From independence in 1946 until martial law was declared in 1972, the government
encouraged collective bargaining and, except for setting up a commission in 1970 to supervise
the fixing of minimum wages, involved itself minimally in labor relations. For most of the martial
law period (1972-81), strikes were forbidden or severely limited. The Marcos labor code of 1974
made arbitration compulsory. The right to strike was partially restored in 1976, but with
considerable restrictions. The Aquino government took a somewhat more liberal approach to
labor, but some of the structures of the Marcos period remained.
Organized labor in the Philippines has been relatively weak. In 1986 it was estimated that about
2.2 million Filipinos were part of the union movement, accounting for approximately 20 percent
of the wage-and-salary work force or 10 percent of the total labor force. These workers were
organized into some 2,000 unions, half of which were not connected to a national union or
federation. In 1987 only 350,000 workers were covered by collective bargaining agreements.
The largest union body was the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP). Formed in
December 1974, it was designated the official labor center of the Philippines by the Marcos
government. Another labor organization, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), or the May First
Movement, was formed in July 1980, bringing together nine broadly based, more ideologically
oriented unions. The two major union centers represented sharply different visions of the role
of unions in society. Although TUCP supported Marcos, it represented itself as a proponent of
nonpolitical unionism, concerned primarily with the collective bargaining process. The KMU was
more openly political, projecting itself as a proponent of "genuine, militant, and nationalist
unionism." Going beyond collective bargaining, the KMU called for the formation of worker
solidarity movements and advocated a nationalist-oriented alternative to the prevailing
economic and social policies of the government. The Labor Advisory and Consultative Council
(LACC), formed at the onset of the Aquino administration in 1986 by then Labor Minister Agusto
Sanchez, drew the various factions of the labor movement together to advise the Ministry of
Labor and Employment. Membership in LACC included the KMU, the Federation of Free
Workers, Lakas Ng Manggagawa Labor Center, and, for a short while, the TUCP.
When Aquino came into office in 1986, she had the backing of a wide spectrum of the
population, including those affiliated with labor unions. In her May 1 speech that year, before a
large and enthusiastic gathering of labor groups, Aquino presented a package of labor-law
reforms, including extension of the right to strike, making it easier to petition for a union
certification election, and abrogation of repressive labor legislation decreed by the Marcos
government. Soon, however, the president began to shift ground as she received vigorous
protests by both Filipino and foreign businessmen against her May Day promises. The pledges
were rethought, modified in some cases, and not promulgated in others. This willingness to
respond to the interests of the boardroom rather than the shop floor also extended to official
appointments. In particular, her first minister of labor, Agusto Sanchez, was considered to be
too prolabor and eased out within a year of his appointment.
The TUCP was generally supportive of the Aquino government, but the KMU and other
progressive unions resisted the conservative drift of her administration through strikes,
demonstrations, and antigovernment rallies. The KMU gained influence through its leadership of
the national strike, or Welga ng Bayan, in 1987, 1989, and 1990. From September to December
1990, the KMU led a series of general strikes in response to dramatic increases in the prices of
petroleum products. These labor actions were noteworthy both because of a heightened level
of conflict between strikers and the authorities and because of the participation of professionals
and other middle-class groups.
Repression of labor activists, widespread during the Marcos era, resurfaced early in the Aquino
administration. In November 1986, the chairman of the KMU was murdered. The following
January, the army opened fire on a march of the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (Kilusang
Magbubukid ng Pilipinas--KMP) and their supporters who were protesting the lack of
government action on land reform. Eighteen were killed and nearly 100 wounded. In 1990 the
government charged two KMU labor leaders with sedition: Medardo Roda, the head of PISTON,
a federation of drivers, and Crispin Beltran, the chairman of KMU. Old charges of slander and
fraud dating back to 1967 and 1971 were revived against Beltran. The government also
imprisoned the leader of the KMP, Jaime Tadeo, on ten-year-old fraud charges initiated against
him by the Marcos government. After a 1990 violent strike, during which an estimated 500
participants were arrested, both the military and government officials suggested banning the
KMU as a communist-front organization.
Data as of June 1991