WE AT THE Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK) express its steadfast support for the House Bill 9294 or the Anti-Union Interference Bill filed by Gabriela Women’s Party. This ground-breaking legislation is a crucial step in protecting the rights of workers and guaranteeing a safe and just workplace for Filipinos.
As a women workers’ organization, the KMK believes that the said bill is grounded in strong legal foundations. By passing the Anti-Union Interference Bill, we are strengthening the legal framework for the exercise of workers’ right to self-organization and collective bargaining as enshrined under Article XIII, Section 3 of the Philippine Constitution.
Additionally, it serves as a declaration of the Philippine government’s continued adherence to international labor standards especially that the country has signed and ratified the ILO conventions 87 and 98 which emphasize the importance of protecting workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.
Last January, KMK took part in the International Labor Organization – High Level Tripartite Mission (ILO-HLTM) to submit cases of rights violations against Filipino women labor leaders and organizers including extra-judicial killings, torture, abduction, harassment, threat and intimidation, redtagging and vilification and illegal arrest and detention over maliciously and fabricated criminal charges. Most of the violations occurred after the Duterte government created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and signed the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Some of these cases filed by KMK include the harassment and surveillance by state agents against union organizers Leticia Castillo and Gina Celdron. KMK also brought to the attention of the ILO the enforced disappearance of its two former staff Elizabeth “Loi” Magbanua and Elgene Mungcal in 2022.
Violation of freedom of association also occurs when companies prohibit women workers from forming their union as in the case of workers of a manufacturing plan t in Cavite wherein around 612 regular workers including 403 women were illegally dismissed when the management decided to close the company after its workers tried to form a union under the leadership of a woman.
Given the rise in trade union repression and labor-related violence in recent years, a legislation which will enable the free and safe exercise of workers’ rights to self-organization and bargaining is imperative.
We need a law that will explicitly prohibit state forces in labeling, branding or accusing unions and workers’ organizations including its leaders and members as subversives or terrorists on the basis of mere membership or affiliation to a labor union or federation. At the same time, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should be mandated to immediately verify and act on claims of labor-related violations, and lead the promotion of free trade unionism and strong labor movement in the Philippines.
Aside from immediately passing the Anti-Union Interference Bill, we are calling our legislators to give utmost priority in enacting other pro-workers policies including the proposed measures on wage increase, uniform national minimum wage and an end to labor contractualization.
More importantly, the government should institute measures to promote and protect women’s participation and leadership in unions and other workers’ organizations, and end the culture of union busting and systematic attacks against workers. – KILUSAN NG MANGGAGAWANG KABABAIHAN, Scout Delgado St., Brgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City <kmk.national@gmail.com>
