People’s Media Advocacy Asia:

Unions on the workplace beat

About PMAA

People's Media Advocacy

Asia (PMAA)1 was
founded in 2015 to build
a grassroots social media
network for labor groups
to air their campaigns, to
promote human rights in
the workplace, and to
give those workers who
are unorganized a voice.
The mission of PMAA is
to produce independent
media, video, and labor
Trade unionist at PMAA social media training last 2016.
journalism for and by the
people in the Philippines and ASEAN. While the press is slow to cover labor stories,
violations of workers’ rights and their workplace safety continues unabated. To fill this
void, PMAA has established the Centre for Peoples Media (CPM).

Key to CPM is “Be the Media”, a project providing specialized media training to rank-and-
file Filipino trade unionists. These workers are trained to investigate violations of human
rights in the workplace, cover labor actions, publicize on-going campaigns, and promote
labor’s legislative agenda via social media and the mainstream news.

PMAA works closely with the

broad labor coalition Nagkaisa
(UNITED), which links together
various Philippine unions and
left-leaning labor organizations.
By focusing on labor campaigns,
PMAA provides a service to the
coalition that cannot be fulfilled
by individual members. PMAA
guides these workers as they
produce independent reports on
human rights in the workplace,
then aggregates and circulates PMAA-ASETUC media training 29-31 July 2016, Manila, Philippines.
these reports on a social media
via the CPM social news network and journalists in the mainstream. In this way, labor
campaigns locked out of the mainstream can reach and mobilize their intended audiences.

PMAA also provides digital tools for citizens working outside the borders of the labor
movement, giving them a voice through social media and connecting them to organizations

1 Watch our pitch video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVMCez5sdV0

 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

that can address or amplify their concerns. PMAA receives personal messages asking for
advice on specific labor issues. We connect these individuals directly with labor advocates
and publish their stories on the CPM social news network, and, if necessary, link them to
the mainstream via contacts in broadcast media.

Organizational objectives

 To strengthen the media capacity of labor organizations

 To sustain a platform upon which labor issues can reach a wider audience through
social media and the mainstream media
 To deepen the public discourse on labor rights in the Philippines and ASEAN
through critical and independent journalism

Organizational Structure and History

In 2013, former journalist

Daniel Rudin worked with
various labor groups to
investigate the state of
Philippine labor for the
multimedia news project
“Workers Find Ways.”2 In
May 2015, the tragic Kentex
factory fire3 would make
clear that neither the then-
Aquino administration nor
the mainstream media
would take up labor issues.
Brainstorming session with PMAA’s board member Norman Grecia during the ASETUC By June of that year, labor
Regional Workshop on Communication Strategy, 7th - 9th June 2016, Kuala Lumpur. organizers and journalists
came together, seeing the
need to formalize PMAA as a registered NGO. We envisioned a new media platform for
grassroots labor journalism in the Philippines, starting with a social media network to air
labor campaigns and document mobilizations. PMAA is organically linked to the
communities and grassroots organizations with which it works, as its board is comprised of
labor organizers, independent filmmakers, and media advocates:

 Jim Libiran, ABS-CBN, PMAA, Strawdogs Studio Productions

 Alan Tanjusay, spokesman of the Associated Labor Unions (ALU-TUCP)
 Veronica Uy, former editor at Interaksyon
 Purple Romero, independent investigative journalist

2 This is available via Rudin’s personal blog: <http://www.danielrudin.com/workers-find-ways.html>. The series was also picked up by Rappler,
an online news media outlet in the Philippines.
3 See Bibi van der zee, “The inside story of the Kentex disaster: ’74 workers died but no one is in prison’”, The Guardian, 20 July

2015, <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jul/20/the-inside-story-of-thekentex-disaster-74-workers-
died-but-no-one-is-in-prison>
 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

 Josua Mata, Secretary-General of APL-SENTRO

 Wilson Fortaleza, spokesperson of Partido Manggagawa (Labor Party)
 Alwyn Alburo, news producer at GMA 7
 Daniel Rudin, PhD student at University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)
 Teresita Borgonos, Project Coordinator, Building and Wood Workers International
(BWI) Asia Pacific Region
 Norman Grecia, Sub-Regional Secretary for South East Asia, Public Services
International (PSI)

PMAA currently employs an editor, journalist, and social media manager on a project basis.
Trainers and media workers are on-call for when PMAA holds seminars or makes videos.
PMAA trains “Be the Media” reporters from the unions; these workers operate as citizen
journalists to agitate and mobilize others. PMAA is actively seeking funding to "scale up"
from its seed-work to a fully operational phase; see "Funding" below for more details.

