Philippines
Elmer Bong Labog, leader of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) union federation in the Philippines, called on Australian unionists and internationalists to stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters on a Solidarity Tour in Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney.
Melbourne: over seventy-five internationalists hear Elmer’s call for solidarity
“The intensive harassment and repression of trade union members and working people in the Philippines deserves to be condemned by all who value basic human rights and the rule of law.”
On his solidarity tour, Elmer met with union members and leaders from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), UnionsWA, Public Services International (PSI) Asia Pacific, Victorian Trades Hall Council, Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation (ANMF), Australian Council of Trade Unions, (ACTU), the Financial Services Union (FSU), and the NSW Teachers Federation.
And union members responded to Elmer’s call, with strong numbers of activists attending the events.
In Perth, Elmer Labog met with the Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA Perth Activist Group. After being welcomed by AMWU Secretary Glenn Thompson and meeting with UnionsWa Secretary Meredith Hammat and WA Greens leader Alison Xamon MLC, Elmer attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Solidarity Park in commemoration of the forty-six union members murdered in extra-judicial violence under the Duterte regime.
Perth: Wreath Laid in Commemoration of Murdered Philippine Unionists
In Melbourne, more than seventy-five Victorian unionists gathered to hear Elmer and Meryle in conversation with Brother Thy Yann from the Building Woodworkers Trade Union of Cambodia (BWTUB) and Andrew Dettmer from the AMWU – Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union about trade union repression across the Asia Pacific.
The delegation met with Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) President Michele O’Neil, Luke Hilakari Secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, and Kate Lappin, Regional Secretary of Public Services International (PSI) Asia Pacific.
In Canberra, the Philippine delegation spoke with federal parliamentarians about the urgent need for the Australian government to pressure the Duterte regime to end the killings. They called for Australia to end its military aid of the Philippines military, which has been implicated in wide-spread human rights abuses against civil society activists and campaigners.
Canberra: Parliamentarians hear about trade union repression in the Philippines
“The right of working people to organise is guaranteed by international standards and national laws, including the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association, but these are being ignored by the Duterte regime in the Philippines. We call on the Australian government to suspend military assistance to the Duterte Regime.”
Elmer and Meryl spoke with: Senator Penny Wong, Adam Bandt MP, Senator Tony Sheldon, Senator Kim Carr, Senator Tim Ayres, Josh Wilson MP, Pat Conroy MP, Peter Khalil MP, Ged Kearney MP, Julian Hill MP, and Josh Burns MP.
Radio Labour: Philippines Report
On the 10-11th December civil society and the global union movement stood together in condemning the recent raids, arrests and extrajudicial killings of 45 trade union leaders in the Philippines. The Philippine government, led by President Duterte, targets unionists, journalists, human rights activists and organisations critical of the regime in a process known as ‘red tagging’. These people and organisations are falsely labelled as terrorists and targeted with harassment, arrests, and violence.
The persecution of labour organisations in the Philippines infringes on freedom of association and the right to organise. Labour organisations have been unjustly targeted as fronts for armed struggle movements, with state police fabricating firearm possession charges by planting weapons and ammunition. The raids, arrests and current political climate have been effective in preventing workers from organising within the trade union movement.
We urge the government of the Philippines to:
1. Stop the attacks and “red tagging” of trade union organisations and labour activists.
2. Implement the recommendations concluded by the Committee of Application of Standards of the ILO in June 2019; and
3. Accept the High-Level Tripartite Mission of the ILO to visit the country at the soonest possible time.
Workers’ rights are human rights. We stand in solidarity with our comrades fighting for their rights in the Philippines.”