Mayo 1, 1989, sa kasagsagan ng Martial Law ni Marcos, itinatag ang Kilusang Mayo

Uno (KMU) upang itaguyod ang karapatan ng mga manggagawa sa buong kapuluan ng
Pilipinas sa pamamagitan ng “tunay, militante at anti-imperyalistang unyonismo.

Ang KMU ay produkto ng masigasig na pagkilos ng progresibong manggagawa upang

ipaglaban ang kahirapang dinanas sa Martial Law ni Marcos. Maaalala pa nga noong Mayo
Uno 1982, sa Labor Day address ng dating pangulo, sinabi niya na “[to] the elements of the
labor movement…hindi kami nasisindak sa inyo…Pananagutin ko kayo sa inyong
panlilinlang.” Pagdating ng Agosto ng parehong taon, inaresto ang 79-taong-gulang na
lider-manggagawang si Felix Olalia kasama ang 13 na kasama. Ito ang una sa crackdown
ng administrasyong Marcos sa kilusang paggawa.

Kilusang Mayo Uno o PAMANTIK KMU ang “militanteng sentro ng paggawa sa Timog
Katagalugan” ayon sa kanilang Facebook page. Ipinagmamalaki ng kilusan ang tunay,
militante, at anti-imperyalistang unyonismo na matinding pinaglalaban ang
kontraktwalisasyon sa bansa. Sa rehiyon ng Timog Katagalugan (TK), lampas lamang sa
3% ng manggagawa ang unyonado. Gayunpaman, may 2,274 na unyong kumakatawan sa
halos 200,000 manggagawa sa rehiyon.

Sa kasalukuyan, may tatlong kinikilalang batas ang kilusan na nagdudulot ng pagtaas ng

presyo ng bilhin at pagpapahirap sa manggagawa: ang RA 10963 o Tax Reform for
Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN Law), ang RA 11213 o Amnestiya sa Buwis ng Lupa, at
RA 11346 na nagbibigay dagdag-buwis sa sigarilyo at katulad na produkto. Para sa
manggagawa ng TK, hindi kinikilalang tunay na ‘reporma’ ang mga batas na ito, kundi mga
oportunidad para sa mga empresa na magbigay ng tubo.

Ang epekto nitong mga batas na nagdagdag presyo sa mga bilihin ay tumutulay sa pang
araw-araw na pamumuhay ng maralita. Ang ‘reporma’ na hinahawakan ng TRAIN law ay
hindi reporma para sa karaniwang tao, kundi reporma para pondohan ang Build Build Build
program ni Duterte, na negatibo ng nakakaapekto sa hanapbuhay, lalo na sa uring
manggagawa. Halimbawa na rito ang reclamation projects na nagbabanta sa kabuhayan at
komunidad ng mga mangingisda sa Cavite, at ang pagtigil ng operasyon ng mga dyip at
pagpapalayas sa manininda sa Batangas Pier para sa isang development project.

Nais ng kilusang paggawa na panagutin si Duterte sa mga naturing isyu – ang kahirapan at
pang-aapi na dinanas ng sambayanang Pilipino sa ilalim ng kanyang administrasyon,
partikular sa mga patakaran na kaninang nabanggit na pabor lamang sa maliit na
populasyon ng burgesya at panginoong maylupa, ang napakong pangako ng dagdag
sahod, ang patuloy na pag-iral ng kontraktwalisasyon, kawalan ng tunay na repormang
agraryo sa bansa, at ang paglaki ng bilang ng extra-judicial killings at red-tagging sa mga
indibidwal at mga unyon. Klaro, malakas, at nagliliyab ang panawagan ng mga
manggagawang ipaglaban ang kanilang karapatan sa sapat na sahod at ligtas na
Proyekta at Ambag ng KMU:
Ayon sa artikulo, ang KMU ay nakikipag ugnayan sa mga NGOs para ipaglaban ang
karapatan ng mga manggagawa. Pinalakas nila ang kanilang kampanya sa pamamagitan
ng pagkakaisa ng mga manggagawa laban sa mababang sweldo at maayos na kondisyon
sa trabaho (Waterman, 2006).

