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WORKERS OF HYATT REGENCY MANILA ON STRIKE! - May 10 Hyatt Hotel Harassed Its Own Employees Workers Calls for Congressional Inquiry into Maynilad's Abandonment of Obligation - 23 April 2002 Gma reveals contempt for 100 years of trade union struggle - 10 April 2002 |
GMA
REVEALS CONTEMPT FOR 100 YEARS OF TRADE UNION STRUGGLE President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is attempting to rewrite 100 years of worker’s struggle by declaring April 29, instead of May 1, as the legal labor holiday. Coming at a time when May 1, 2002 happens during the centennial celebration of the Philippine trade union movement, this declaration reveals Arroyo’s contempt for everything that the workers have struggled for, even to the extent of giving up their lives, declares the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL). The Philippine labor movement is celebrating this year its 100th anniversary since the formal launching of both the country’s first formal labor union and federation in 1902, the Union Impresores y Litografos de Filipinas (UIF) and Union Obrera Democratica (UOD) respectively. “As if ignoring the said centennial is not enough, the Arroyo administration has still the gall of undermining the historical tradition of celebrating the international Labor Day,” says Daniel Edralin, chairperson of the APL. He added that “this is the height of bourgeoisie arrogance.” May 1 as Labor Day was made into law in the Philippines in 1913, although this was unofficially celebrated by Filipino trade unionists since 1903 based on an international tradition that began in the 1880s. The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) condemns this decision as patently unacceptable and vows to fully mobilize its entire membership on May 1 not only to celebrate the labor centennial but also to push government to radically depart from its current embrace of privatization, liberalization and the mythical “free trade.” |
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Alliance of Progressive Labor
(APL) 2002 | |