President Arroyo gave in to a formal request by moderate labor groups yesterday, agreeing to restore the official Labor Day holiday to May 1.
In granting the petition of 23 leaders of trade unions and organized labor groups, the President backtracked on an earlier decision to move the holiday to April 29. Mrs. Arroyo said she would exclude the holiday from her administration’s "holiday economics" policy.
Presidential Management Staff head Silvestre Afable said the decision was made after a 30-minute meeting with labor leaders at Malacañang.
Afable clarified, however, that Malacañang was not bowing to pressure from militant and left-leaning groups, which had threatened to hold nationwide strikes to protest the shift in the Labor Day holiday.
"The President’s decision was not in response to any threats from the labor sector," he said. "It was in response to the appeals of these unions who came to the President with a formal resolution. So she
acted favorably on the appeal."
The decision to include Labor Day in the holiday economics program was a result of a consensus reached during a Cabinet meeting in Bataan last April 9.
Under the holiday economics, official holidays falling in the middle of the week are transferred to Mondays or Fridays to enable workers to enjoy longer weekends, and thereby promote domestic tourism.
In their resolution, the trade union leaders said the Philippine Labor Movement considers as "sacrosanct" the celebration of Labor Day on May 1, as provided for under the country’s laws.
"Moving the non-working holiday from May 1 to April 29 and making employees work on the actual day of the celebration not only distorts history, but violates the law and ignores contractual obligations," the labor leaders said in the petition.
They stressed that May 1 is an international celebration that allows workers to show their solidarity in the causes they are pursuing.
Signatories to the resolution included Trade Union Congress of the Philippines president Democrito Mendoza, Philippine Federation of Labor president Alejandro Villaviza and Philippine Government Employees Association president Esperanza Ocampo.
During an impassioned presentation before the President, one labor union collapsed after suffering a mild stroke.
Felicisimo Carullo, president of the National Confederation of Port Workers Unions, was immediately taken by medical team of the Presidential Security Group to one of the Palace function rooms, where he received first aid.
Before proceeding to her next official engagement, Mrs. Arroyo checked on the condition of Carullo, who was later rushed to a nearby hospital.