PHILSTAR:
MANILA, Philippines — Fired up after being left out in the cold by President Duterte,
labor organizations previously at odds have bonded together to prepare for a major
indignation rally on May 1. In a joint press conference yesterday, Kilusang Mayo Uno
(KMU) chairman Elmer Labog said the workers are “angry” over Duterte’s failure to sign
an executive order that would end job contractualization. “The growing frustration,
disappointment and disenchantment of workers over President Duterte’s failure to fulfill
his promise have only bonded workers. We will march as one on Labor Day in a historic
first for the Philippine labor movement,” Labog said. He said the workers will turn the
Labor Day celebration into an indignation rally to show their solidarity against
contractualization. Labor groups are up in arms after Duterte’s refusal to sign an EO
that will end the practice of contractualization by employers. Instead of an EO, the
President will certify as priority the Security of Tenure bill pending in Congress.
Nagkakaisa labor coalition chairman Michael Mendoza said Duterte gave them false
hope that workers would finally be liberated from inhumane employment practices. “The
problem is the President did not even ask for our opinion. We gave five versions of the
EO but he did not even talk to us. We were made to wait for two years for nothing,” he
said. The KMU and the Nagkakaisa, which represent the broadest labor coalition since
the 1980s, have called on workers “of all shapes and sizes” to join the rally. Sentro
secretary-general Joshua Mata reminded Duterte that the working class voted for him in
the 2016 presidential race because of his promise to stop contractualization. “On Labor
Day, Malacañang will feel the backlash of the workers. We will show our anger over
what happened. Our hope became an empty promise,” he said. Mata said aside from
the need to contend with contractualization practices, workers now also have to endure
inadequate wages and the rising prices of commodities and services because of the
Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law initiated by the Duterte
administration. Meanwhile, an opposition lawmaker urged President Duterte yesterday
to shelve his Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative and instead work on creating more
jobs and fighting inflation or the increase in consumer prices. Rep. Tom Villarin of party-
list group Akbayan made the appeal in the wake of the first quarter Pulse Asia survey
showing people were more concerned with jobs and inflation than with Cha-cha or the
effort to revise the Constitution to shift the nation to the federal system. “The Duterte
administration should put Cha-cha in the back burner and focus on people’s needs and
wants, not its own power agenda,” he said. He said the people’s concerns as expressed
in the survey should prompt the President “to fulfill his promise to end endo (end of
contract).” “While the ABC crowd sees the administration’s anti-crime campaign as a
priority, the vast majority of the poor D and E classes don’t see it as such,” he said. He
added that the President and his congressional allies should genuinely work to help
people cope with rising prices and to have jobs and decent wages. While jobs, wages
and inflation were the top issues in people’s minds in the Pulse Asia survey, issues that
included Cha-cha were the least of their concerns. The monthly increases in consumer
prices were blamed largely on the tax reform law, officially labeled as TRAIN. According
to Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, the price hikes were caused by new and higher
taxes the law has imposed starting in January. – With Jess Diaz

GMA NETWORK:

Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno on Saturday called for a minimum monthly wage of
P33,000 for government workers. KMU made the statement as the world observed the
74th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "Kami po ay tuloy-tuloy
na nagsusulong para itaas ang sahod sa pambansang minimum na sahod na
nagkakahalaga ng P1,100. Naka-file po sa Congress ang House Bill 4898. Kamakailan
lang po kasama naming nag-file ng mga manggagawa sa public sector, na
nagkakahalaga ng P33,000 monthly," KMU secretary general Jerome Adonis said at a
rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila. (We will continue to push for a national
minimum wage of P1,100 [per day for the private sector] through House Bill 4898, which
was filed in Congress. Recently, we joined the employees in the public sector in filing a
bill that calls for a minimum wage of P33,000 monthly.) The labor group asserted that
"living wage" is a human right, which the Marcos administration allegedly failed to
provide. It added that the economic crisis continued to worsen. "Sinasabi ni Junior na
ginagawa nila ang lahat ng kanilang makakaya, pero kung totoo iyon, bakit hindi
itinataas ang sahod namin? Bakit hindi tinatanggal ang buwis sa mga batayang bilihin
para mapababa man lang ang presyo?" the KMU said in a statement. (Marcos said that
they were trying their best, but if that were the case, why haven't our salaries
increased? Why weren't the taxes on basic goods removed to bring their prices down?)
The KMU also slammed the Marcos government for allegedly perpetuating human
rights violations. Protesters then destroyed the effigies of Marcos, the military, and the
United States. Malacañang was reached by GMA News Online for comment, but as of
the time of posting, no response had been received. — VBL, GMA Integrated News