CELEBRATE LABOR DAY! FIGHT FOR WELFARE AND RELIEF AMID WAR AND CRISIS! ADVANCE NATIONAL FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY AND SOCIALISM!
Kilusang Mayo Uno | May 1, 2026
We commemorate the 124th Labor Day in the Philippines amid an unparalleled crisis further intensified by the US-Israel war of aggression against Iran. Since the conflict in West Asia erupted, the US and its allies have dragged workers and people in the Philippines and the world into a quagmire of severe hunger, poverty and suffering.
Oil price shocks have crippled the operations of drivers and operators across various modes of transportation. In the communities of ordinary workers and the poor, the deepest effects of price increases are felt, eating away at the already meager minimum wage and small earnings from various livelihoods. The burden of the crisis falls even heavier on contractual workers who are denied proper wages and benefits and their right to unionize. Despite the danger of war, OFWs are forced to risk their lives and safety to sustain their struggling families in the Philippines.
Poverty continues to spread and deepen in the countryside due to plunder of land and other natural resources. Due to the oil crisis, the prices of fertilizers, pesticides and other farm inputs have also surged, and the overall costs of transport and production have ballooned. The Rice Liberalization Law continues to destroy local production while foreign projects and land-use conversion seize the lands of peasants and indigenous peoples.
Women are victims of violence and discrimination in various areas of life and work. The youth are denied education, opportunity and a future, while the living standards of employees and professionals continue to slide due to low wages and job insecurity.
The Marcos Jr. government is inept, negligent, corrupt and anti-worker. Instead of giving the people relief — suspending excise taxes and VAT and providing adequate support for those most affected — it has prioritized the income and profits of big corporations. The cosmetic UPLIFT program, supposedly a response to the crisis, is a pool of funds coveted and to be plundered by the crocodiles in government.
It remains silent on the escalating war of aggression against Iran. Instead, it has further deepened its ties with its imperialist master by continuing the largest Balikatan exercises in history, and by pushing the Pax Silica initiative that tightens the Philippines’ position in the chain of control and war machinery of the US.
It uses the full force of the state to suppress the boiling rage of the people. Funded by the US and armed by Israel, the fascist AFP-PNP carries out widespread human rights violations in the form of harassment and intimidation, disinformation campaigns, arrests and enforced disappearances, killings and massacres. Among the examples are the large-scale military operations in Mindoro and Negros that have sown terror in rural communities.
Not only inept, corrupt and negligent, but a puppet and fascist. The current crisis has exposed the true character of the Marcos Jr. regime, no different from those that came before it — favorable to the greedy, against the suffering and the robbed. The collective struggle for immediate relief and welfare, up to genuine social transformation, becomes ever more necessary.
We must continue to fight for an end to war; the attainment of a living wage — ₱1,200 nationwide; the reduction of commodity prices and removal of VAT and excise taxes; regular, decent and safe jobs; respect for the right to unionize and organize; and an end to political repression. Likewise, the scrapping of anti-worker and anti-people policies such as the Oil Deregulation Law, Wage Rationalization, TRAIN Law, and others. We must assert the development of a self-reliant economy where local agriculture and industry are advanced. Only by breaking free from the claws of imperialist greed will it be possible to stand on our own feet and prioritize the welfare of Filipinos.
In the struggle we face, greater resolve and unity are needed. Let us draw lessons from the 46 years of leadership of Kilusang Mayo Uno and from the more than a hundred years of struggle of unions and workers that came before us. From here we will draw knowledge and inspiration. In reviewing our history, we must seek to better understand the roots of poverty. Let us strive to create a clearer picture of the long history of struggle, victories and defeats that stands as the foundation of our movement.
By looking back, we will come to know the millions of workers who devoted their strength, talent and lives to the cause of people’s liberation. Those who walked to educate and arouse the people day and night. Those who set up picket lines and strike camps. Those who cooked and fed to sustain the strength of the struggle. Those who combed the alleyways to organize.
Those who were abducted from the streets in the dead of night. Those who were shot on picket lines while the strike persevered. Those who shed blood to prove that the only way for our struggle is forward. Those who quietly left and traversed the countryside to pursue revolutionary change.
We render honor to the heroes and martyrs of the workers and the people – to our leaders and organizers Felixberto Olalia Sr., Rolando Olalia and Crispin Beltran. Justice is our cry for Jude Fernandez and Dandy Miguel! We continue to demand the surfacing of Loi Magbanua and William Lariosa, and the release of the 20 unionists and workers who remain imprisoned to this day.
Let us emphasize our duty to unite, mobilize and lead the struggle of the entire working class and other sectors in all forms and levels. Let us embody the spirit of dialogue and study to draw out the most creative ideas and most effective methods.
Guided by genuine, militant and anti-imperialist unionism, let us mount protests, pickets, coordinated strikes, and multisectoral people’s protests to be developed toward a people’s strike. These will build the strength to effectively win our demands.
Let us build upon and propagate the experiences and lessons of the recent strikes at Nexperia and Kowloon. Let us revisit the actions and strikes of past decades, especially the general strikes and people’s strikes of the 1980s. In enriching our own experience, we illuminate the next generation of workers to fully overthrow imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism, and pave the way toward socialist transformation.
We must hold on to and rely on the strength of our class. Let us link the struggle of Filipino workers with the struggle of all workers around the world against plunder, war and fascism. Together, let us bring down US imperialism — the number one enemy of workers and peoples of the world.
In our hands, wealth is created. With our strike, history shall be forged. The celebration of May Day is to struggle. To struggle is a celebration of our cause, our aspirations and our dignity.
Long live the 46th anniversary of Kilusang Mayo Uno!
Long live the Filipino working class and people!
To struggle is the only way of the world today!
