Filipino Youth and Students Unite with Workers and Immigrant Communities

By Princess Bustos
Chair
League of Filipino Students
San Francisco State University

League of Filipino Students-SFSU in an Anti-Imperialist, Pro-National Democracy, Pro-People organization representing the Youth and Student Sector. LFS-SFSU in an international chapter of LFS Philippines and is a member organization of BAYAN-USA (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan—New Patriotic Alliance).

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(San Francisco, CA) League of Filipino Students—San Francisco State University stands in solidarity with workers and immigrant communities, and demand for just and genuine immigration reforms and better working conditions, health care and descent living wages for all! Although Labor Day is a day to commemorate the important economic contributions of workers and all employees, let us not be distracted by this bogus imperialist holiday and forget the intense exploitation and increasing discrimination that continues to exist in the work place, especially in areas with a high population of third world immigrants.

Historically, the immigrant population's participation in the United States workforce as cheap labor has helped increase the wealth of the number one imperialist country. Immigrant workers, both documented and undocumented have long been the backbone of the U.S. economy, but are rarely recognized and ridiculously used as scapegoats to distract the American public from the ever-growing dissent against US intervention and aggression in countries such as the Philippines, Palestine and other Third World nations.

The vicious imperialist interest of the comprador big-bourgeoisie is the primary force of exploitation for immigrants and workers in the U.S. and other countries, outsourcing companies and businesses thus increasing their profit, while at the same time recruiting professionals from third world countries and paying them cheap labor. As a result, both workers here and abroad face exploitation through globalization and free-trade agreements, which continue to suppress both the basic needs and rights of workers and immigrants—higher wages, right to unionize, health benefits, resources, better working conditions, and the like.

The youth and students also face the daunting effects of systematic oppression and US intervention in other countries. As billions of tax dollars are used to fund President Bush and his imperialist cronies' "War on Terrorism," his administration fails to provide adequate basic needs such as education and social services for the youth. In addition, U.S. tax dollars are also used to support other administration's "War on Terrorism," such as the fascist, number one puppet, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose human rights violations have surpassed even the late fascist dictator Ferdinand Marcos. U.S. tax dollars continue to fund the fake President GMA and her barbaric, pernicious, and undisciplined clique, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), headed by the ruthless murderer or berdugo as he is tagged, Major Jovito Palparan and the Philippine National Police (PNP). Their sole purpose is to repress and crush the National Democratic movement and people's growing opposition against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's puppet regime, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People's Army (NPA). However, the political killings and human rights violations continue to soar as both the AFP and PNP make no distinction between the legal mass movement and the underground movement, in the martial law-like government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

As U.S. imperialists continue to control the economics and politics of the Philippines, and other third world countries for their own interest, more will be forced to seek employment elsewhere to support their families. As workers, youth and immigrant tax dollars are used to sustain U.S. imperialism across the globe, exploitation and human rights violation throughout the third world will only worsen. The tentacles of U.S. imperialism know no boundaries and the money-hungry-imperialists only have two things in mind—PROFIT and EXPANSION!

LFS-SFSU stands in solidarity with the workers and immigrant communities all over the United States and across the globe in the fight against exploitation. LFS-SFSU stands in solidarity with the world wide mass movement to cut and end the merciless tentacles of imperialism. LFS-SFSU stands in solidarity with the oppressed masses all over the world and supports the resistance against the cruel and inhumane treatments of freedom loving people.