Labour leaders deplore protests

The Straits Times 2 December 2000

MANILA—Labour leaders have deplored the disruptive mass actions being taken by various groups to force President Estrada to step down.

According to the Manila Bulletin yesterday, labour leaders said that employers who were engaging their workers in disruptive mass actions in the Philippines are only attempting to divert attention away from the daily acts of oppression and exploitation at the workplace.

Organised labour must not lose sight of workers' priorities and work for the fulfilment of the labour agenda, instead of engaging in disruptive actions for the political interests of some politicians, two labour leaders said.

Mr Timoteo ‘Boy’ Aranjuez, vice-chairman of the Lakas Manggagawa Labour Centre, and lawyer Roberto Padilla, president of the National Mines and Allied Workers Union, were reacting to the call of communist leader Mr Jose Ma Sison from his headquarters in The Netherlands.