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National Transport Workers’ Union, Philippines

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Page context: Home > Transport International Magazine > Issue 24 July 2006 > Reaching out to informal workers > A case study extract

A case study extract, by Clarence Pascual

Land transport in the Philippines is predominantly informal in nature. Light rail trains and buses have been gaining ground in recent years, but the most common modes of land transport are the iconic Philippine jeepney, motorcycle-powered cabs (tricycles) and pedal-driven cabs (pedicabs).

Informal transport workers are relatively young, owing partly to the physical demands of the job. Educational attainment is typically low. The work is characterised by long hours and a six to seven day week is the norm. Rapid growth in the number of vehicles has resulted in declining earnings, forcing drivers to extend the day’s shift in the hope of earning enough to sustain their families.

The effort is often in vain. Informal transport workers are among the poorest of the working poor. Working and living conditions are deplorable. Workers toil for long hours under the scorching heat of the equatorial sun and have little protection against the rain – or against extortion by police and criminal syndicates.

Considered as eyesores and air polluters they are often banished, relegated to the side streets every time a place undergoes a makeover in the name of modernisation. Social security, health insurance and pensions are luxuries they can only wish for. A few drivers’ organisations have begun to organise such services for their members, but these efforts are in their infancy.

Growing ranks

The growing ranks of these workers – a result of failed development, which further depresses their conditions, makes it imperative for them to organise. A universal concern of transport workers is to preserve their monopoly of a specific route by lobbying authorities to stop issuing new franchises, or preventing drivers plying other routes from poaching into their areas.

The National Transport Workers’ Union (NTU) in the Philippines is, according to its constitution, open to all forms of workers’ organisations in the transport industry. In practice, most if not all affiliates are federations of local drivers or operators’ associations.

To support day-to-day operations and campaigns, the NTU collects from member federations a monthly due of two pesos per declared dues-paying member. Financial support also comes from foreign and local workers’ organisations and donor agencies.

Organising includes the formation of federations or alliances of transport workers’ unions within the city and provincial levels, and bringing these into the NTU. The NTU does not engage in organising individual drivers and operators, as most, if not all, of them belong to associations.

The NTU represents the interests of transport workers in various fora, public hearings, conferences and similar activities. It engages in lobby work in the legislative and executive branches, at all levels of government. It coordinates mass actions and other forms of pressure politics, such as transport strikes. It offers legal services to member organisations and pursues negotiations with transport authorities at the local and national levels.

The union facilitates the sharing of information and strategies among affiliates, as well as fraternal organisations, to improve negotiation skills and train new negotiators and leaders. Education services aim at consiousness-raising, increased participation of women, value formation and skills development of the general membership and leadership.

Soldiarity

The NTU engages in sectoral, multi-sectoral and international solidarity work on behalf of members. It participates in strategic as well as issue-based coalitions, and develops linkages with international labour organisations and networks, and labour-based NGOs in both developed and developing countries.

In general, the campaigns launched at the national level, as well as localised action by member federations, have raised the public profile and credibility of the NTU since its formal launch in 2004 as a union of transport workers.

The union is still grappling with many problems. Payment of monthly dues discourages member associations, which, in any event, tend to focus on issues affecting their members, and have little interest in larger national issues.

Much of the time and energy of their officers is devoted to managing the collection of daily dues from drivers. This is not surprising given that the amounts involved are often considerable and thus become the object of corruption and infighting.

Notwithstanding its problems, today transport authorities consider the NTU a force to reckon with. It is a regular participant in dialogues with national policymakers, and its member federations sit in policy dialogues at the regional level.

The full text of the Philippines and Zambia (see below) case studies is published as part of the research project report available from education@itf.org.uk

I wish we had a union to fight for us

Extract of case study by Mike Chungu of the Workers’ Education Association of Zambia.

My name is James Kalongalonga, I am 25 years old and am married with two children. I live in Senama township, Zambia, where I rent two rooms at K30,000 per month.

I am employed as a driver for Mr Mutale, who owns three buses. I often get up at 04:00. I knock off at about 20:00, reaching home around 21:00.

My monthly salary is about K250,000, which is calculated on the commission of 15 per cent of the daily cash-ins. I hire the conductor or transport officer. I decide how much to pay the conductor.

I suffer a lot of abuse from both unfriendly customers and the employers. Because my pay is very low I have no holiday and when I fall sick, it is my friends who assist me with medical care.

I wish we had a strong association or union to fight for us so that we could enjoy better working conditions. Most of us suffer from stress because of working long hours in order to meet the so-called targets.

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