Workers' resistance against the Marcos dictatorship

During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino workers in the labor industry experienced the effects of government corruption, crony capitalism, and cheap labor for foreign transnational industries, One of the objectives of Martial Law was to cheapen labor costs, in order to attract transnational corporations to export labor to the Philippines. Marcos signed many presidential decrees beneficial only to his associates, while allowing for the forced relocation of indigenous peoples, decreasing workers' wages, and murders of labor activists. Minimum wage was a fixed PHP8.00 per day. Many workers were unemployed or underemployed. It was also during the Marcos presidency when the practice of contractualization began, enabling managements to avoid giving regular, permanent status to employees after six months of work. Strikes were banned and the government controlled trade unions, leaving workers without effective protection against employers who had unfair labor practices and regulations.

Furthermore, with each year under Martial Law, economic conditions deteriorated due to a large trade deficit. Between 1974 and 1981, the trade deficit increased from $418 million to $2.2 billion, while the foreign debt increased from $5.1 million to $14.8 billion in 1976 and 1981. A study by the World Bank found that Philippine poverty increased between 1972 and 1978. Real wages for skilled for workers in urban areas fell by 23.8%, and for unskilled laborers the decline was 31.6%. Authors of the study concluded that "purchasing power has dropped in both urban and rural areas, in all regions, and practically all occupations," and the gap between rich and poor is "worse in the Philippines than elsewhere in the [Southeast Asian] region. In this context, the material conditions of the working class was greatly in contrast to the lavish opulence of crony capitalism under of the Marcos regime. These are some of the factors that propelled workers to resist the Marcos dictatorship.

These workers protested against the Marcos regime in forms of silent strikes, sit-down strikes, work slowdowns, mass leaves and the stretching of the break period.

The first major strike against the dictatorship was in La Tondeña, then the largest distillery in Asia. The workers protested and continued to do so despite the ban. In the following months, around 200 strikes broke out nationwide, with 80,000 participating. In Manila alone, there were 25 strikes, with 40,000 participating. In 1981, after Marcos nominally lifted Martial Law, 260 strikes took place, with over 76,000 workers involved. Labor unions against the dictatorship increased in number and strength under martial law. Provided by Wikipedia