degrees, should not, by class or geographical locations, be pitted against each other.

“This is comparable to the fact that businesses across all industries also enjoy billions of pesos of subsidy in the forms of tax holidays, financial assistance, free repatriation as well as import and export privileges.  For instance the power industry, the most lucrative business in the country today, received a total of P5.2 billion of subsidy in 2012, according to the 2012 Census of Philippine Business and Industry,” said Fortaleza.

Fortaleza reiterated his group’s position that it is more productive to provide annual subsidy to the estimated 500 million rides of blue collar workers and students who utilize the trains regularly than the luxurious lifestyles of 500 public officials.

Revenue and job loss

The labor group likewise bewailed the huge revenue losses coming from tax evasion and smuggling, saying the failure to address this age-old problem created a ‘pass-on’ culture in public policy. 

“This is the reason why the burden shifted heavily to indirect taxes like VAT and taxes withheld from wage earners.  At the same time smuggling creates abundance of cheap imported goods at the detriment of local producers.  And now the removal of subsidies,” lamented Fortaleza.

Fortaleza added that smuggled goods have no local labor component, which is both a revenue and job loss to Filipinos. ###

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.