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The Lepanto strike in retrospect

The 101-day strike of the workers of the leading gold producer of the country finally was ended with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Lepanto Employees Union-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (LEU-NAFLU-KMU) and the management of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMC) on September 10, 2005.

The workers and their families experienced physical and mental hardships during this more than three months strike. These workers, their wives and their children met hunger, sleepless nights, anxieties, and injuries inflicted by police officers, corrupt company administrators, and not-so-honest public officials during this period. A few of them gave up the fight but many of them still stood on their grounds.

Tears and anger come and go where the workers learned the consequences of fighting for their democratic rights and welfare. All in all, there are essential lessons and significant gains that every individual who have participated or witnessed the strike can reap.

Economically, they attested their capability and grit in fighting for a living wage and better working conditions. This they won the game. Even a single drop from their sweat extracted from them during the strike was not wasted.

Politically, the struggling masses proved they are the victors. The workers grew more consolidated ever than before in their union. The laborers from all the corners of the workplaces realized that they should fight for their democratic rights. The mineworkers together with the people had finally got the reception of appreciating the power of concerted actions under a semi-colonial and semi-feudal system. The struggles in the 101-day strike taught many of them not to surrender but be tougher.

Everyone witnessed that the State’s peacekeeping forces and its agencies for justice had become instruments primarily in serving the interest of the oppressor.

The Lepanto strike, just like any other mass movement, teaches the oppressed and marginalized sectors of society, that only through unified strength and concerted actions that justice and better living conditions can be realized.

The struggle of the working class continues. The longer fight is still in the midst as the workers and other oppressed people are yet submerged in an unfair system where the fruits of production are unfairly distributed between them and the masters. As long as inequality prevails, desire for a better society continues. # Leonida E. Tundagui

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