BT - Making a Killing in the Philippines
BT has made the decision to outsource work from Northern Ireland to the Philippines. Whilst the decisions of multinational companies, including BT, to use cheap labour abroad is nothing new, the fact that a company would outsource work to somewhere where workers are abused so regularly is staggering. Workers in the Philippines are not only poorly paid and badly treated but anyone who joins a union or attempts to organise can ‘disappear’ or be brutally murdered by agents of the state.

BT would face public condemnation if the number of jobs they have already off-shored were made public. They should be exposed and shamed, not only for moving much needed work from Northern Ireland, but to a country with one of the worst records for human rights in the world. We should be campaigning publicly and within BT to stop this flight of capital to a country where to be a union member can be a death sentence. BT already has the disgrace of using cheap labour abroad to undermine UK workers terms and conditions. If they get away with this they will also have the blood of murdered workers on their hands.
Note:
The human-rights group Karapatan estimates the figure of union members and activists murdered since Gloria Arroyo came to power, at over 800. Nearly all of the cases remain unresolved. An additional 200 activists are considered "disappeared", and the number grows every week. See photo on political page.

President of the Communication Workers Union of the Philippines Jose 'Pete' Pinlac recently visited the UK as a guest of the union to address the trade justice rally in London.

The Education and Training department hosted Pete who worked with students at the union's Education and Training Centre at Alevscot on the 13th April and on the 14th went to Tolpuddle in the morning and then visited Solent Branch and our union learning centre in Bournemouth. He was met by branch officers and presented with a commemorative engraved glass bowl from the branch. Also present were Trish Lavelle CWU Head of Education and Training and NEC members Simon Trim and Bernard Roome.

As a result of the visit, the CWU has developed a new DVD to be used on courses or at branch meetings to raise awareness of the need for international solidarity. The DVD is to be titled 'Ye are many, they are few' after the line engraved on the bowl presented to Jose by the branch. The line is from a poem by Shelley titled 'Mask of Anarchy' and was written in response to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 when protesters for parliamentary reform were attacked by troops. The poem is doubly appropriate as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein and widow of the poet, is buried in Bournemouth and the subject of the poem, an attack on protesters by the army is something our Philippine brothers and sisters know all too well. Following the visit the branch has offered to 'twin' with a sister branch in the Philippines. Copies available from the branch.

"Development in a free market economy does not happen in a tranquil manner. It is triggered by crisis emanating within the system. Sadly it's the toiling people that always carry the burden," said Pete. "No industry or nationality is exempted from this fact. It is with this view that in working with the project of the CWU-UK I wish to share our struggles and experiences in the Philippines trade union movement."

Industrial unrest on the picket line often results in death an injuries with the police and army given a relatively free hand to deal with strikers as they like. Pete himself has received a lot of death threats. "During the 1997 strike the management threatened to press charges against me for economic sabotage. They backed down because of the strength of the union" said Pete. He believes that to a degree he has been protected by his position and high public profile. He does wonder though what might happen once he is out of office.

"When you hear about the huge challenges that are faced by our trade union comrades in the South, it is both inspiring and humbling. It is also increasingly important for our own representatives to comprehend the impact of globalisation on our workplaces and the importance of international solidarity with other trade unionists world-wide," said Trish Lavelle, head of education and training. "When it comes down to it our problems and challenges in the north are a product of the same global systems that do such damage in the South. Their struggle is our struggle."