Marvin Yocte | Fermina Express Corp Chapter-KMM (the Philippines)
Comrades, brothers, from the World Anti-Imperialist Platform:
Let me first share to you our situation.
It’s been two hundred and ninety-five days now of standing our ground and holding the picket line.
We did not choose this strike out of convenience. We were forced onto this line because of poor working conditions that treat us not as human beings but as robot machines coupled with low wages that fail to match the sweat and tears as we pour into our work every single day.
This situation is now being aggravated by unfair labor practices, of a management whose sole desire is to crush our unity, break our spirits, and silence our collective voice. We see the management’s playbook clearly. We understand the root cause of this conflict. It is the unyielding, insatiable capitalist desire for profit above human dignity. To them, our lives, our families, and our well-being are just lines on a balance sheet to be minimized. They will protect their financial interests at all costs, even if it means trying to starve out the very workers who built their enterprise.
But our management is blind to a greater truth. They think they are only fighting the workers of Fermina Express union. They do not realize that our struggle is part of a much larger, roaring current. We know very well that we cannot win this fight in isolation. The enemy we face—unregulated greed and anti-worker oppression—is a common enemy shared by working people across this nation and across the globe. The root cause is the same whether you are driving a bus in the Philippines, working a factory floor in Asia, or handling cargo at a port in Europe or Latin Americas. This is why a united working-class movement is not just a strategic goal—it is our only lifeline. We must strengthen our local class unity, binding our transport union tightly with every transport drivers, factory worker, teacher, and laborer in our communities. But we must also look beyond our borders. We must forge unbreakable links of internationalism with fellow anti-imperialist and class oriented trade unions worldwide. When international solidarity awakens, a strike in one corner of the world reverberates across the globe. It sends a message to the ruling class everywhere: An injury to one is an injury to all.
Comrades, the road will be long, and the sacrifices will be heavy. But history is will not be written by the capitalist class; it will be written by the working class when they dare to struggle. Through our local unity and our international solidarity, we will not only win our grievances, raise our wages, and secure fair labor practices—we will build the foundation for the just, equitable, and dignified society we have all dreamed of. Stand firm!
Long live the 1st Anti-Imperialist Conference of the Workers Platform!
Long live international worker solidarity!
