November 19, 2020
Dear friends and fellow labor and human rights advocates,
Greetings of peace and solidarity!
The Labor Rights Defenders Network (LaRD-Net) aims to serve as a campaign and advocacy platform that would support and complement the initiatives of the trade union movement in asserting the right to organize, collective bargain and strike under a climate of repression and oppression. It is composed of lawyers, artists, Church people, labor rights NGOs, members of the academe and advocates whose hearts also beat for workers’ rights. The network operates under the call, “Defend Labor Rights and Uphold Human Dignity!”
Amidst the pandemic and the worst global economic crisis, the plight of the workers continue to worsen, with the implementation of a militarist lockdown, loss of thousands of jobs, intensified repression and attacks against trade union and human rights.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Philippines was once again tagged by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) as one of the Top 10 Worst Countries for Workers. ITUC’s Global Index Report noted the prevailing trend to restrict workers’ rights through violations of the right to collective bargaining, withholding the right to strike and excluding workers from unions. The report noted that trade unionists and labor rights advocates are being killed to silence them, prevent them from organizing and pushing for the welfare of the workers Meanwhile, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) has documented 50 victims of killings among workers, unionists and labor rights defenders.
In solidarity with trade unions, workers and fellow labor rights advocates, LaRD-Net joins the efforts in intensifying our campaign against violations of trade and human rights in the Philippines. November 30 is marked by the Council of Global Unions (CGU) and its affiliates in the country as a Global Day of Action on Trade Union and Human Rights in the Philippines.
In line with this, we call for the support and solidarity of other sectors in holding the Duterte government accountable for all its violations against labor and human rights. We invite you to participate in this campaign through any of the following:
Issue a solidarity statement (written or in video form) in time for the Global Day of Action on Trade Union and Human Rights in the Philippines.
Post a photo on your social media page with any of the following calls:
Stop the Attacks!
Hands off Trade Unions in the Philippines!
Free our Unionists!
Justice for all the victims of extrajudicial killings!
Justice for the 50 workers and labor rights advocates killed under Duterte!
Unionism is a right!
Defend labor rights! Uphold human dignity!
- Please send us your photos as well, so we can repost them on our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/lardnetph.
- Printable placards can be downloaded from this link. Handwritten calls are also encouraged if you do not have access to a printer.
Join the Global Day of Action on November 30, 2020 online and offline. (Details to follow)
If you have any inquiry or suggestion, you may contact us at 0998 4788 574 or email us at lardnetph@gmail.com.
Thank you so much and we are looking forward to your support and participation in this activity and in our future endeavors for the welfare of the workers.
Yours truly,
(Sgd.) Kamille Deligente
Center for Trade Union and Human Rights
Labor Rights Defenders Network Secretariat
