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Philippines: Labor Unions Left
Behind By Migrants' Exodus Philippines (IPS) - Some of Asia's most vibrant and militant labor unions are found in the Philippines, where they have not only pushed worker's rights but shaped political history through their role in the country's popular uprisings. Those non-violent uprisings - the “People Power” revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 and the 2001 one that that ousted the corrupt presidency of Joseph Estrada -- would not have been possible without the tireless activism and numbers provided by worker's groups. But this impressive record of organizing and action remains limited to issues within the Philippines, a fact that surprises many since 20 percent of the country's labor force -- some 7 million people -- are overseas migrant workers. The Philippines, often called the largest organized exporter of labor in the world, has been exporting workers for 27 years. Some 800,000 people leave this country of 80 million people each year to work overseas, as nurses, seafarers, factory workers, teachers, other professionals, or domestic workers. The two largest labor groups in the country -- the left-leaning Kilusang Mayo Uno (May One Movement) and the conservative Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) -- acknowledge their lack of presence in the issue of labor migration and in the countries that employ Filipinos. "We're not able to do that (organize migrant workers' unions) because it's very expensive," said TUCP Vice President Avelino Valerio. "We can't just travel abroad and see them and talk about issues." Valerio said that at best, the TUCP has organized a Centre for Migrant Workers in Manila, "for the purpose of connecting with Filipino workers around the world''. It also gives advice to returning workers who seek their help in collecting back payments or in studying labor contracts. TUCP leaders who go abroad for conferences also try their best to seek out overseas workers. The group does lobby work in helping workers get more services from government agencies like the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration. Larry Perez Jr, an organizer for the Association of Filipino Workers, a group with socialist leanings, also cited financial constraints. But Perez said that this has not stopped the association from sending one organizer to help a group of Filipino taxi drivers in Belgium to form a union this year. He acknowledged, however, that this was just a start, although a good one. "It's our belief that you are a member of the working class no matter where you are. Therefore, you need to fight for your rights, wherever you are," he said. The association also manages to help overseas workers form a union
by Forming networks with foreign labor unions is also a tack used by the KMU, along with an NGO on migrant worker issues called Migrante. KMU's Mau Hermitanio said that in most instances, overseas Filipino workers manage to form "people's organizations and associations," not trade unions. He cites the "lack of free time" among many migrant workers, especially domestic workers and caregivers who are not granted enough time off from work by their employers. For instance, before coming home, Olympia spent a year in Malaysia without a day off from her routine of doing domestic work, sun up to sun down, for a family of six. Fear of deportation and loss of jobs also hinder many workers from forming and joining unions in host countries, according to Hermitanio. Most labor-receiving countries forbid migrant workers from forming pressure groups and unions, a fact that activists hope will change once the U. N. Convention on the "Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families" takes effect. The convention is awaiting the 20th ratification in order to take effect. The convention provides the concept of "equality of treatment" between non-migrant and migrant workers, between women and men migrant workers, and between documented and undocumented workers and their families. It extends all human rights to migrant workers, including the freedom to form associations for redress of grievances. "With the convention coming into force soon, the international community will be challenged to look at migration from a human rights perspective and not exclusively as an economic, political and national security issue," the Global Campaign for the Ratification of the Convention said in a statement on Dec. 10, Human Rights Day. The Association of Relatives of Filipino Migrant Workers, an NGO for migrant workers and their families known by its local acronym Kakammpi, said the convention is key given the "vicious attacks against trade unions and other workers' organizations". "Some quarters would like to think of trade unions as irrelevant and anachronistic in this era of globalization. We think they are mistaken," it said in a statement. Perez said, however, that beyond the implementation of the convention, migrant workers need to compel their own governments to fight on their behalf. Valerio added that while Filipinos overseas are good at organizing, they tend to focus more on creating social clubs based on regional affiliations rather than trade unions. "There is no consistency. It has something to do with our culture where we look out for ourselves first," he said. "Trade unionism abroad is not yet in their consciousness." Such is not the case in Japan and in some parts of Saudi Arabia, however, where some workers have formed unions on their own. In the absence of large-scale organizing of unions overseas, the Sisyphean task of helping migrant workers organize has fallen on NGOs. In Hong Kong, the Asian Migrant Centre (AMC) helped organize the Filipino Migrant Workers Union in 1998, and the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union in 1999. "Empowerment did not come easy," the AMC said in its yearly report, adding that fear of arrest and deportation at first made union officers reluctant to challenge both their host and sending governments. But it stressed that "while organizing and consolidation were difficult and intensive processes, they are worthy and are necessary investments for migrant empowerment."
This article is reported by Marites Sison for IPS-Philippines. Republished with permission from Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) Asia-Pacific. About Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS): IPS, the world's leading provider of information on global issues, is backed by a network of journalists in more than 100 countries. Its clients include more than 3,000 media organizations and tens of thousands of civil society groups, academics, and other users. IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations.
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