I.

CHAPTER 10
LABOR MOVEMENTS
II. DISCUSSION
LABOR MOVEMENTS
When we talk of labor movement, we are referring here to a continuing association of
workers for the purpose of improving the status and the welfare of workers. A movement is an
organized effort to achieve a common goal. Thus, unionism or organized labor constitutes such
as movement.
Definition of labor movement.

an organized effort on the part of workers to improve their economic and social status by

united action through the medium of labor unions.

the activities of labor unions to further the cause of organized labor.
The origins of the labor movement lay in the formative years of the American nation,

when a free wage-labor market emerged in the artisan trades late in the colonial period.
Terms to remember
1. Collective bargaining the effort of both employees and the employers group to
negotiate and ultimately agree upon the term is employment.
2. Unions are long-term or permanent associations of employees formed and
maintained for the specific purpose of securing concession from employers.
3. Collective agreement are the labor contracts or agreements negotiated in
collective bargaining.
4. Employers association are organization of employers formed for the purpose of
dealing with unions most commonly for negotiating working relationship with
employee.
5. The bargaining unit is the particular groups of jobs covered by a collective
agreement. A bargaining unit might include all jobs and employees of a certain
corporation.
6. Negotiation is the phase of collective bargaining which the parties try to arrive at
an agreement that will guide their relationship for a specified period of time
7. Bargaining agents- are the unions that present employees in each bargaining unit.
Unions become bargaining agents for the employees they represent in many ways.
8. Contract administration is the day-to-day application and interpretation of
collected agreements.

What are Unions for

The workers right to self-organization is deeply respected by the constitution. More

specifically, Art. 224 of the labor code specifies that all persons employed in commercial,
industrial and agricultural enterprises, including religious, charitable, medical or educational
institutions operating for profit, shall have the right to self-organization and to form, join, or assist
labor organizations for purposes of collective bargaining. Ambulant, intermittent and intolerant
worker, self-employed people may form labor organizations for the purpose of enhancing and
defending their interests and for their mutual aid and protection. The right to organize is one of
the few tenets that is accepted implicity by all unionists everywhere. However, the union is
accepted and becomes a permanents feature of the industry.
Secondly, union activities involve the control of job opportunities. With the shortage of
good jobs and the number of people trying to get into these jobs exceeding the number of
vacancies available, membership in a union can mean getting and maintaining that job or being
left out in the streets.
Thirdly, the union plays a very important role particularly with regard to improvement of
wages, job tenure, hours of work, and other terms of employment.
How Unions Seek to Raise Wages
Several methods by which unions might hope to raise wages;
1. Unions can reduce the supply of labor
2. Shifting of demand curve
3. Raising standard wage rate

Employer policy in Labor Relations

1. Protection of profits- many employers see primary function as that trying to make the
business as profitable as possible.
2. Protection of management rights and prerogative- the manager may regard himself
as a guardian and trustee of employer rights to manage.
3. Retention of employee loyalty- employers and manager who organized the importance
of employee identification with the employers goal have frequently opposed union on
the ground that they tend to destroy loyalty to the employer.
4. Cooperation for mutual advantage- in some situation, employers have welcomed
unions and the help of union officials in management.
Phases in Union Management Relationship
The union-management relationship goes into several phases of development. A constant
relationship between unions and management is very difficult to maintain over a long period of
time.
The first phase resistance to unions
The second phase is the period of toleration

The third stage consist of collaboration or acceptance

The fourth phase consist in union-management cooperation
The Growth of Labor Unions
As observed and recorded by a Filipino nationalist, TeodoroAgoncillo, the growth of labor
unions in the Philippines essentially an upshot of the American occupation. Labor unions were
unknown during the Spanish Period, for aside from the limited industrial and commercial
opportunities, the Colonial Government did not encourage any movement that would tend to
undermine the Spanish view of peace and order. The labor leaders, on May 1, 1913, presented
a united front when they held the first labor congress on the occasion of the celebration of the
first labor day in the Philippines.
In the 1920s, communist and socialist influence seeped through some labor unions,
particularly those Manila and Central Luzon. When, in 1939, Secretary of Labor, Jose Avelino
formed the National Commission on Labor, both the communist and concervative factions of
labor were presented. The conflict between the two labor camps continued up to the outbreak of
the war, when all labor unions were declare illegal by the Japanese conquerors.
After the war, the growth of labor was phenomenal. The labor movement became
dynamic, particularly because of the war experiences of the masses and of the influence of the
American soldiers who were members of powerful labor unions in the United States. With the
labor front in turmoil owing to the uncompromising stand of the CLO and with Central Luzon up
in arms against the government Quirinos administration, taking advantage of the suspension
the writ of habeas corpus, bore down militant labor union, particularly the CLO, and invited
its leader to Camp Murphy for investigation.
Hernandez was detained for six months before charges were preferred against him. He
was charged with the crime of rebellion complexed with murder and arson, and sentenced to
life imprisonment. Upon appeal to the Supreme Court, Hernandez was acquitted.
Labor Gains
Through united action, labor made significant gains among the first being the creation of
the Bureau of Labor, and later, of the Department of Labor and Employment, and the reactment
of legislation providing for the prosecution of usurers, the protection of Domestic help, the
payment of compensation to workers injured in line of duty, and the protection of women and
children working in factories. A special tribunal, the Court of Industrial Relations, has been
established to facilitate the settlement of disputes between implementation of laws governing
the relationship and capital and labor, such as the Eight Hours Labor Law, the Social Security
Act, and others.
Bad Features of Philippine Labor

