Workers march vs. contractualization

Around 800 employees gathered and marched yesterday starting from Plaza Independencia down to Gaisano Metro Colon with the cry “Pag-alsa Batok Kontraktwalisasyon.”

In the same event yesterday, Bonifacio Day, the public launching of the Solidarity of Cebu Workers, a broad labor alliance of Cebu-based unions, was also established headed by the Alliance of Progressive Labor followed shortly by the Partido ng Manggagawa, National Federation of Labor and Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan.

The Solidarity of Cebu Workers strongly campaigned to the public the different issue that concerned job security for workers and affirmed to work consistently to fight contractualization in Cebu.

APL spokesman Joe Tomongha in a statement said they will hold a series of activities that aims to mainstream the issue of contractualization and take all the necessary legal and pressure actions to put an end and secure the jobs of various workers Tomongha said.

The group also held a program in Colon which they called successful in terms of mass education on the realities of contractualization.

APL believes that the Manila Peninsula stand-off yesterday was a reflection of the extremes to which elements of society in the case of the military are pushed to express their grievances and legitimate protest against the “excesses of an insensitive government”.

However, the APL does not support a military solution, but  likewise any authoritarian response with the incident must be met with the strongest condemnation and resistance.  They also believe that the fallout shows indications of strong-arm tactics on the part of government including the arrest of civil society figures, church leaders in the area and media workers merely covering the event. — Phoebe Jen Indino/BRP