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Issue Number 32, October 2009
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Kapatiran Issue
No. 32, October 2009
KIWI UNIONIST REPORTS ON KMU’S 25th
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AFFAIR
- Mark Muller
Ferdinand Marcos, one of the most notorious Third World
dictators, was still in power when the KMU (Kilusang Mayo
Uno – May First Movement trade union confederation)
began its annual International Solidarity Affair (ISA) in
1984. New Zealanders were among that first meeting of
unionists who gathered to give international support. 25
years on and the bonds of solidarity remain strong. The
Marcos dictatorship was overthrown in 1986 but US
domination, extreme inequality and repression is on the
increase. Between 2001 and 2008 over 80 trade unionists
have been assassinated. Killings and disappearances are
the unwritten Government policy aimed at silencing
critics and progressive activists. Despite the dangers
people continue to organise and resist, as seen on May
Day. In 2009 around 100 delegates attended the
International Solidarity Affair. There were 40 foreign
delegates from 17 different countries - China, India,
Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan,
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Colombia,
Belgium, Germany, Spain and Turkey. The ISA programme
included taking part in the May Day march; a three day
conference and a Regional Exposure.
May Day
May Day in the Philippines is big, unimaginably big. This
was my second time in Manila for International Workers
Day . The KMU goes beyond traditional unionism and
consistently opposes partnership with bosses in favour of
class struggle. It extends the struggle for economic
rights to political causes against the Government and US
domination. It is an inspiring movement (for details
of Mark’s first visit, see Kapatiran 27/28,
April 2007,”Solidarity In The Philippines: The Spark
Interviews Mark Muller On His 2006 Visit”, online at
http://www.converge.org.nz/psna/Kapatiran/KapNo27n28/ap27n28Art/art124.htm - Ed)
We travelled by jeepney (a modification of old World War
2 jeeps) to join the rally. Along the way we saw people
marching, in groups big and small, holding banners and
flags; chanting and singing. Some were singing songs
saying “No to Cha Cha” (Charter Change –
which is the President’s push to stay in power). The
regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants to change the
Constitution to open the country up to allow even more
foreign ownership, foreign troops and nuclear weapons. It
is seen as a further attack on the sovereignty and
independence of the Philippines.
The marchers sang about “P125” – the
campaign started by the late KMU leader, Crispin Beltran
(“Ka Bel”)*, to raise the
minimum wage by 125 pesos. The average wage is just
$US2.70 a day. Poverty wages compel millions of Filipinos
abroad in search of work, making cheap labour the
country’s biggest export. *Ka
Bel died in a tragic accident in May 2008. See Kapatiran
31, October 2008, Special Issue on Ka Bel, online at http://www.converge.org.nz/psna/Kapatiran/KapNo31/Kap31List.htm - Ed.).
It was a surreal sight for many in our group to see
people marching for miles just to get to the May Day
celebrations. Even the German comrade was in awe. There
are big May Day rallies in Germany, but seeing so many
people coming from all directions was amazing. We got off
the jeepney and joined a throng of marchers. We were
welcomed by a local KMU guide – a megaphone belted
out welcome and cheers to ISA international delegates
joining Filipinos. There was a raucous cheer and outburst
of chants “International Solidarity”, “The
workers united will never be defeated”. The din of
Manila traffic was replaced by the din of determined
chanting. The people were serious and joyful at the same
time. We could see the silhouette of other marchers
coming along a bridge; the Manila traffic replaced by a
stream of people. There were crowds in front and behind
for as far as we could see. We marched for 40 minutes and
got closer to the rallying point. As we converged the
chanting was much stronger. 100,000 people looking
confident, and determined to be part of a movement for
social change.
Tribute To Ka Bel
The next day we visited the grave of former KMU Chairman
Crispin Beltran. We took turns recounting our experiences
with this courageous man who had devoted his entire life
to the workers’ movement. I recalled first meeting
Ka Bel when he was in New Zealand (as a guest of PSNA on
a national speaking tour. Ed.) taking part in the 1999
protests against the Auckland Summit of the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC). Ka Bel was later elected to
Congress where he was an outstanding representative. So
good that President Arroyo had him thrown in jail. When
she visited New Zealand in 2007 there were protests
against the detention of Ka Bel wherever she went. For
Arroyo the trip was a propaganda disaster and the
protests made headlines. Ka Bel was later freed. Many
other delegates spoke warmly of Ka Bel and what an
inspiring figure he was (Ka Bel had been a
Congressman for several years when he died, not to
mention the Philippines’ most high profile political
prisoner in 2006/07. PSNA played a leading role in
coordinating lobbying for his release and fundraising
within NZ, including after his death, for the
extortionate costs associated with his false imprisonment
- Ed.).
Conference
The conference theme was “Resist Imperialist Crisis,
Plunder and War! Celebrate 25 Years of Anti-Imperialist
Working Class Solidarity”. KMU Chairperson Elmer
Labog gave the keynote speech. He spoke of the impact of
the crisis on working people, pointing out: “The
number of unemployed people in the globe has now reached
a record high of more than 200 million. 12 years ago,
unemployment was only at 150 million. Underemployment,
meanwhile, now reaches more than 1.5 billion. And the
global crisis threatens to slash more livelihoods from
both labour-exporting and labour-importing
countries”.