Social Context

Nearly a century ago, the ILO constitution urgently called for “the protection of the worker
against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment.”4 Yet the Philippines,
has not ratified the ILO Labor Inspection Convention, and its labor bureau is woefully
understaffed and underfunded. Despite revamped inspection rules, the 2015 Kentex
tragedy5 raised serious concerns about the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE)
ability to adequately enforce basic occupational health and safety standards.

An analysis of media coverage of workplace incidents like the Kentex fire reveals that news
outlets tend to focus on localized allegations of corruption, overlooking broader political
dynamic informing their frequency. Although the Philippines is among the most open
societies in Asia, its weak political institutions are often taken to be an expression of “elite
democracy”6 – a system that insulates clients of powerful political figures from state
prosecution and, at times, media investigation. This may account for why the Kentex
sweatshop factory in Valenzuela7 passed government inspection eight months before it
burned in the most destructive industrial fire in Philippine history.8 It was revealed that,
among other violations, there were no fire exits.

The failure of government inspections suggests greater resources should be given to trade
unions to promote public dialogue about labor rights, transparency, and accountability in
the workplace. Research collected by DOLE’s new joint safety inspection team, the “Task
Force Valenzuela” (TFV)9 supports such a proposal. In June 2015, just months after the
Kentex fire, the TFV was organized with a mandate to conduct factory inspections of

4 ILO Constitution, 1919.

5 The Kentex fire claimed 74 workers in the manufacturing hub of Valenzuela city. Yet the factory had recently received a certificate of
compliance.
6 Quimpo, Nathan. Contested Democracy and the Left in the Philippines After Marcos (Quezon City: Ateneo, 2008), 44.
7 Valenzuela remains a political stronghold of the Gatchalians, close allies of the family of the former Aquino administration. See Coronel,

Shiela. The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress (Pasig City: Anvil, 2001), 55.
8 http://www.rappler.com/nation/93205-valenzuela-fire-dole-safety
9 http://www.dole.gov.ph/news/view/2851
 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

adjacent Valenzuela sweatshops. The team, including 19 trade union members from the
Nagkaisa labor coalition, turned up credible evidence that 99% of factories in the area were
not up to labor code. Moreover, it surmised that factory inspectors were routinely bribed,
while the TFV was itself offered bribes during the inspections.10

The findings of the TFV have a deeper significance: they indicate that unions have a critical
role to play in disseminating information to the public at large. As the former Aquino
administration had dialogued with the leaders of Nagkaisa for a number of years without
any clear outcome, frustrated workers turned to social media to circulate their campaigns,
from photos of local pickets to information on the Security of Tenure bill.11

More recently, the new

administration under Pres.
Rodrigo Duterte has
foregrounded the question
of human rights and its
intersections with the
demands of organized
labor.12 In the meantime,
entrenched corruption and
political impunity continue
to have a negative impact
on mandated occupational
safety inspections and
basic labor rights. Overall,
we believe PMAA is a PMAA designed the ASETUC Workshop on Communication Strategy held in Phnom Penh,
worthwhile endeavor, and Cambodia, from 29th to 31st July 2016.
we continue to seek
structural and project-based funding to sustain our efforts. PMAA labor news and the
Center for People's Media (CPM) continue to bolster the labor movement with trainings,
documentary, and news, but we will need support. At the moment, trade unions in the
Philippines are fighting a defensive battle and cannot invest financially in media publicity.

