NAGKAISA Solidarity Statement in Support of the Working People of Myanmar

File photo / Nagkaisa! 

In moments of extreme political and social emergency, history shows us that working people could be found organizing to protect their families and communities. We know that workers, especially in times of great social danger, always act in the interests of the majority of the people. This is especially true when societies succumb to authoritarianism or dictatorship. Trade Unionists, organizers, activists, and the broad mass of ordinary workers have consistently shown, that the working class stands firmly in defense of democracy and the advancement of human dignity !

We can see this dedication to human freedom today in the workers' overwhelming support for democracy in Myanmar. The NAGKAISA Labor Coalition expresses its solidarity with the  people of Myanmar that are continuing to strongly reject the reimposition of military rule in their country. 

Myanmar workers' declaration of a general strike is part of the broader and growing mass rejection of the military’s usurpation of political power in Myanmar. The strike is a positive sign that trade unions in Myanmar remains deeply committed to their country's long democratization process. The working people of the Philippines stand with our brothers and sisters in Myanmar as they continue to demand nothing less than full democratization. We believe that workers naturally benefit from, and must protect, democratic practices at home and abroad. True to our internationalist spirit, we view the Myanmar military’s assault on democracy as a threat also to working people all over the world. 

While tyranny continues to slowly creep in many countries  throughout the globe, the Myanmar trade unions' actions are a beacon of working class democracy that all those struggling in different countries can take inspiration from. It is clear that after the military dictatorship is defeated again, Myanmar’s people will still have a long way to go in order to deepen and consolidate their democracy. Nonetheless, defeating the military’s power grab is an important step in the country’s advance towards a better society. 

 

Authoritarian politics has no place in any government. Myanmar workers' defense of their democracy is a clear sign of that.  In the same spirit, trade unions in the Philippines also continue to fight in defense of our democratic spaces. 

 

Workers will continue to stand against unimaginative military dictatorship, indifferent  elite democracy, or incompetent strongmen, and all those that would try to undo the collective gains of our labor movement. 

 

We hope that the working people of Myanmar will remain steadfast in the fight for their future.  NAGKAISA, together with other social movements  and civil society organizations, in the Philippines, shall do everything in our power to support the struggle for deepening democracy in Myanmar. 

Long live democracy in Myanmar ! 

More power to Myanmar’s working class !