A LABOR coalition has called on Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III to have a dialogue with them regarding the killings of trade union leaders.
“We already sent an urgent letter to Secretary Bebot Bello because we are seriously alarmed with the recent killings of trade unionists and the (harassment) and threats encountered by trade union leaders and organizers,” Nagkaisa chairman Sonny Matula said in a statement.
The labor coalition’s request comes after news late last month of the murder of Linus Cubol, former Caraga region chairperson of the Kilusang Mayo Uno(KMU). Mr. Cubol was also the former president of the Manila Mining Corporation workers’ union in Surigao del Norte.
In 2016, Partido Manggagawa-Cebu organizer Orlando Abangon was killed by a still unidentified assasin.
Other incidents were the recent arrest in Bulacan of two former heads of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE). And union leaders from the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) in Bulacan were reportedly harassed by police.
Members of the Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU) and Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) have also been accused of being part of the underground communist movement.
Nagkaisa marks Monday, Dec. 10, as the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “The declaration is intended (to) prevent untold human suffering and aims to lay down the foundations for a just and humane world,” the group said. — G.M. Cortez

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