Speech

of
His Excellency Ramon Magsaysay
President of the Philippines
On the occasion of Labor Day
[Released on May 1, 1955]

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

FELLOW WORKERS:
I am happy to join in this traditional celebration of Labor Day, and to extend to you and to all
the working men and women of our land my warmest greetings and congratulations. I
congratulate you because of the impressive progress achieved by labor during the past year in
its steady march toward its rightful position in our society. Your progress is a matter of
greatest interest to me because of my conviction that a strong, democratic, and responsible
labor movement can be an important stabilizing force in our social and economic life.

As your growth continues and as you gain more and more of the benefits of social justice, you
may be sure that your government under this administration will give the fullest measure of
support and protection to your rights under the nation’s laws. I am fully aware that the
mechanisms which exist to implement and enforce the laws designed for your protection are
frequently inadequate and slow. In some cases they must be completely overhauled and
brought up-to-date. We are moving in this direction as rapidly as possible.

My understanding of your problems and of mechanisms, after all, is no accident. My past

experience as a mechanic explains both. But if any of you mechanics look upon me as an
example to follow, let me warn you: In my present employment I am not protected by the eight-
hour law and there is no severance pay.

There may be some of you who feel that this administration has overlooked the industrial
worker in concentrating on the barrio and rural development. Let me point out that this effort
affects you most directly and significantly. To increase our agricultural efficiency and
production is the only practical means of securing for you what I consider your right, a decent
minimum living standard.

No matter what your wages may be in pesos, what really counts is your real wage, what your
peso will buy in terms of food, clothing, and shelter. A prime objective of this administration is
to raise the purchasing power of your pesos by modernizing and developing our basic
agricultural economy.

There is another objective of this administration in which you have perhaps the heaviest stake.
I refer to our efforts to encourage and attract domestic and foreign investment for the
development of our resources and for industrialization. Here again is the only practical way to
translate some of your theoretical gains into reality.

Organized labor here has expanded and improved its collective bargaining techniques but this
advantage cannot yet be fully realized. The problem is simply that there are too many
candidates for too few jobs; there is fierce competition among our workers themselves for the
limited number of jobs available. The only solution is the encouragement of more enterprises,
more development of our natural resources, more industrial ventures—in short, more job
opportunities. Our labor force and our job availabilities must be brought into closer balance if
collective bargaining is to function effectively.
This, in brief, is the administration’s program for labor. First, to maintain a free social and
political climate in which labor can find unity by democratic organization, and learn to use
effectively the democratic means of protecting its rights and advancing its interests. Second, to
increase national production, reducing the price of essential commodities and giving greater
purchasing power to the worker’s peso. Third, to extend the national economy; bring about full
employment, and put the law of supply and demand on the side of the worker. This is our
program for your benefit and I ask your understanding and cooperation in speeding its
accomplishment.

As we celebrate this Labor Day, we should take note and think soberly about a strange twist of
history. For many years, in Europe and elsewhere, the rallying of labor on May First has
always been associated with the followers of Karl Marx. Today we find that in those countries
where Marx has taken the place of God, labor organization has become little more than
organized slavery. In Communist countries only one union is permitted and that is run by the
State. To criticize or oppose this union is considered a crime against the state, punishable by
forced labor or worse. Strikes are forbidden. Heartbreaking speed-up and overtime
assignments are imposed without extra compensation and called “patriotic contributions”. The
worker has no choice in his employment. He must do what he is told and go where he is sent—
even if it is thousands of miles from his home and loved ones. This is the “worker’s paradise”
that Communists have in store for labor.

It is important that you think about this and remember it as your organization strengthens
and expands. Labor unions are a priority target for Communist infiltration and seizure of
control. You must exercise constant vigilance in spotting these enemy agents and expelling
them from your free organization. You must learn to recognize their tactics and frustrate their
plans to capture you.

A survey of labor throughout the world today shows one unchallenged fact: Labor has
achieved its greatest strength, its greatest freedom, and its highest living standards in the free
democracies.

Your nation and mine is a free democracy and, with the help of God, will continue to be a free
democracy. Everything we need to achieve a better life is here or within our reach. It is up to
us to develop the intelligence and skill to make use of those means. It is up to us to marshal
our human resources, to unlock our material resources, and,—by combining the two—to enjoy
the bounty of our Creator as free Filipinos in a free Philippines.

Source: Presidential Museum and Library