FOR THE RECORD

WORKERS endured the worst forms of repression under the fascist Marcos dictatorship: strikes outlawed, protests banned and violently dispersed, unions busted, and hundreds of union organizers and leaders tagged as rebels, thrown behind bars, and tortured — or worse, killed or forcibly disappeared. Far from being the “golden years,” the Marcos dictatorship and its brazen corruption bled dry the nation’s coffers, plunging millions of workers into poverty. This was further exacerbated when the dictator integrated contractualization in the Labor Code through Presidential Decree 442. Haslo! Terror gripped the country, yet the labor movement persisted and openly defied military rule in the La Tondeña workers’ strike in October 1975. The terror was shattered.

In the years that followed, the labor movement played a crucial part in organizing the resistance that eventually overthrew the Marcos dictatorship in the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising.

Let us remember this kay basi in the coming months, i- distort na ang aton history. Tarso!