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March 29, 2004
“The two-day transport
strike will push through tomorrow!” This was the declaration of Manuel
Duran, Chairperson of the National Transportworkers’
Union (NTU) in response to the withdrawal of some transport groups from
the planned actions after having a dialogue with Malacañang.
Malacañang today met with the representatives
of the NTU, PCDO-ACTO, FEJODAP, MJODA and ALTODA.
“The meeting was a waste of time,” Bren Sayasa,
Deputy Secretary General of the NTU said after attending the said meeting.
“After all, the best they come up with are the same unworkable schemes
of discounts and minor changes in the tariff rates, and nothing about a
rollback of oil prices nor our demand for P1.50 fare increase!” he
added.
In the same meeting, government again reiterated their threats to cancel
the franchises of those transport workers who would participate in
tomorrow’s strike. “Such threats remind us of the Marcos
dictatorship,”
Josua
Mata
, APL Secretary General said, “We were not cowed then, we certainly
would not be cowed now!”
Among the cities and provinces to be hit by the NTU-APL tomorrow are as
follows: NCR; Pampanga; Laguna; Cavite;
Cebu; Davao; Cagayan
de Oro; Zamboanga;
Cotabato; General Santos. In the NCR, APL
activists will set-up strike centers in Welcome Rotonda.
The National Transportworkers' Union (NTU) is
an umbrella organization of transport workers' federations nationwide
founded last December 2003. It is an affiliate of the Alliance of
Progressive Labor (APL), a national labor center embracing various forms
of workers’ organizations in the formal and informal sectors.
Previous Statements:
NTU-APL gears for transport strike as government fails to implement P1 peso discount on fuel cost
P1 peso rebate: A partial victory by NTU for the Public Transportworkers
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