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Philippines Labor Relations
From independence in 1946 until martial law was declared in
1972, the government encouraged collective bargaining and, except
for setting up a commission in 1970 to supervise the fixing of
minimum wages, involved itself minimally in labor relations. For
most of the martial law period (1972-81), strikes were forbidden
or severely limited. The Marcos labor code of 1974 made
arbitration compulsory. The right to strike was partially
restored in 1976, but with considerable restrictions. The Aquino
government took a somewhat more liberal approach to labor, but
some of the structures of the Marcos period remained.
Organized labor in the Philippines has been relatively weak.
In 1986 it was estimated that about 2.2 million Filipinos were
part of the union movement, accounting for approximately 20
percent of the wage-and-salary work force or 10 percent of the
total labor force. These workers were organized into some 2,000
unions, half of which were not connected to a national union or
federation. In 1987 only 350,000 workers were covered by
collective bargaining agreements.
The largest union body was the Trade Union Congress of the
Philippines (TUCP). Formed in December 1974, it was designated
the official labor center of the Philippines by the Marcos
government. Another labor organization, the Kilusang Mayo Uno
(KMU), or the May First Movement, was formed in July 1980,
bringing together nine broadly based, more ideologically oriented
unions. The two major union centers represented sharply different
visions of the role of unions in society. Although TUCP supported
Marcos, it represented itself as a proponent of nonpolitical
unionism, concerned primarily with the collective bargaining
process. The KMU was more openly political, projecting itself as
a proponent of "genuine, militant, and nationalist unionism."
Going beyond collective bargaining, the KMU called for the
formation of worker solidarity movements and advocated a
nationalist-oriented alternative to the prevailing economic and
social policies of the government. The Labor Advisory and
Consultative Council (LACC), formed at the onset of the Aquino
administration in 1986 by then Labor Minister Agusto Sanchez,
drew the various factions of the labor movement together to
advise the Ministry of Labor and Employment. Membership in LACC
included the KMU, the Federation of Free Workers, Lakas Ng
Manggagawa Labor Center, and, for a short while, the TUCP.
When Aquino came into office in 1986, she had the backing of
a wide spectrum of the population, including those affiliated
with labor unions. In her May 1 speech that year, before a large
and enthusiastic gathering of labor groups, Aquino presented a
package of labor-law reforms, including extension of the right to
strike, making it easier to petition for a union certification
election, and abrogation of repressive labor legislation decreed
by the Marcos government. Soon, however, the president began to
shift ground as she received vigorous protests by both Filipino
and foreign businessmen against her May Day promises. The pledges
were rethought, modified in some cases, and not promulgated in
others. This willingness to respond to the interests of the
boardroom rather than the shop floor also extended to official
appointments. In particular, her first minister of labor, Agusto
Sanchez, was considered to be too prolabor and eased out within a
year of his appointment.
The TUCP was generally supportive of the Aquino government,
but the KMU and other progressive unions resisted the
conservative drift of her administration through strikes,
demonstrations, and antigovernment rallies. The KMU gained
influence through its leadership of the national strike, or Welga
ng Bayan, in 1987, 1989, and 1990. From September to December
1990, the KMU led a series of general strikes in response to
dramatic increases in the prices of petroleum products. These
labor actions were noteworthy both because of a heightened level
of conflict between strikers and the authorities and because of
the participation of professionals and other middle-class groups.
Repression of labor activists, widespread during the Marcos
era, resurfaced early in the Aquino administration. In November
1986, the chairman of the KMU was murdered. The following
January, the army opened fire on a march of the Peasant Movement
of the Philippines (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas--KMP) and
their supporters who were protesting the lack of government
action on land reform. Eighteen were killed and nearly 100
wounded. In 1990 the government charged two KMU labor leaders
with sedition: Medardo Roda, the head of PISTON, a federation of
drivers, and Crispin Beltran, the chairman of KMU. Old charges of
slander and fraud dating back to 1967 and 1971 were revived
against Beltran. The government also imprisoned the leader of the
KMP, Jaime Tadeo, on ten-year-old fraud charges initiated against
him by the Marcos government. After a 1990 violent strike, during
which an estimated 500 participants were arrested, both the
military and government officials suggested banning the KMU as a
communist-front organization.
Data as of June 1991
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