NOW ON their third year of expressing solidarity with the members of Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea), representatives from student political party Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada) marched alongside Palea and various workers’ groups to Mendiola Street on Friday, May 1, in honor of Labor Day.
The past two years also saw representatives from Crusada marching with Palea, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and Partido ng Manggagawa Kabataan, among a throng of other groups from different labor sectors.
“We want sana, especially sa Ateneo, to change the stigma of rallies,” said Crusada Premier Mark Legaspi. “There is a deeper significance and importance of being together… it’s more than just making noise, it’s more than just walking.”
“Kung mapapansin mo, sila naman talaga ‘yung nagpapatakbo ng ekonomiya ng bansa (If you observe closely, it is really they who run this country’s economy),” he added, referring to the workers they rallied with. “We should not forget them.”
Youth involvement
According to Legaspi, the youth should make themselves aware of today’s labor policies and issues considering that they will eventually become part of the labor force. “[Labor Day] is more than [just] a holiday, it’s for us who need to rethink the value of labor in the Philippines,” he said.
Although majority of the demonstrators in the Labor Day march were seasoned workers, students and youth representatives from Partido ng Manggagawa were also present at the rally. In contrast to the general interests of the larger labor groups, the youth representatives’ demands focused more on public education.
“Ang pundasyon natin ngayon ay galing sa ating edukasyon, kaya nais naming mag-aral ng maayos—pero meron po ba tayong pagkakataon (Our foundation now comes from our education, which is why we want to study well—but do we even get the chance to)?” exclaimed a young woman through a microphone at the start of the rally.
The woman explained that many Filipinos are not able to finish their education due to financial problems. These problems, she said, are rooted in the overarching struggle of contractualization.
Pinpointing the problem
Palea President Gerry Rivera cited contractualization as the main problem between Palea and Philippine Airlines (PAL). He said that “75 to 80 percent of the total workforce of this country are now contractuals.” Contractuals refer to the workers beholden to contractualization, without security of tenure.
“Ang sabi ng ating konstitusyon, ginagarantahan ng ating batas ang security of tenure (Our constitution says that our laws guarantee security of tenure),” Rivera explained. Without these basic rights, workers are not guaranteed employment or financial stability.
Rivera said that the purpose of Palea is to “struggle against the system,” and not just PAL or the Philippine government. The struggle of Palea, he said, affects everyone, even members of the youth in private institutions.
By welcoming the support of groups such as Crusada, Palea is able to reach out to other sectors of the community. “There is no better force than unity among the workers,” he asserted.
It is clear to Rivera that without unifying events such as the annual Labor Day march, workers and other members of society risk becoming “very vulnerable to injustice in the system.”
As the rally came to a close, the same young woman with a microphone could still be heard asking her fellow rallyists, “Habang buhay ba natin kailangan magsigawan na ito ang kailangan natin (Will we always have to shout about how this is what we need)?”
