Global unions condemn escalating attacks on democracy and worker rights in the Philippines

The IUF and the the international union organizations which make up the Council of Global Unions have condemned the escalating attack on democratic and trade union rights in the Philippines, where the recent adoption of an ‘Anti-Terrorism Act’ grants the government a sweeping license to escalate repression and arbitrary police power.

“With its deplorable record of human rights violations in the past four years in its ‘war on drugs’, emphasize the unions in a July 20 joint statement, “the Philippines does not need another legal instrument to legitimize illegal arrests and extrajudicial killings.” The IUF Asia/Pacific  regional secretariat has  given strong, consistent support to our members in the Philippines struggling to defend their rights in the face of mounting violence and repression.

The organizations affirm their commitment to the ongoing efforts by unions in the Philippines to halt implementation of the new law, condemn the Duterte government’s opportunistic use of the COVID-19 pandemic to enable employers to slash jobs, violate collective bargaining rights and crack down on the media and civil liberties, and express their full “support for the efforts of Filipino unions and workers to restore democracy and peace in the country.”

Click here to read the statement.

Members of the IUF-affiliated SENTRO demonstrate against the Anti-Terrorism Act and in support of democratic rights and press freedom.