Unanimous approval. The proposed alliance between Crusada and the Ateneo de Manila University Employees’ and Workers’ Union was received warmly by union members in an assembly between the two groups held last June 10. Photo by Pia Guballa.

THE LOYOLA Schools’ socialist party is reviving old links between Atenean student activism and the university’s labor union.

The Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada) is now in final talks to formalize an alliance with the Ateneo de Manila University Employees’ and Workers’ Union. Crusada presented its proposal for the alliance during an assembly held last June 10 at the union’s headquarters in the Blue Eagle Gym.

The meeting’s highlight was Crusada’s bid to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the union. This MOA would detail the future partnership between the two.

Crusada Party Premier Miguel Rivera said that the MOA would be signed by the end of July at the earliest, or by the end of the semester.

Closer relations

Speaking in Filipino to a crowd of over 150 union members, Rivera asked for the members’ cooperation in improving student-worker relations. “We need to understand each other. As students, we will inform you about the students’ mindset regarding labor problems, about whether or not they care. On your part, you will help Ateneans understand the workers’ conditions.”

Rivera explained that they wanted to rebuild strong relations between the student body and the labor union.  “We want to bring back the organic relationship between the student and the worker,” he said. “We want to give workers a space where they can directly converse with students.”

In an interview before the meeting, Rivera cited educating students in labor issues and getting them active in labor movements as driving principles behind their initiative.

He added that there was neither a specific catalyst nor outside model for the formation of the alliance. Rather, he says that they wish to provide Ateneans opportunities for social involvement and the proper forum to express their thoughts.

He added that the issues that need to be addressed include the workers’ working conditions, wages, and the communication between workers and students.

Five promises

Rivera promised Crusada’s support to the union in labor issues and its other concerns once the MOA is signed.

Although concrete, definable points for cooperation were not yet presented during the assembly, Rivera said that concrete plans of action are useless if the main root of the problem is not resolved.

What drew the crowd’s cheers and applause the most was Rivera’s bold statement regarding tuition scholarships.

Rivera said that they will organize student mobilizations to pressure the administration to grant full tuition scholarships to deserving children of union members; currently they are being given a 65 percent tuition subsidy.

“Alam naming matagal na ninyong hinihingi ito sa administrasyon. Ngayon, kasama niyo na ang mga estudyante na humihingi nito. (We know that you have been asking for this from the administration for a long time. Now, the students are one with you in asking for this),” Rivera said. “Magsasama ang boses ng mga estudyante at ang boses ng mga manggagawa upang maibigay na sa mga anak ninyo ang nararapat nilang [edukasyon]. (The voice of the students and the voice of the workers will unite to give your children the [education] that they deserve).”

As many of his party colleagues are trained in economics and legal matters, Rivera also promised to give union members professional assistance, such as help in drafting legal documents and proposals, courtesy of Crusada’s affiliates from the law school.

Rivera also declared that Crusada does not and will not accept a single centavo from the school.

“We are activists; we do not run a business,” Rivera said to cheers and applause from the crowd. He explained that the party operates on funds from its members, and does not receive money from any office that might represent the administration. “We do not sell products. Our only capital is our words and our minds.”

He also assured the union: “In talks between the administration and the union, we promise that if there is conflict, the party will side with the union. We are unafraid of the [repercussions] because of the principles that we have.”

In the open forum that followed after the assembly, Rivera also berated the Sanggunian for its failure to build a meaningful relationship with the union. He said that this resulted in the Sanggunian and other student groups’ difficulty in acting on the union’s concerns.

Reactions

Union President Tobias Tano, who has also headed the All Filipino Workers Confederation since 2006, presided over the Friday assembly. He said in Filipino that “it is a good aim for [a student group] to have awareness about what’s happening.”

He especially lauded Crusada’s desire to help in getting full scholarships for the union members’ children, something Tano has been fighting for since becoming union president in 1994. This and the other proposals in the MOA are still up for further study by union members before the final approval and signing.

The union, which also encompasses workers from the Ateneo campuses in Makati and Ortigas, was formed in 1966 with the assistance of student activists and Jesuit seminarians. Tobias said that the last time students and workers were directly interacting was during the EDSA Revolution of 2001.

Tobias also said that that he and other union leaders recently paid a courtesy call to the new University President, Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ. He clarified that the union does not want to oppose the administration, but to work with it.

“The aim of the union is to help [improve] the university… to make it world-class with our services.”

Reached for comment, Sanggunian President Drew Copuyoc said that he would refrain from giving one before first researching on the issue, as it was the first time that he heard of the alliance.