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| Photo from Twitter |
Because President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has opted to
visit US President Joe Biden rather than meet Philippine labor groups on Labor
Day to discuss mounting economic and labor rights concerns, the Nagkaisa labor
coalition sent appeals instead to its trade union allies in the US to encourage
Biden to remind Marcos of the need to restore the free exercise of labor rights
in the Philippines amid widespread violations during the Duterte administration
as confirmed by the recent ILO High Level Tripartite Mission in its report.
Official advisory of the Marcos-Biden meeting on
Labor Day stated security as well as trade and investment as main subjects of
the bilateral talk.
The Biden administration, as explained by embassy
officials during a meeting with Philippine trade unions early this month, is
pushing for a “worker-centered” trade policy.
“But how can PH workers benefit from any trade
talks with the US when all the coercive instruments instituted by the Duterte
regime are kept intact by Marcos Jr.? For us, for trade to be worker-centered,
it has to redound to the benefit of workers,” said Nagkaisa Chair Atty. Sonny
Matula.
But anticipating a rather security-focused
Marcos-Biden meeting, labor groups in Nagkaisa has requested their counterparts
in the USA, the same groups that led the filing of a GSP complaint in December
2022, to urge Biden in their trade talks to encourage Marcos Jr to demonstrate
seriousness in addressing the long-standing concerns of the labor movement,
starting with taking concrete steps to realize the recommendations of the ILO
HLTM.
“All it takes for President Marcos Jr. to show its
seriousness on trade and labor is for him to issue an Executive Order
establishing the Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association,” insisted
Matula.
According to Matula, trade union leaders and
organizers have faced lethal violence, with 68, or 69 now with the most recent
case in Negros, who were killed since 2016.
“The situation seems to hark back to the 18th or
19th century, as if unionizing is still considered a crime. But with President
Marcos opting to visit US President Biden rather than meet with Philippine
unions to talk about this issue this coming Labor Day, we hope he learns from
Biden’s Presidential Task Force on union organizing that supports union
revitalization in the US, and hopes that upon his return a decision is made to
establish a Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association in the
Philippines, as recommended in the ILO-HTLM report.”
Aside from labor rights and the creation of a
Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association, the Nagkaisa and the unified
Labor Day action by All Philippine Trade Unions on Monday would also raise
demands for immediate wage hike, an end to ‘endo’ or contractualization and
creation of decent jobs, as well as provisions of quality public services,
including those for women and the youth.
PRESS RELEASE
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition
29 April 2023
Ref: Atty. Sonny Matula
Chairperson
09178079041
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