Kilusang Mayo Uno

Last updated

KMU
May First Movement Labor Center [1]
Kilusang Mayo Uno
FoundedMay 1, 1980;43 years ago (1980-05-01)
Founder Felixberto Olalia Sr. (founding Chairperson)
Type Trade union center
Headquarters Quezon City, Metro Manila
Location
Membership (2018)
125,000 [2]
Chairperson
Elmer Labog
Secretary-General
Jerome Adonis
Secessions Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino
Affiliations BAYAN
ITUC
WFTU
IMF
ILPS

Kilusang Mayo Uno (English : May First Movement), also known by its initials KMU is an independent labor center in the Philippines. It promotes "genuine, militant and patriotic trade unionism. The KMU was established on May 1, 1980 to fill a clear need for a workers' organization that would stand for workers' rights and against foreign domination. [3]

Contents

The KMU is one of the two primary labor centers alongside the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. [4] It is a social movement union closely linked with the broader national democratic movement in the Philippines. The organization brands its unionism as "genuine, militant, and nationalist." [3]

The federation started out with seven founding union federations and 50,000 members. By 1990, the KMU reported having as many as 750,000 members affiliated under its unions. [3] In the 1990s the movement separated into several smaller organizations over ideological, political, and organizational differences. [5]

Today, the KMU is organized into eleven [6] national federations and one regional federation with approximately 125,000 affiliate members. [2] KMU also has three affiliate mass organizations, the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON, Solidarity of Drivers' and Operators' Organizations Nationwide), Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY, Federation of Mutual Aid for the Poor), and Migrante Philippines. [7]

Membership and structure

Kilusang Mayo Uno is a federation of trade unions, divided into nine national trade union federations. [7] Additionally, KMU members and unions are organized into workers' alliances and mass organizations. Federations are organized based on general membership but concentrate on one or two particular industries. Local unions and workers can affiliate with a KMU-affiliated federation, or groups of workers looking to organize a local union can directly affiliate with KMU. [6]

In 2018, there are approximately 125,000 KMU affiliated members spread across unions all over the Philippines. [2]

Structure

The KMU's highest policy making body is its National Congress, which convenes every three years. The National Council acts as the highest authority when Congress is not in session and is composed of the KMU's national officers and federation representatives. The National Executive Committee ensures that plans approved by the Congress and the National Council are implemented. [8]

Although the KMU is structured hierarchically, decisions are as decentralized as possible and decision-making ability is delegated to the lowest possible level of the organization. [6] Local unions are not required to participate in the KMU's major campaigns, although abstention is discouraged. [3]

Campaigns

KMU advocates for an across-the-board-wage increase of 125. This campaign was launched in 1999 and in December 2006, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 435 seeking a 125 legislated wage hike.

KMU is also leading a campaign against extrajudicial killings. Since 2001, more than 70 unionist and labour activists have been killed by death squads. The union president of Nestlé Philippines and PAMANTIK Chairperson Diosdado Fortuna was amongst the slain. They have also launched an international campaign against political killings and have filed a complaint to the International Labour Organization versus the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

They have also an ongoing campaign to boycott Nestlé, whom they accuse of labor rights violations in the company's facilities in Laguna Province.

Previous campaigns include a 2004 transport strike to protest rising oil prices, and a campaign to free then-congressman Crispin Beltran from detention by the Philippine National Police.

In 2020, the movement provided calls for improving Filipino workers' welfare to the government in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. [9]

For the first time since its founding, on April 22, 2022, The labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno announced their support on May 9 election in presidential candidate Leni Robredo and vice presidential candidate senator Francis Pangilinan on their Facebook page. [10]

Other

The movement also calls for the proper funding of basic social services that would ease the pains of a common labourer and the Filipinos in general. Aside from fighting for the rights of workers, KMU has also been an active critic of the Palace, citing the Aquino government as a puppet of American imperialism. They have referred to the government's economic policies rather than Typhoon Yolanda as the source of the Philippines' high unemployment rate. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Federation of Trade Unions</span> International trade union federation

The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation of Trade Unions as a single structure for trade unions world-wide, following the World Trade Union Conference in London, United Kingdom.