On paper, it would seem that Labor is united and, therefore, strong. Philippine Labor is
devided against itself owing mainly to, first, differences in principles and, second, personal
ambition of some leaders. Mergers of union have filed degree autonomy from the parent
organization, a demand that was not taken seriously by those in power. Early in 1959, the labor
union

grandiloquently

announced

the

formation

of

super-organization,

the

KalipunanngmgaManggagawangPilipino (KMP) but no sooner has President Garcia spoken to

them at a banquet at the Manila Hotel when some affiliated unions withdrew from the parent
organization allegedly on a question of principle. Thus, labor today is still devided.
Some labor unions are still infested with unscrupulous and dishonest leaders whose one
preoccupation is to make sucker out of the laborers. After a days or weeks of negotiations, the
leaders, having been prevailed upon by management to accept a gift of, say P50,000, would
then tell the striking laborers that the company would be in the red if they persisted in their
demand for wage increases.
Another instance of dishonesty on the part of certain labormisleaders is the so called
kickback. In this Practice, the labor leaders compel the workers to come across, that is to
say, to give part of the daily wages to the former, though the capataz or foreman, who sees to
it that all pay their dues.
Still another dishonest practice is justice which the labor leaders hires his labourer for,
say, four pesos a day.
Another bad features of laborin the Philippines is the workers lack of civic sense. The
extent of labor unrest in the Philippines is reflected in the number of strike and lock-outs
registered with the DOLE in the years 1988-1990,2000.

Table 37

RECORDED STRIKES AND LOCK-OUTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Table 37
RECORDED STRIKES AND LOCK-OUTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
1988 to October 1990, 2000
Indicator

1990

2000

1988

1989

TOTAL1st Sem.

Pending,Beginning

210

134

133

133

173

208

New notices filed

1428

1518

1372

826

162

150

Total Handled

1638

1652

1505

959

335

358

Total Disposed

1504

1519

1314

786

127

132

1173

1210

1060

624

111

108

Assumed Jurisdiction Bylabor sec.

29

22

23

11

Certified for the compulsory Arbitratic

19

15

81

103

69

47

Materialized into Actual Strike (000)

222

169

147

96

10

11

Workers involve in New notices filled

339

351

304

203

31

27

Disposition rate (%)

91.8

91.9

87.3

82.0

37.9

36.9

Settlement rate (%)

71.6

73.2

70.4

65.1

33.1

30.2

Pending, Beginning

30

12

12

15

15

New strikes Declared

267

197

164

101

11

16

206

176

July

Aug.

Strikes Lockouts/Notices

Settled

Others

734

Actual Strikes/Lockouts

Total Handled
Total Disposed

297
288

194

156

113
98

26
11

60

31
14

III. Quiz/Activities
Identification
__________1.Is the day-to-day application and interpretation of collected agreements.
__________2. It refers to many employers see primary function as that trying to make the
business as profitable as possible.
__________3.Is the particular groups of jobs covered by a collective agreement.

___________4. Is an organized effort to achieve a common goal.Thus, unionism or

organized labor constitutes such as movement.
___________5.A continuing association of workers for the purpose of improving the status and
the welfare of workers
__________6. Are long-term or permanent associations of employees formed and maintained
for the specific purpose of securing concession from employers.
__________7.It refers to the phase of collective bargaining which the parties try to arrive at an
agreement that will guide their relationship for a specified period of time.
__________8. He was detained for six months before charges were preferred against him. He
was charged with the crime of rebellion complexed with murder and arson, and sentenced to
life imprisonment.
__________9.,What year when communist and socialist influence seeped through some labor
unions, particularly those Manila and Central Luzon?
__________10.Refers to the unions that represent employees in each bargaining unit.
ESSAY(50words) 5pts
In your own idea, what is the importance of unions?
IV. References
URL:
https://www.google.com.ph/?
gfe_rd=cr&ei=5gyDV5y4M8yLmwXjwZigBA#q=collective+bargaining+definition
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/labor%20movement
http://www.history.com/topics/labor
BOOK:
Cristobal M. Pagoso and Rosemary Denio Labor of Economics (updated Edition)

V. Prepared by:

Vivien G. Guiamal
Bryan M. Magon
Gemma K. Mamid
Rowena G. Panalon