LABOR groups have condemned the use by authorities of the pandemic as an excuse to bar them from holding their traditional Labor Day protests.
Nagkaisa coalition condemned the arrest of 8 miners from Carmen Copper in Toledo and 12 fishermen in Cebu City for alleged violation of quarantine protocols.
Partido Manggagawa chairman and Nagkaisa member Renato Magtubo said they were forced to pay for P500 bail for each of the workers who were detained by police.
“The authorities appeared to have used the quarantine protocols to suppress their freedom to protest during Labor Day,” Magtubo said in a phone interview with BusinessMirror.
Aside from the the incident, Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) secretary general Joshua Mata said they no longer got any report of workers, who suffered similar treatment from the police.
However, he pointed to some attempts by authorities to bar their members from protesting in public places.
Despite these challenges, Mata said they were able to hold their Labor Day protest nationwide.
Hundreds of workers mobilized on Saturday to demand for the resignation of President Duterte for the supposed failure of his pandemic response, leading to numerous fatalities and labor displacement.
They also demanded for new employment, government aid, vaccines, protection of labor rights and a more determined country’s sovereignty during the pandemic.
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