A-Infos (en) Construction workers in the Philippines

[Platformist Anarchism <platform@geocities.com>]

________________________________________________
     A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
           http://www.ainfos.ca/
________________________________________________

About the lives and problems 
facing the Philippines' 1.5 million construction 
workers, published by the IFBWW, the 
International Trade Secretariat which represents 
building workers.


INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS 
(ICFTU) ICFTU OnLine... 043/980119/DD

The Silent Majority: Construction Workers in the 
Philippines Brussels February 18 1998 (ICFTU 
OnLine): 

Romulo Salarte is an unorganised worker 
on one of the many construction site in the 
Philippines. It is his eighth year in the 
building industry, and while he currently earns 
a good wage (by the standards of the industry, 
at least) his greatest fear is of a future 
accident at work, as he needs to keep working to 
support his wife and four children.

Valeriano and Cecilia Cuta are a young married 
couple who live in the country. During the week, 
he sleeps in a shed, and cooks his food on a 
open fire at the construction site where he 
works in Manila. Back home, he and his family 
live on an income of around P500 (US$12) a week 
in a hut without running water or electricity. 
One of their children is asthmatic, but they 
cannot afford to see a doctor. His forehead is 
scarred from a fall at the building site.

Valeriano Cuta and Romulo Salarte are two of the 
construction workers who appear in The Silent 
Majority, a booklet about the lives and problems 
facing the Philippines' 1.5 million construction 
workers, published by the IFBWW, the 
International Trade Secretariat which represents 
building workers.

The IFBWW surveyed nearly 300 contract workers 
in 24 construction companies in the Philippines, 
and their study reveals that in a country where 
70% of the population live below the poverty 
line, building workers (along with agricultural 
workers) fall way below. The official poverty 
line is P72.62 a day, and construction workers 
in Manila, who earn the minimum daily wage of 
P48.38, fall considerably below the line. Most 
of the men interviewed worked between 10 and 12 
hours a day, 6 days a week. Most workers have to 
live in bunkhouses on the site, or to travel 
many hours each day to work.

The construction workers' position is also very 
precarious: 95% are contracted on a temporary 
basis, taken on without a written contract, on 
wages and conditions fixed by the employer. 
Health and safety provisions are non-existent.

Workplace accidents

In the stories of these two workers, work 
accidents, or fear of them, features large, 
since they are a frequent occurrence. Workers 
surveyed by the IFBWW had seen fatal accidents 
at four of the 24 sites. Two fatal accidents 
occurred at the same site during the 
construction boom in Makati City: five workers 
were killed when an elevator snapped off its 
steel masts, plunging five floors; while in the 
other, three men were killed when a basement 
wall collapsed.

As part of their research the IFBWW carried out 
a survey of workplace accidents: out of 2,440 
disabling injuries, by far the largest number - 
at 41% - were cuts, the next largest - at 21% - 
were eye injuries, and the third largest were 
concussions (at 16%).

Unionising Construction Workers

Employers will continue to take advantage of 
construction workers, so long as there is no 
union to protect them. The booklet describes one 
organiser, Renato Fernandez who became active in 
his union, and local community association after 
a colleague lost an arm and a leg in an accident 
at work, but was not eligible for compensation. 
Fernandez lives in a squatters area in Manila, 
where people are organising themselves into the 
Association of Urban Poor.

Organising an independent union or working for 
people's rights was, until recently, seen as a 
subversive activity, and some union activists 
spent years in prison in the 70s. Crispin or 
'Jun' Soriano, who is one of 12 union organisers 
whose work is supported by the IFBWW, spent 
years in prison for organising in a slum area of 
Manila. However, he is very upbeat about his 
prison experiences saying that it was an 
excellent place for political activists to 
exchange experiences and learn each others' 
organising skills!

The IFBWW unionisation project has been underway 
since 1995, when only 1% of the construction 
workers was unionised, and it hopes to unionise 
up to 30% of the workforce. Obviously, it is 
extremely difficult in a sector where the vast 
majority of workers are contracted on a 
temporary basis.

Economic benefits for everyone?

The unionisation of the building workers is set 
against a background - until very recently - of 
a country which was enjoying the same economic 
boom as the other Asian 'tigers', with growth 
forecasts of 8% to 9% per annum. One system 
which President Ramos used to push the country 
into development was the Build-Operate-Transfer 
system, whereby the government asked the private 
sector, with or without Philippine capital, to 
build up the infrastructure, and when it became 
profitable transferred it to the Philippine 
authorities. This system is used for power 
plant, port and highway construction projects.

In order to aid development, Ramos also opened 
the door to foreign capital, and almost all 
restrictions were removed, making investment 
very attractive. Export Processing Zones were 
established, where foreign companies set up 
electronics plants, encouraged by the promise of 
'union free zones'. In fact, only recently, 
unions have been able to negotiate with 
employers for workers' rights within the zones.

In many cases, economic growth has simply 
acerbated the difference between the rich and 
poor in a country governed by power elites. 
There is a large informal sector, accounting for 
a colossal one third of the working population 
(14 million out of 43 million). In addition, 
there are between three and eight million 
children labourers.

One way which Philippine workers had overcome 
the problem of economic inequality was by going 
abroad as migrant workers, and sending money 
back to their families. It is estimated that 
there are roughly five million Filipino workers, 
mostly in the Middle East, more than half of 
whom are women.

Until the recent economic events, there was 
considerable optimism in the building industry, 
which had grown an average 10% per annum, with 
expectations for a growth rate of around 15%. It 
remains to be seen whether the Philippines will 
recover from the current economic crisis, and 
whether the changes which come about as a result 
will help or hinder the construction workers and 
their attempts to organise.

The Silent Majority is published by the 
International Federation of Building  and 
Woodworkers, and by their regional office in the 
Philippines.

For more information on the ICFTU's OnLine 
service, please contact ICFTU Press Department 
on: 322 224 0212


@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
       International Anarchist Web Page
   http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/inter.html

International Class Struggle anarchist discussion list,
    contact platform@geocities.com for details

     ****** A-Infos News Service *****
  News about and of interest to anarchists

Subscribe -> email MAJORDOMO@TAO.CA
             with the message SUBSCRIBE A-INFOS
Info      -> http://www.ainfos.ca/
Reproduce -> please include this section