Abstract
New labor movements are currently emerging across the Global South. This is happening in countries as disparate as China, Egypt, and Iran. New developments are taking place within labor movements in places such as Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan and Venezuela. Activists and leaders in these labor movements are seeking information from workers and unions around the world. However, many labor activists today know little or nothing about the last period of intense efforts to build international labor solidarity, the years 1978-2007. One of the key labor movements of this period, and which continues today, is the KMU Labor Center of the Philippines. It is this author’s contention that there is a lot unknown about the KMU that would help advance global labor solidarity today. This paper focuses specifically on the KMU’s development, and shares five things that have emerged from this author’s study of the KMU: a new type of trade unionism, new union organizations, an emphasis on rank and file education, building relations with sectoral organizations, and the need to build international labor solidarity.
Highlights
New labor movements are currently emerging across the Global South
This paper focuses on the KMU’s development, and shares five things that have emerged from this author’s study of the KMU: a new type of trade unionism, new union organizations, an emphasis on rank and file education, building relations with sectoral organizations, and the need to build international labor solidarity
The goal of national democracy is the establishment of a truly independent country and a national democratic coalition government, based on the various sectors of society, such as peasants, workers, fisherfolk, women, urban poor, students, etc. Though these courses were formally developed in Metro Manila at the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), a church-based organization, they were created in response to the high priority placed on member education at the KMU’s founding congress in 1980
Summary
New labor movements are currently emerging across the Global South. This is happening in countries as disparate as China, Egypt, and Iran. That the KMU still exists—34 years later, almost to the day— suggests they have done something right That they have survived incredible opposition from the elites and the military of their country—including the assassination in 1986 of their national Chairperson, massive numbers of arrests, torture and/or deaths, as well as economic dislocation, etc.—suggests there is much to be learned from their experiences and, at very least, suggests the need for their experiences to be shared with labor movements and researchers around the world. This paper focuses on the KMU’s development, and shares five things that have emerged from this author’s study of the KMU: a new type of trade unionism, new union organizations (alliances), an emphasis on rank and file education, building relations with sectoral organizations, and the need to build international labor solidarity He KMU’s activities are largely unknown to many current researchers, they have experiences that this author believes would be of major interest today. The assassination of KMU Chairperson Rolando Olalia in November 1986 demonstrated the risks involved in being a genuine trade unionist, even for those highest in the organization
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