Industrial unionism is a trade union organising method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anakpawis</span> Political party in the Philippines

Anakpawis is a party-list in the Philippines. The party-list is the electoral wing of the radical trade union movement Kilusang Mayo Uno and the peasant group Kilusang Mangbubukid ng Pilipinas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Dixie</span>

Operation Dixie was the name of the post-World War II campaign by the Congress of Industrial Organizations to unionize industry in the Southern United States, particularly the textile industry. Launched in the spring of 1946, the campaign ran in 12 Southern states and was undertaken as part of a dual effort to consolidate wage gains won by the trade union movement in the Northern United States by raising wage levels in the South while simultaneously transforming the conservative politics of the region, thereby allowing the trade union agenda to win on a national scale.

Social movement unionism (SMU) is a trend of theory and practice in contemporary trade unionism. Strongly associated with the labour movements of developing countries, social movement unionism is distinct from many other models of trade unionism because it concerns itself with more than organizing workers around workplace issues, pay and terms and conditions. It engages in wider political struggles for human rights, social justice and democracy. Social movement unionism grew out of political struggles in developing countries and was theorized as a distinct industrial relations model in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' Unity League</span>

The Workers' Unity League (WUL) was established in January 1930 as a militant industrial union labour central closely related to the Communist Party of Canada on the instructions of the Communist International.

The Trade Union Unity League (TUUL) was an industrial union umbrella organization under the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) between 1929 and 1935. The group was an American affiliate of the Red International of Labor Unions. The formation of the TUUL was the result of the Communist International's Third Period policy, which ordered affiliated Communist Parties to pursue a strategy of dual unionism and thus abandon attempts at "bore from within" existing trade unions. TUUL unions aimed to organize semi-skilled and unskilled workers, many whom had been expelled from the American Federation of Labor (AFL). According to the TUUL, the AFL was "an instrument of the capitalists for the exploitation of the workers." Thus, the TUUL was formed as an organization in opposition to the AFL."

Labor federation competition in the United States is a history of the labor movement, considering U.S. labor organizations and federations that have been regional, national, or international in scope, and that have united organizations of disparate groups of workers. Union philosophy and ideology changed from one period to another, conflicting at times. Government actions have controlled, or legislated against particular industrial actions or labor entities, resulting in the diminishing of one labor federation entity or the advance of another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crispin Beltran</span> Filipino trade unionist and legislator (1933–2008)

Crispin Bertiz Beltran, also known as Ka Bel, was a Filipino labor leader and legislator. A staunch critic of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, his imprisonment in 2006 and 2007 on disputed charges of rebellion and sedition drew international attention. He was a member of 13th Congress of the Philippines with the Anakpawis party-list and former chair of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), a militant and progressive labor movement.

The Mendiola massacre was an incident that took place in Mendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines on January 22, 1987, in which state security forces under President Corazon Aquino violently dispersed a farmers' march to Malacañang Palace in protest for the lack of government action on land reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina</span> Trade union federation in the Philippines from 1902 to 1904

The Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina was a trade union center in the Philippines. The organization was considered as the first-ever modern trade union federation in the history of the country, composed of unions from various labor industries; earlier and prior labor groups had been more of mutual aid societies and guilds. The organization had thirty-three affiliated trade unions as of 1902. In 1903, the organization counted 150 affiliated unions, with around 20,000 members in the Manila area. At its peak, the Union Obrera Democratica had approximately 150,000 members in eight provinces of Luzon. Its members were also the very first members of the Philippine Independent Church when it was proclaimed in 1902.

Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan is a coalition of twelve party-lists in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It was founded on April 16, 2009. The founding assembly was held at UP Theatre, Diliman, Quezon City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino</span> Philippine socialist and trade union organisation

The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino or Solidarity of Filipino Workers (BMP) is a socialist political center of militant workers and trade unions in the Philippines. It comprises 200 local unions nationwide with a mass membership of over 100,000 laborers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trades Union Congress</span> Trade union centre in England and Wales

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of about 5.5 million members. Paul Nowak is the TUC's current General Secretary, serving from January 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' resistance against the Marcos dictatorship</span> Opposition in the Philippines, 1970s and 1980s

During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino workers in the labor industry experienced the effects of government corruption, crony capitalism, and cheap labor for foreign transnational industries, One of the objectives of Martial Law was to cheapen labor costs, in order to attract transnational corporations to export labor to the Philippines. Marcos signed many presidential decrees beneficial only to his associates, while allowing for the forced relocation of indigenous peoples, decreasing workers' wages, and murders of labor activists. Minimum wage was a fixed PHP8.00 per day. Many workers were unemployed or underemployed. It was also during the Marcos presidency when the practice of contractualization began, enabling managements to avoid giving regular, permanent status to employees after six months of work. Strikes were banned and the government controlled trade unions, leaving workers without effective protection against employers who had unfair labor practices and regulations.

The La Tondeña strike was a protest action that happened in October 1975, notable for being the first major strike to be held after Ferdinand Marcos' 1972 declaration of martial law in the Philippines. It is also considered as one of the first major open acts of resistance against the Marcos dictatorship and an important turning point for the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leody de Guzman</span> Filipino unionist and labor rights activist

Leodegario "Ka Leody" Quitain de Guzman is a Filipino socialist labor rights activist who ran for president in the 2022 Philippine presidential elections, under the Partido Lakas ng Masa. He is currently the chairperson of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, a socialist federation of militant trade unions. He unsuccessfully sought a seat in the 2019 senatorial elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leody de Guzman 2022 presidential campaign</span> Presidential campaign for the 2022 Philippine presidential elections

The 2022 presidential campaign of Leody de Guzman for president of the Philippines in the 2022 presidential election was announced on September 28, 2021. De Guzman is a unionist and labor rights activist who has served as the chairperson of the trade union federation Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino.

Elmer "Ka Bong" Calagui Labog is a trade union and labor activist from the Philippines who is the national chairperson of the militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the largest trade union in the country. He is also the vice-chairperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and the chairperson of International League of Peoples' Struggle in the Philippines. During the 2022 Philippine general election, he ran Independent under Makabayan for Senator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PISTON (transport group)</span> Political party in Philippines

Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide, also known by its abbreviation PISTON, is a national federation of public transport associations in the Philippines. It is affiliated with the Philippine trade union center Kilusang Mayo Uno.

References

  1. "About - Kilusang Mayo Uno". December 12, 2018. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Scipes, Kim (September 2018). "Another type of trade unionism IS possible: The KMU Labor Center of the Philippines and social movement unionism". Journal of Labor and Society. 21 (3): 349–367. doi:10.1111/wusa.12348. S2CID   158950249.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Scipes, Kim (July 1992). "Understanding the New Labor Movements in the "Third World": The Emergence of Social Movement Unionism". Critical Sociology. 19 (2): 81–101. doi:10.1177/089692059201900204. S2CID   145169257.
  4. Kuruvilla, Sarosh; Das, Subesh; Kwon, Hyunji; Kwon, Soonwon (September 2002). "Trade Union Growth and Decline in Asia". British Journal of Industrial Relations. 40 (3): 431–461. doi:10.1111/1467-8543.00242. hdl: 1813/75130 . S2CID   55896275.
  5. West, Lois A. (1997). Militant Labor in the Philippines. Temple University Press. p. 3. ISBN   978-1-56639-491-8 . Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Scipes, Kim (June 30, 2014). "Building Global Labor Solidarity Today: Learning from the KMU of the Philippines". Class, Race, and Corporate Power. 2 (2). doi: 10.25148/CRCP.2.2.16092115 .
  7. 1 2 "ABOUT - Kilusang Mayo Uno". February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  8. "KMU - Genuine, Militant and Anti-Imperialist Labor Center". September 9, 2006. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  9. Gonzales, Cathrine (May 1, 2020). "LIST: Kilusang Mayo Uno's activities for online protests on Labor Day". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  10. Locus, Sundy (April 22, 2022). "Kilusang Mayo Uno backs Leni-Kiko tandem". GMA News Online. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  11. Sabillo, Kristine Angeli (February 11, 2014). "Gov't, not typhoon, to blame for unemployment – groups". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved May 7, 2022.