Past activities

PMAA piloted media trainings with various labor groups within the Nagkaisa (UNITED)
coalition in Manila, Negros, Davao, and General Santos City. We have worked with the
Cavite Rosario Workers Association (RWA), the Philippine Airlines Employees Association
(PALEA), Domestic Workers of the Philippines, Partido Manggagawa, and others.

10 http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/06/24/1469437/labor-inspectors-prone-bribes-harassment
11 See <http://www.sentro.org/?cat=355>
12 Duterte won on a rather contradictory platform. He speaks out against contractualisation, for instance, even while human rights violations and

extrajudicial killings of over 800 civilians – mostly targeting working class communities – have taken place since he came to power, in the name
of the War on Drugs.
 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

PMAA’s most recent major

activity was a seminar on
social media sponsored by
the Labor Education and
Research Network (LEARN)
last April 2017. This training
produced a cascading effect,
with CASURECO-2 Union of
Supervisory Employees or
CAUSE holding their own
follow-up training. Fifty-nine
participants or 98 percent of
the CASURECO-2 members
Novelita Palisoc, President of Murphy Domestic Workers of the Philippines receiving
her certificate after completing PMAA's social media training 27-29 April 2017. completed this training.

Last year, PMAA conducted a three-day workshop with the ASEAN Services Employees
Trade Union Council (ASETUC), a federation of unions in South East Asia, and UNI Global
Union, which includes Public Services International (PSI) and the Building and
Woodworkers International (BWI). PMAA’s training module has been also used by BWI
during independent media training initiatives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

ASSISTED BY PMAA THROUGH MEANS OF CPM SOCIAL MEDIA:

ORGANIZATION ENGAGEMENT OUTPUT REACHED
Alliance of Yokohama Employees News Article CPM FB Page 17,520
Union (AYEU) Published Aug. 5, 2016
Philippine Pizza Incorporated News Article CPM FB Page 53,023
Workers Union (PPIWU) Published Sept. 4, 2016
Fontana Employees Association Press Release CPM FB Page 36,964
Published Dec. 16, 2016

In addition to trainings, PMAA runs the Center for Peoples Media (CPM), a hub for labor
related stories from unions, mainstream news, and unorganized workers. This includes a
blog www.cpmnews.asia, and Facebook page with over 32,000 likes and an audience of up
to 80,000. At present we primarily syndicate press releases, updates, and news stories from
Nagkaisa members. With the contributions from the worker-journalists we have trained,
we aim to produce and host more of our own independent content – including stories,
podcasts, and films – in the future. We also aim to scale up our coverage to include
unorganized workers, who will eventually begin to produce content as well.

Documentary projects

PMAA has produced a series of short documentary films. While several are self-funded,
many of the documentaries are in collaboration with global unions. This work cross-
subsidizes PMAA's grassroots journalism, allowing us to work with organized and
unorganized workers without access to labor support or resources.

 PMAA helped workers produce a documentary on a labor killing in Negros province.

 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

 PMAA made a documentary on union busting in the tuna industry in Mindanao.13

 PMAA produced a first-responders documentary for Public Services International
(PSI) as part of their initiative to train public servants in disaster preparedness.
 In collaboration with the Union for Canada (UNIFOR) Local 2002 and PALEA, PMAA
produced a video series on contractualizaton in the airline industry. See "The
Ground Crew" Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
 PMAA has produced a documentary film for the 2016 culmination congress of Public
Services International's (PSI) project on decent work and social protection for
migrant workers in the public services.
 PMAA is producing a documentary film for the Building and Woodworkers
international (BWI) 2017 world congress.

Impact and reach

In order to track social

impact, we monitor union
"be the media" reporting,
success rates in legal reform
and contract negotiations. To
give several examples, in the
past year we publicized
management interference in
the certification elections of
a union at the Yokohama
factory with the Alliance of
Yokohama Employees Union
Jonathan Aballe, PMAA trainee, reports on a labor and land reform killing in Negros. (AYEU) in Angeles City,
Pampanga. Because of our
efforts, the AYEU's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) moved forward to their
advantage and the management harassment of union members was minimized.