He finished by highlighting the necessity of
international solidarity: “It is extremely important
for entrenched trade unions in industrialised countries
that it is in their long term interest to support the
anti-imperialist and people’s democratic struggles
in backward countries. The latter’s successes will
deprive imperialism of a method to pit the workers of one
country against the other in competing for jobs and
wages, and contribute to the political education of trade
unionists in the host countries regarding the nature of
the real enemy of the working class. Only a labour
movement forged as a politically conscious class and
united around a consistently anti-imperialist programme
and a viable alternative to capitalism as a system can be
capable of such a leading role. Only a labour movement
that upholds the continuing relevance of socialism as
that alternative can be certain of ending the labour
export policy by striking deep at its roots”.
Delegates gave reports on their countries and the state
of the workers’ movement. Those from Germany spoke
of the economic recession and big monopolies such as
Continental and Opel (General Motors) seeking State
support to avert bankruptcy. More than 250,000
sub-contract workers in Germany have already lost their
jobs, while tens of thousands of companies have cut hours
of work. A delegate from Taiwan reported how their credit
crisis had begun in 2006 and this meant that when the
Wall Street bubble burst in 2008 the impact felt in
Taiwan was not as severe. The main impact has been
reduced exports to North America and Europe. From Canada
there were reports that the full brunt of the economic
crisis was just beginning to be felt. Thousands of
industrial jobs in Ontario had been lost and many
temporary contract workers – including Filipinos
– had been deported. The Belgian delegate reported
how 80% of workers are unionised in their country and
many are militant. The problem, however, is that many
union leaders are closely connected to the traditional
parties which are not workers’ parties.
The US delegates described the rapidly deteriorating
standard of living experienced by millions of workers.
His country has “a labour law system that does not
allow fair elections, that in the course of virtually
every organising campaign some workers are fired, that it
often takes years to win an election and a contract, and
that serious poverty exists in the United States. In
fact, there are two states, North Carolina and Virginia,
where collective bargaining for public sector workers is
actually illegal under state law”. He spoke of the
decline of the Left since the 1950s and the largely
defensive strategy of trade unions and progressive
organisations in the US. Wages and salaries as a percent
of national income are now at the lowest point since
1929, while profits as a share of national income are at
the highest.
The United States, being the epicentre of the crisis, has
seen manufacturing sink to a 50 year low. Nearly five
million jobs had been lost in the previous year. With
trillions of dollars in bailouts going to the corporates
there is a tremendous amount of underlying anger. The
delegate from Japan, Takane Ikeda, was unable to attend
the ISA as he was detained at the airport in Manila for
25 hours and then deported. Ikeda had been active in the
Asia-wide Campaigns against US-Japanese Aggression in
Asia. He was reportedly blacklisted for taking part in
protests against the joint Philippines-US military
exercises in Mindanao in 2002. The KMU held a protest at
the airport against his detention.
Declaration Of Unity
The conference concluded with a declaration of unity:
“AS THE ENTIRE WORLD CONFRONTS THE WORST GLOBAL
economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression,
we, the delegates of the 25th International Solidarity
Affair unite with the workers of the world in exposing,
condemning and opposing the root causes of the global
financial crisis – extraction of surplus value by
the monopoly capitalists from our own labour power,
grinding down of our wages and removal of other social
benefits, and other manifestations of the chronic crisis
of capitalist overproduction.
“Despite the intensified social character of
production in our factories and places of work, aided by
the high level of technology at present, we continue to
witness the most abominable forms of accumulation and
concentration of capital in the hands of the monopoly
bourgeoisie. This hideous irrationality of monopoly
capitalism leads the moribund system into a cycle of boom
and bust characterised by the worsening crisis of
overproduction. Among the shocking features of this
crisis is the rapidly escalating unemployment in all
corners of the world.
“The policy shift from Keynesianism* to
‘neo-liberalism’ to combat stagflation in the
1980s has brought nothing but mayhem to our lives and to
our families. *Named after the theories of English
economist, John Maynard Keynes (1863 –1946) who
advocated government spending on public works to
stimulate the economy and provide employment. Ed. The
neo-liberal policies of deregulation, privatisation and
liberalisation of trade and investments took back
workers’ hard won rights, pushed down real wages,
raised taxes and the prices of basic consumer goods and
services, imposed budget cuts on basic social services,
and impoverished millions of farmers in poor countries.
It led to a series of very sharp economic crises in the
former Soviet bloc, Turkey, Latin America, and Asia,
before the biggest crisis of them all struck in the heart
of US capitalism itself. Sub-Saharan Africa suffered
chronic social crisis during the whole neo-liberal period
as imperialism drained it of resources and fostered
resource wars. Despite its great oil wealth, the Middle
East also suffered continuous wars and great inequality,
and huge racist abuse, a victim of the imperialist drive
for control of resources.
