On Human Rights Day, December 10, the IUF is joining with our sister global unions in a day of action to demand an end to human and trade union rights violations in the Philippines. IUF affiliates gathered in the streets of Manila to demand rights and justice for the people of the Philippines.
- There have been 50 extrajudicial killings of trade unionists under President Duterte’s administration; attacks on freedom of association have been systematic under the 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), championed by President Duterte, serves in practice to bust independent trade unionism
- 17 union leaders have been targeted by state security agents or the industrial police for leading trade union activities, 16 have been criminalized with trumped-up charges and 12 trade unionists remain incommunicado
- Global and national unions are calling for an immediate ILO tripartite mission to the Philippines, an investigation into the extrajudicial killings of trade unionists and a commitment with concrete policies and practices from the Government to end the red-tagging of trade unionists and their legitimate activities
- Also on Human Rights Day, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize will be presented to Maria Ressa, the CEO of the Philippine news site, Rappler, for her “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace;” Ressa shares the award with Russian journalist, Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov
