The second largest Philippine city, Cebu has avoided the worst excesses of sectarianism within the progressive and labour movement. The town's Labour Unity Front has regrouped many of the splinters of the Communist movement, as well as trade union leaders from the region's main sectors. Its unreconstructed Maoism was unable to attract more than a few hundred workers to its May Day contingent. Groups which have copied the CP's sectarian and manipulative style have failed to take root in Cebu.
Leadership is won every day.
We'd like to extend this kind of alliance in other areas. But for the moment, we're struggling to keep LUF together. Old habits die hard, and the left groups are very suspicious of each other. A LUF seminar in May attracted widespread interest from union leaders in the private sector, including organisers in the local free trade zones. But the problem is the public sector.