“Under neo-liberal labour flexibility, women workers
are the majority of the casual, part-time, and
contractual workers, the easiest to hire and fire and
exploit. Women and children have borne the brunt of the
crisis of capitalism, and comprise the majority of hungry
and oppressed. Overproduction is also driving the deep
ecological crisis which is warming the climate, poisoning
rivers, seas and lands, and creating a crisis in fresh
water supplies to the people. Actions by the monopoly
capitalists to alleviate the global slowdown have not
only aggravated the crisis but also further pound down on
our livelihood.
“The US shamelessly funnelled US$700 billion to the
coffers of the finance oligarchy to bail them out from
the crisis while its workers and other oppressed peoples
of the world continue to face unabated exploitation and
plunder of their earnings and ecology, widespread
poverty, and decreasing incomes and government social
spending. Public funds are now being delivered to the
corporate giants in a paradoxical move to expand
production and generate employment. Amidst this worsening
situation, widespread workers’ strikes and massive
protests against the curtailment of our rights,
unemployment, plummeting real wages, disintegration of
social benefits, racism, discrimination and repression
are taking place in different countries.
“However, these protests are often met with
repression and State terrorism resulting in deaths,
abductions, enforced disappearances, and torture of union
members and some members of their families. Furthermore,
US imperialism has also connived with its puppet regimes
in propagating the ‘War on Terror’ which
targets militant and progressive union leaders and their
supporters, aside from implementing and profiting from
counterinsurgency operations against anti-imperialist and
national liberation movements worldwide.
“Indeed, we witness the intensifying contradiction
between the working class and the poor peoples of the
world and the imperialist class. Therefore, workers of
the world are duty bound more than ever to lead all the
oppressed peoples in defeating imperialism and
eradicating imperialist plunder, crisis and war. We, the
delegates of the 25th International Solidarity Affair
hosted by the Kilusang Mayo Uno held in Tagaytay City,
Philippines on May 2-5, 2009, recognise the essential
task of raising the level of the international labour
movement from making economic demands and protesting
against globalisation and war to resisting and defeating
imperialist crisis, plunder and war”.
Intensify International Workers’ Solidarity
“THEREFORE, we commit ourselves to implement our
resolutions and in particular to:
ADVANCE and coordinate anti-imperialist campaigns to
confront the global crisis, especially through the
project for an international anti-imperialist militant
labour front. ORGANISE participation in global labour
action against the economic crisis in August 2009, and
against repression of workers on November 16, 2009.
STRONGLY SUPPORT the International Assembly on Migrants
and Refugees in their parallel protests at the UN Global
Forum on Migration and Development in Athens in November
2009. GENERATE comprehensive research and education work
on the global crisis, particularly as it affects migrant
workers, women and the environment.
“MAXIMISE the Internet to coordinate our efforts to
build our networks. SUPPORT initiatives for global
protest actions against trade union repression,
imperialist exploitation, wars of aggression, the
ecological crisis, and the obscene bailouts of banks and
big business with the use of public funds in the global
crisis. REACH OUT to other trade unions and workers’
political parties to strengthen their capacity to
organise and fight against the global crisis. MOBILISE
AND ORGANISE international unity and solidarity of the
working class and strongly promote education and
organisation on genuine working class alternatives,
including socialism, to the capitalist system that has
led to today’s unfolding global disaster.
“DARE TO STRUGGLE, DARE TO WIN!
WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-IMPERIALIST
SOLIDARITY!”
Regional Visit
Following the conference I travelled to Mindanao with
five other delegates. We visited banana plantations.
Other delegates visited the National Capital Region;
Central Luzon; the Cordillera and Southern Tagalog in
Luzon; Cebu and Leyte in the Visayas, and Davao in
Mindanao. Mindanao supplies around 60% of the
Philippines’ farm exports. There are vast acres of
banana plantations. The plantations are part of a huge
agribusiness, involving the likes of Dole Corporation,
while the locals provide cheap labour.
There is blanket aerial spraying of pesticides going on
constantly, with utter disregard for the local
population. A study commissioned by the Department of
Health in 2006 found that there was widespread exposure
and that the pesticides caused eye pain, eye tearing,
headaches, eye redness, eye itchiness, dizziness and skin
itchiness. Serious glandular diseases were also linked to
pesticide exposure. The farm workers lacked shoes and
protective clothing, such as gloves, while working in
packing houses. Farm workers are organising to improve
their conditions. They attend the local KMU labour centre
where they are becoming unionised. It is a dangerous
business for activists involved in organising these
workers. They are under constant threat from the
military. We saw people with scars from being shot
The ISA concluded on May 9, when we delegates got
together to exchange reports of our regional visits. In
2010 delegates from around the world will gather again in
Manila to share experiences, celebrate victories and
build solidarity.
Mark Muller is an organiser with the National
Distribution Union in Auckland. His participation in the
2009 KMU ISA was assisted by a $1,000 donation from PSNA.
He is the second NZ unionist this decade whom we have so
assisted to attend the annual ISA. #
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