Labor Day, 2007

I am honored to welcome you all to our celebration of Labor Day.

I am twice and deeply honored to welcome the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I thank her for gracing this occasion with her presence on our day, this Labor Day, today.

We are here today not to ask for favors. We are here today not to demand for something we want for ourselves.

We are here today, first and foremost, to celebrate and to remember. To celebrate OUR day, a day devoted to commemorate the role of workers as creators of wealth and drivers of progress. To remember that from the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago some 121 years ago in 1886, we, the workers, remain vigilant of our role as the backbone of every society in this globally warming world of ours.

We are here today because we are concerned; concerned that we are lagging far behind in the global race to Decent Work, Productivity and Competitiveness.

We can not compete in the world markets when our productivity as people and country is still wanting. But workers can not also be productive when the world of work is full of so much indecency.

We must break the deadlock! But how?

Social Partnership, that is how.

And so today, we declare to pursue, and to pursue to its logical end, a Social Partnership for Decent Work, Productivity and Competitiveness.

There can be no social partnership when the social partners are isolated from each other, when employers, government, unions and civil society do not cooperate for the common good.

There can be no social partnership when so much discord exists in our midst. We can not possibly shake hands with a clenched fist.

And so, just a few days ago, six days ago from today, during the National Conference on Human Resources, we agreed to work together. We agreed to pursue an agenda to make the world of work more decent. We agreed to make our workforce more productive. We agreed to make workers, our enterprises and our country become more globally competitive, and to run the race to the top.

We will start from there. We invite our social partners to join us in this resolve.

And, therefore, today, we intend to become friends and true partners. We will reach to our social partners to suggest to them that running the race towards decent work, productivity and global competitiveness needs true friendship and partnership to get there.

Walang gulangan. Kung tayo’y tunay na magkatuwang, panalo tayo sa laban.

Once again, I welcome you all to our celebration of Labor Day. God willing, and with all of us rowing our boat in the same direction, this country of ours will yet see the dawn of a bright tomorrow.

Isang mapagpalayang araw tungo sa isang masaganang bukas sa ating lahat!

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Of Atty. Allan S. Montaño, National President of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Labor Day 2007, Folk Arts Theatre, Manila.

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