KABAATANG KAKAMPI ng Manggagawang Pilipino (KAKAMPI), a newly established political organization in the Ateneo, is working closely with the Sanggunian to address and bring attention to labor issues within and outside the campus. Established by Jomelle Wong (5 BS PS), the organization is geared towards advocating for Filipino workers’ rights. 

According to KAKAMPI member John Lazaro (2 AB-MA POS), the student organization encourages youth support for labor rights amid issues of contractualization and poor treatment of workers. 

He added that the organization is currently in the process of gaining accreditation from the Office of Student Activities (OSA), which would ensure institutional support, recognition, and mentoring from OSA. Lazaro added that having their own projects will be possible once they are granted accreditation. 

The organization plans to provide opportunities for Loyola Schools (LS) students to become more involved with the labor sector through various talks, film showings, and future visits to picket lines, among others.

The fight for worker rights

According to Wong, the desire to organize KAKAMPI began over a year ago due to a recent influx of strikes that inspired him and a number of Ateneo alumni “to mobilize students for these causes that were [silenced] for several years because of clear anti-labor policies.”

When asked about the context of the organization’s formation, Lazaro pointed out the unrest among the laborers in the Philippines that has existed for decades.

“This is the first time we have seen sustained waves of strikes over [two or three]  years or so. A lot of these strikes are because of worsening labor conditions, the exclusive growth of contractualization, the institutionalization of contractualization, and all of these different labor schemes,” Lazaro said.

Citing the 2019 Global Rights Index by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), he added that “the Philippines is one of the worst countries for labor rights [and] treatment of workers,” garnering a rating of five, which indicates “no guarantee of rights.” 

Lazaro added that the countries listed in the index commonly “fail to guarantee protection for workers, whether it be through the letter of the law or in the implementation of laws currently in course.”

Although various sector-based organizations have provided avenues to address youth concerns, Wong noted that there are no political organizations on campus that primarily advocate for laborers.

“It’s hard to get help from the students kasi there is no dedicated group of students for the workers. So it started from there: Ako lang and eventually it reached the radar of other people,” Wong said.

Partnering with Sanggu

As an unaccredited organization, KAKAMPI is partnering with the Sanggunian to execute projects that are open to the student body. Among their successful projects was the Zagu picket line visit at Kapitolyo, Pasig City, last August 17. The workers’ strike was organized to protest against Zagu’s practice of “illegal contractualization and union-busting.” 

“In order to work with and within Ateneo, we need to work with an Ateneo partner and [the] Ateneo partner that we’re more concerned [with] is Sanggu…because we [know] they [can] do something about it,” Lazaro added. 

KAKAMPI has also signed a few Memorandums of Agreements (MOA) with the Sanggunian to collaborate on last month’s Zagu picket contingent and the “Boycott Zagu” campaign, which is yet to be approved by OSA.

Social involvement

In line with KAKAMPI’s main thrust to raise labor awareness and encourage youth support, Lazaro said that a student delegation was sent to the Zagu picket line so that they could engage with the workers themselves and deepen their understanding of the laborers’ conditions.

“Especially now at a time where Ateneo and other schools and a lot of youth are concerned about human rights…what doesn’t get said a lot, but is just as important is that labor rights are human rights and that we need to uphold them if we say that life is sacred,” Lazaro said.

Sanggunian Vice President Jb Bejarin shared that the visit to the Zagu picket line was done as part of the Sanggunian’s initiatives for socio-political development. He added that there was a need for a more holistic and strategic approach to the formation of the Ateneo community in order for them “to be aware and [to] critically think on the issues affecting our country.”

“We foresee socio-political development [on] campus as a long and tedious process, but Sanggu will not give up on its commitment to nation-building and support of the University’s mission to form its students,” Bejarin said.

A move towards this is the Sanggunian’s decision to partner with KAKAMPI in creating a directory of JGSOM Student Enterprise Center (JSEC) workers in view of issues with contractualization, which Wong described as the “status quo in the entire country.” 

“There’s a whole conversation about how [the trend of direct hiring employees from manpower agencies] disempowers workers and we see that directly in JSEC,” he said. Wong added that the security of tenure is a “constitutional right” of the people, as reflected in Article XIII Section 3 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Lazaro shared that the directory of JSEC employees is among the foundation initiatives for a future JSEC owners’ association.

In view of workers’ unfair labor conditions in the country, Lazaro added that the point of labor rights is to “secure the wellbeing and liberty of every single person,” highlighting that public support is needed for workers to hold successful strikes. 

“If we were to stand on the sides and just watch people suffer as labor conditions… continue to deteriorate, then are we really standing for these human rights that we, as the Ateneo community, are so ardent about?” he added.