False dawn for labor?

In March this year, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) claimed that it had been reinvigorated by the addition of several new affiliates, some of which had previously been ideologically opposed to it. The following month came the news that some 40 unions and federations, including a new center named Sentro, had formed an alliance called Nagkaisa (United).

The sober reality is that these new developments, while encouraging at first glance, rest upon a new split in the labor movement — in the TUCP, in fact — and even the unity moves contain elements of division. For example, one labor federation split as a result of the decision of the majority to leave the National Confederation of Labor and join the TUCP’s Herrera wing.

Last year, Democrito Mendoza, 89, tendered his resignation as TUCP president, a position he had occupied for 37 years. The TUCP constitution apparently provides that in such an event the general secretary, a position held for decades by Ernesto Herrera, 69, will succeed to the presidency for the remainder of the term. Herrera duly had himself sworn in. Mendoza, however, says that he was pressed by “other leaders” to withdraw his resignation — an afterthought aimed at providing leadership openings for his sons, according to some accounts. Nevertheless, the first rounds went to the Mendoza wing, as it took possession of the TUCP headquarters and “expelled” Herrera and threatened to charge him with criminal misuse of funds.

The Herrera wing struck back on March 16, holding a special convention as which it welcomed a number of new affiliates into the fold and elected its officers, Herrera being acclaimed as president. Ostensibly, the Herrera wing received the recognition of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), via the representative of its Asia-Pacific regional office, but the Mendoza camp also claims ITUC recognition (the other ITUC affiliate, the Federation of Free Workers, has joined the Mendoza wing in the Nagkaisa alliance.)
A Manila Standard Today piece by Dave Diwa unwittingly casts doubt on the numerical strength of the Herrera wing, saying that “about a hundred” of the 350 delegates to the March convention were from the Banco de Oro — members of the National Union of Bank Employees (Nube), whose president Jose Umali was elected TUCP general secretary. Given the fact that the Nube is not recognized by the BdO, having yet to demonstrate that it represents the majority of employees, it seems odd that it should have been allocated over a quarter of the delegates to the convention.

The Nagkaisa alliance, of which the Mendoza wing is a member, also seems to be overstating its strength, although there is little doubt that it succeeded in mobilizing 20,000 marchers on May 1. An Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) statement on May Day lists the affiliates to Sentro (also a Nagkaisa member) as being the APL and 12 other organizations — but at least four of these are APL affiliates anyway. Then again, the National Federation of Labor Unions (Naflu) is claimed by both the Herrera wing and Nagkaisa. The same APL statement lists the National Confederation of Labor as a Nagkaisa member; that’s news to at least one observer of my acquaintance, who says that the NCL was not impressed by the alliance’s “soft” position on contractualization.

Nagkaisa is an extremely broad church, bringing together a spectrum stretching from Associated Labor Unions and the Federation of Free Workers on the right to the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino and Makabayan on the left. Even so, although back in March the Kilusang Mayo Union proposed an alliance with the TUCP to push for a significant increase in the minimum wage, it has not joined Nagkaisa, presumably because it contains some of those who split from it in the 1990s. So despite talk of unity, there is still division.
In different circumstances — a labor unity arrived at as the result of a lengthy analysis and planning process engaging the rank-and-file membership, whose interests demand an alternative to the decades of rivalry and division discussed in the previous three columns — these recent initiatives would be commendable. That seems not to have happened. Indeed, the Dave Diwa piece says that one federation of government workers had not yet decided which TUCP wing to join as its leader was close to both Herrera and Mendoza and thus had difficulty in choosing between the two. In that federation, it seems, the membership had no say.

This outsider hopes he’s wrong, but there seem to be very clear dangers for progressive unions. If these developments are driven mainly by the Herrera-Mendoza rivalry, they and others may find themselves back where they started if that fence is ever mended.

It may be worse if the rivalry continues, for the left may find itself sucked into a mainstream political battle. The executive committee and officers of the Herrera wing were sworn into office by Vice-President Binay. President Aquino, on the other hand, recognizes the Mendoza wing, having accepted its nominee as a member of the National Anti-Poverty Commission. Heading the NAPC is Joel Rocamora, a member of Akbayan, the labor arm of which is the Alliance of Progressive Labor. On May Day, the Nagkaisa rally was addressed by presidential adviser Ronald Llamas (also of Akbayan) and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad. Mouths dropped open, however, when an earlier speaker — a representative of the Asian Development Bank — spoke warmly of the plan to privatize Mindanao’s power plants.

The Herrera wing has access to American money, for the special convention in March saw the launch of its anti-sweatshop organizing project in which its partner is the Solidarity Center. The latter, a direct descendant of the Asian-American Free Labor Institute, is funded by the US Congress as the labor arm of the National Endowment for Democracy. –Ken Fuller, Daily Tribune

Perhaps a degree of caution would be appropriate.
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