New book on Philippine labor

From Kim Scipes, 10 October 1996

Dear Folks:

Please allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kim Scipes, and I'm a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

I have recently published a book in the Philippines on the radical wing of the Philippine labor movement, and thought you and/or faculty members and/or graduate students in your department might be interested in knowing about this book.

We have no money for advertising, and so are dependent upon word-of-mouth. Would you please foward this message to anybody in your department that is interested in labor, workers, women workers, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Asia, social movements, social movement unionism, third world development, political sociology? Further, would you ask them to forward this message on to their friends and networks, so we can get the widest distribution possible? Thank you.

Thanks again for any assistance/support you can give to this request. With best wishes--Kim Scipes

Kim Scipes. 1996. KMU: BUILDING GENUINE TRADE UNIONISM IN THE PHILIPPINES, 1980-1994. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers.

Available from in the Philippines from: New Day Publishers, PO Box 1167, 1100 Quezon City, Philippines. Fax: 63/2/924-6544, Voice: 63/2/928-8046.

Cost: In Philippines: P 350; outside of the Philippines and US: US $15, plus US $6 for airmail postage, $4 for sea

Available in the US from: Sulu Arts and Books, 465 Sixth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-4794. Voice: 415/777-2451, fax: 415/777-4676.

Cost: $18.95 (minus 5% discount for educators and students), plus shipping.

From the back cover of the book

The KMU (Kilusang Mayo Uno) or May First Movement is the most militant labor center in the Philippines, and one of the most dynamic and developed in the world. It played a key role in toppling the Marcos dictatorship, and has been central in the fight against the restoration of a system of elite democracy. Based at the point of production, distribution and exchange in the Philippine economy, it has acted to raise wages and improve working conditions for its members, while challenging the various government's 'western' model of development and the Philippines' role in the global economy. It has allied with social movements throughout the country and internationally, and is one of the creators of a new type of trade unionism--social movement unionism--that is a model for workers in both the 'third world' and the so-called developed countries.

This is the first book-length study of the KMU, and covers the first 14 years of its existence. Since the KMU is a national center of regional labor organizations, this book looks at the development of these regional labor centers across colonial and postcolonial production systems--capitalist agriculture in Mindanao, extractive mining in Cebu, plantation sugar in Negros, and a multinational export processing zone in Bataan--to understand how the KMU has developed. Additionally, this book specifically looks at how the KMU approaches gender relations organizationally, focusing on the Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK)--the gender-based women worker's organization--as well as looking at women's leadership in nationwide organizations and in local unions. This is the first book to examine the changes in the country from the dictatorship to the reestablishment of elite democracy from the perspective of militant labor. While focused primarily on the 1980-90 period, this book also evaluates the situation under the Ramos administration, and the splits that initially appeared to threaten the existence of the KMU in 1993.

Note: This book would be excellent for classes on the Philippines, Asia, third world development, labor, social movements, social movement unions, workers, women workers. Although not a theoretical book, it is an in-depth empirical study that provides extensive material for theoretical intervention.