THE PHILIPPINES "NO STRIKE, NO UNION POLICY"-- AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FILIPINO WORKERS DO STRIKE AND UNIONIZE
by:The Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights

Vancouver, B.C. -- Workers in the Export Processing Zones in the Philippines do not need to know that the their country is the second most dangerous place for trade unionists (Columbia ranks first). They live it and are reminded of it everyday. Trade union leaders are victims of extra-judicial killings.Strikes at the Nissan Plant and the Nestle Plant that started seven years ago are still on. Warrants of arrest are issued against 33 workers and organizers of two unions inside the export processing zones. Violence and death meet workers at the picketlines.

The May Day Forum last May 1, 2009 at the St. Michael's Anglican Church brought together three speakers who provided a concrete picture of labour repression and resistance in the Philippines. Invited by the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights and Migrante B.C. were the Workers Assistance Centre's (WAC) International Relations Work and Campaign Program Officer CECIL TUICO, trade union leader DANIEL KINSELLA, National President of the National Component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Canada's largest union for federal public service workers. and CARMENCITA KARAGDAG, Coordinator of Peace for Life, a global faith-based movement committed to resisting militarized globalization and a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.

Cecil Tuico raised the issue of the 33 unionists and trade union organizers who have pending warrants of arrest and appealed for action for the immediate dismissal and formation of the legal fund for this group. Tuico shared that a new trend of repression is the criminalization of union cases and the slapping of charges like libel, corercion and grave assault against militant workers and organizers of the United Chong Won Workers and the Kaisahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Phils. Jeon Inc. (Solidarity of Phils. Jeon Workers) and two officers of the Solidarity of Cavite Workers.

Daniel Kinsella talked about the Canadian Trade Union Mission to the Philippines (CTUMP) and their visits to various places, including strike areas, sugarcane plantations, a mining area, a poltical detention centre and even the offices of the ILO and the Philippine Commission of Human Rights. The CTUMP provided the opportunity to talk with workers and trade union organizers, and even their families where they were at. He mentioned the ongoing seven-year-old strikes at the Nissan Plant and Nestle Plant where the picketlines or "encampments" stay up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

"The tour was important in making the abstract concrete, for example, the "no union, no strike" policy is better understood when you talk to the workers involved," said Kinsella. "I would like to go back to the Philippines, go outside of Manila," said Kinsella when asked if there was another follow up trip planned.

Kinsella and some of the CTUMP members were also allowed to visit the political prisoners -- peasant organizers and labour union lawyer Atty Saladero-- inside the jail. Atty Saladero is a dedicated labour lawyer who has since been released, thanks in part to international pressure.

The ecumenical perspective was taken up by Carmencita Karagdag of the Peace for Life Movement. She showed the different side of the church when it takes up the issues of the workers, the peasants and the other oppressed sectors. Protestant priests, a bishop (who also was on the board of the WAC), and protestant church people are among the victims of extrajudicial killings. She also spoke of the living wage, a workers issue that is true here in Canada and also in the Philippines.There was a lot of interest in the role of the Catholic Church in the people's movement for change.

Manang Virgie, a Migrante B.C.member, was glad that she went to the forum because she learned a lot about the Export Processing Zones and the plight of the workers inside the zones. She was agitated to learn of the "no union, no strike policy" that is allowed to go on under the Arroyo government, a policy that goes against all the conventions of trade union rights.

There was a lively question and answer period. More socialization among the audience and second helpings of the food brought in by Migrante B.C.took place after the forum.

It is hoped that the worker-to-worker solidarity between the workers in Canada with the workers in the Philippines will be strengthened as we collaborate and work in common struggles.##

Contact email address: cps_hr@yahoo.ca

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MAY DAY 2009 FORUM: Trade Union Repression in the Philippines St Michaels Church, 409 East Broadway, Vancouver - May 1, 2009 by Canada Phils Solidarity 4 Human Rights Organized by the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights and Migrante B.C. Last November, Canadian trade unionists from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the United Steelworkers, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Canadian Auto Workers and others went on the 2008 Canadian Trade Union Mission to the Philippines (CTUMP) to see for themselves the level of labour repression and human rights violations in the country"s Southern Tagalog region.

THE PHILIPPINES "NO STRIKE, NO UNION POLICY"-- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FILIPINO WORKERS DO STRIKE AND UNIONIZE (Write up below photos) by:Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights

You are invited to view CPSolidarity4HR's photo album: MAY DAY 2009 FORUM: Trade Union Repression in the Philippines

MAY DAY 2009 FORUM: Trade Union Repression in the Philippines St Michaels Church, 409 East Broadway, Vancouver - May 1, 2009 by Canada Phils Solidarity 4 Human Rights Organized by the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights and Migrante B.C. Last November, Canadian trade unionists from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the United Steelworkers, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Canadian Auto Workers and others went on the 2008 Canadian Trade Union Mission to the Philippines (CTUMP) to see for themselves the level of labour repression and human rights violations in the country"s Southern Tagalog region.