LABOR unions from foreign countries expressed support for Filipino jeepney drivers and operators on strike against the threat of a jeepney phaseout under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
Pro-labor coalition Philippines Australia Union Link, along with its 12 member unions based in Australia, condemned the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for its refusal to defer the year-end deadline for franchise consolidation.
Likewise, the Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (Center of Indonesia Labor Struggle) expressed support for the recent transport strikes led by the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) and labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).
“A just transition — not eliminating and oppressing workers’ rights, and not burdening students and other oppressed people with public transportation fare hikes,” it said in an Instagram post on Sunday.
In a one-page letter dated Dec. 15, which PISTON posted on its Facebook page on Sunday, the Union Link group said it supports the demand of labor and transport groups to junk the franchise consolidate requirement and repeal the entire PUVMP.
The modernization program “would result in the monopoly of a few big corporations who have the necessary financial capacity to comply with the larger capital need to ‘modernize’ and control public utility vehicle (PUV) routes,” said union secretary Peter Murphy in the letter.
PISTON and KMU led a two-day transport strike last week. Another transport group, Manibela said it will extend the strike to Dec. 29 until the government heeds their call to repeal the modernization program. — Jomel R. Paguian