A recent post on the extrajudicial killing of a labor leader reached over 80,000 viewers on
Facebook. Our Facebook page has over 32,000 members and counting. We also assisted
300 terminated workers of the of the Philippine Pizza Incorporated Workers Union
(PPIWU), by training the workers, using our social news network, and by convincing CNN
Philippines to cover the story. In less than three months, the illegally terminated workers
were returned to work.

Last year, 2,000 employees of Fontana Resort in the province of Pampanga were displaced
by the government due to the shuttering of the resort. We worked with these displaced
workers despite their lack of a labor organization. According to the employees, with the
publication of their conditions, support from different groups began to pour in.

13 Some samples of our work are available via YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clDNaFcfdjI>

 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

Another example is the case of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA).
With support from the Union for Canada Local 2002, PMAA produced a documentary on
PALEA and published it on social media. This not only revitalized the union members, but
also caught the attention of the international trade union communities in the airline
industry, garnering further financial support for their fight against contractual labor.

Funding

University of California Institute for Research in the Arts (UCIRA), University of California
Santa Cruz Blum Center, and “Big Ideas@Berkeley" have funded activities thus far. We are
also preparing to apply for other grants such as the Wallace Global Fund, and are reaching
out to the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLS), Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung (FES), and the Open
Society Foundations (OSF). PMAA has also produced documentaries for Public Services
International (PSI) and Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), acting as a means
of cross-subsidizing unpaid PMAA activities, particularily citizen journalism in the
Philippines. Unions within the Nagkaisa (UNITED) coalition provide counterpart funding
for PMAA “Be the Media” training seminars. This counterpart reduces training costs.

MONTHLY BUDGET FORECAST

OFFICE EXPENSES:
Office Rental $240.00
Utilities $86.00
Internet connection $50.00
Office supplies & equipment $50.00
$426.00
PERSONNEL WAGES:
Project Coordinator $386.00
Training officer $350.00
Finance Officer $90.00
Writer $230.00
Researcher $190.00
Liaison officer $96.00
$1,342.00
Office & Personnel Expenses - $1,768.00 (Monthly) - $5,304.00 (Quarterly) - $21,216.00 (Annually)

"SHOESTRING" MONTHLY BUDGET FORECAST

OFFICE EXPENSES:
Office Rental $240.00
Utilities $40.00
Internet connection $50.00
$330.00
PERSONNEL WAGES:
Project Coordinator $386.00
Finance Officer $50.00
$436.00
Office & Personnel Expenses - $766.00 (Monthly) - $2,298.00 (Quarterly) - $9,192.00 (Annually)14

14 Note: Personnel budget does not include the SSS, Tax, PAGIBIG, Health Insurance, Transportation and Communication’s allowance.
 People’s Media Advocacy Asia:
Unions on the workplace beat

References

In the U.S. the University of California Santa Cruz, as well as the University of California
Institute for Research in the Arts, and the Santa Cruz Blum Center are aware of PMAA’s
activities. Also current and former members of the Communication Workers of America
and the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union are familiar with PMAA
activities. In the Philippines, the Nagkaisa (UNITED) unions are partners in PMAA activities,
and it is possible to conduct future trainings with the Act to Win labor coalition (which
includes Kilusang Mayo Uno). The IIRE and the Labor, Education, and Research Network
(LEARN), and the Friedrich-Ebert- Stiftung are also aware of PMAA activities.

Veronica Uy
Freelance Reporter
onkikay@gmail.com

Sharon Daniel
Professor, Film & Digital Media
510-282-5684, sdaniel@ucsc.edu

Alan Tanjusay
Spokesperson, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines part of the Nagkaisa
Coalition)
atanjusay@yahoo.com

Wilson Fortaleza
Spokesperson, Partido Manggagawa (part of the Nagkaisa Coalition)
wmfortaleza@yahoo.com

Sri Wulandari
Building and Woodworkers’ International (Cambodia)
sri.Wulandari@bwint.org

David Kim
Director of the Asia Foundation Development Fellows
david.kim@asiafoundation.org