A summary of three decades of the Filipino union movement, born under U.S. colonial rule.

‘The Labor Movement in the Philippines’ by Alvarez from the Daily Worker. Vol. 6 No. 165. September 17, 1929.

The labor movement first arose in the Philippines about thirty years ago under the direct influence of the National Revolution of 1898 which led to the formation of the First Republic in the Far East. During this revolution the leading role went over spontaneously to the proletarian elements in the towns and to the poor strata of the population in the rural districts–a movement that was headed by Andres Bonifacio against the landowning bourgeois clique who, seriously alarmed at losing their lands, riches and other privileges, hastened to capitulate to the Americans and thus betrayed the rebellion. Subsequently, the Americans defeated the Spaniards (for the revolution in the Philippines was directed primarily against Spanish domination) and commenced to suppress the emancipatory movement of the people. It was only after three years of bitter struggle that the U.S.A. finally got full control of the islands.

The small labor unions that arose in Manila, the capital of the islands, round about 1901-2 were inspired chiefly by a group of prominent intellectuals who had received their education and knowledge of the labor movement in Spain. And so we find the Spanish labor movement of that time, with its small craft organizations, formed chiefly to render mutual aid, emanating a spirit of cooperation between master and man, was thus taken as a model for the labor movement of the Philippines. The predominance of small-scale and handicraft industry greatly facilitated the growth of these forms of the movement and to this day have a strong hold on the islands.

Despite the peaceful outlook observed throughout the movement generally, several strikes occurred during the early days of the movement thanks to the intolerable position of the workers–the result. of the high cost of living that followed the protracted war and the economic policy of the Americans (with the Americans in control the trade turnover rose from 62,000,000 peso in 1895 to 132,000,000 peso in 1903–a growth that was only possible by enhancing the exploitation of the country).The repressions directed by the American authorities against the strikers and their leaders strengthened the peaceful tendencies in the labor movement, the more so, since at that time the labor organizations were not purely proletarian in character, there being many small shopkeepers, handicraftsmen and others among the membership.

The bitter struggle between the labor leaders (the majority of whom were not workers at all) to use the labor organizations as a means of getting parliamentary seats, started during the first election campaign (1907) when the parliament of the Philippines was first established after the Americans had “pacified” the country, extremely weakened the labor organizations. It was universally recognized at that time that the labor movement would have to gather its forces together and reorganize itself–a task that was undertaken by the Printers’ Union–the most progressive labor union at that time. Several new unions catering for the tobacco workers, seamen, carpenters, tailors, boot and shoe operatives and others were organized on a new basis which made it impossible for any of the masters or employing class to become members. By the first of May, 1913, all these organizations had met and formed the Philippine Labor Congress–the largest National Labor Federation in the Islands.

The bitter struggle that arose again between the politicians–the congress leaders–seriously retarded the work of the congress and in 1916 a group of unions headed by one Balmori broke away. This group formed the so-called Federation of Labor which subsequently became the extreme Right wing of the labor movement, zealously supporting class collaboration. This Federation is still the loyal agent of the capitalists in the labor movement of the Philippines.

At the present time the percentage of workers organized in the Philippines is very high indeed. In 1927, of about 300,000 workers employed in industry, transport and trade (including lumberers and fishermen working for hire), there were 92,000 organized, of whom 66,137 belong to the Labor Congress (not counting the agricultural workers); 3,268 belong to the Federation of Labor, while 22,786 were lined up in the Independent Unions. The Peasant and Agricultural Workers’ Confederation, affiliated to the Labor Congress, likewise became a very strong factor in the labor movement. However, the percentage organized among the agricultural workers is altogether negligible. The Confederation has less than 15,000 workers lined up, although there are more than 2,000,000 workers employed in the agricultural trades of the Philippines.

The growth of the numerical strength of the workers’ organizations especially apparent during the post-war period beginning with 1917, went hand in hand with the rapid growth of industry. At that time many new large-scale enterprises arose, equipped on the latest engineering lines, employing large numbers of workers. There was also a marked increase in the number of transport workers, as the railways were extended and other transport facilities introduced.

Despite the fact that a large number of the workers were organized in the trade unions, the mutual aid societies and other organizations, the whole labor movement of the Philippines down to recent years was still characterized by its marked division, as seen in the early period of its development and a craft outlook. (For example, in Manila, alone there were eleven unions catering for the tobacco workers. Some of the organizations could not boast of any members outside a given factory. There were five unions for the seamen, and so on.) The idea of class peace still had a strong hold on the workers, there were no militant leaders; neither were there many active trade unionists. It was the organizational structure of the Labor Congress, which is a loose federation of various organizations and the fact that no paper was published and no dues fixed, etc., that prevented the Congress from becoming a real organ uniting and leading the labor movement. And, finally, it must be said, the weakened side of the labor movement in the Philippines was its complete isolation from the international labor movement.

Besides this, the absence of an independent labor party seriously weakened the unit weight of the labor organizations in the political life of the country. Prior to the formation of the Labor Party of the Philippines in 1928, the workers were mainly influenced by the political views of their leaders who usually belonged to one of the two bourgeois parties. For example, in the struggle for national independence–such a vital question for the working masses of the Philippines–the workers followed the lead of the national bourgeoisie.

But the last year or two marks a new era in the labor movement of the Philippines. It was ushered in by the tempestuous growth of the revolutionary movement in China and the fact that the Philippines were drawn into the orbit of the international revolutionary labor movement when the Labor Congress affiliated to the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat (affiliation was made in the middle of 1927 immediately after the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Conference had been held). Thanks to the fine work carried out by the most progressive and revolutionary section of the labor movement in the Philippines to strengthen the unions, to reconstruct them on the industrial principle, to get trade union activities going at the factories and plants, to strengthen unity and propagate the idea of international working class solidarity, urging an implacable class lead, and the strengthened strike movement of the last period, the successes already achieved in the trade union field have certainly been remarkable. For example, Philippine workers and Chinese workers came out together; Chinese and Philippine boot and shoe operatives struck for more than four months; the recent woodworkers’ strike should also be noted. The Chinese workers in the islands are united in the so-called Philippine-Chinese Laborers’ Association which set up close contact with the Labor Congress, despite the efforts of the native bourgeoisie to foster a spirit of national antagonism. Several strikes that arose at the end of 1928 and the beginning of 1929 were remarkable for the solidarity shown by the workers and the large numbers involved. The growth of the militancy and solidarity of the workers was seen especially during the strike of last December, when 10,000 workers came out to protest against the arrest of one of the tobacco workers’ leaders (who had struck a scab).

The conservative elements, however, have been furiously resisting the continued radicalization of the labor movement. (In the Philippines the right wing of the labor movement is nicknamed the conservatives; the left wing–the radicals). At the outset this resistance was seen in the internal struggle in the Council of the Labor Congress and in the way the organizations controlled by the right wing leaders sabotaged the new policy.

Subsequently, the intensification of the struggle between the two tendencies led to a split in the Labor Congress at the annual congress held at the beginning of last May in Manila and a new labor congress of the Philippines, known as the Proletarian Labor Congress was formed. Where the so-called conservatives are leading the labor movement is seen from the declarations made by their leaders (Tehadi and others) after the split had taken place, which state, among other things, that the labor movement of the Philippines must now strengthen contact with the labor bureau (a government body), and resist all outside interference in the labor movement and national life of the Philippines (which means there must be no contact with the international revolutionary labor movement). That the services of these gentlemen have been recognized is seen by the sympathetic way in which the bourgeois press support all their efforts, while rabidly attacking all militant elements and inciting the reactionary forces in the country to persecute the left wing. The recent developments and the increased opposition between the opportunist and revolutionary tendencies make it imperative for the left wing to stand together solidly and give a clear lead in carrying out its policy, reinforcing achievements already gained and struggling actively to unify the labor movement on the basis of the class struggle, urging an eight-hour day, increased pay, recognition for the unions, protection of female and child labor, both in town and village, against the inhuman exploitation of the agricultural workers and the poor peasantry, thus extending their influence among the workers (news at hand shows that half of the organized workers have already affiliated to the new Labor Congress), organizing the unorganized and taking up their place in the vanguard of the struggle for independence.

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1929/1929-ny/v06-n165-NY-sep-17-1929-DW-LOC.pdf