News

CWA protests mass arrests of union organizers in the Philippines

18 Nov, 2019

CWA members, staff, and other activist groups rallied in DC against the arrest of union and progressive organizers in the Philippines. Those arrested included union organizer Anne Krueger, a strong friend and ally to CWA who hosted CWA members in her home when they visited during the 2016 Verizon strike. Thankfully, after 12 days of incarceration, Anne was temporarily freed. She still faces trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms following the mass arrests of unionists and activists in Bacolod City on October 31, 2019.

“The arrest of Anne Krueger and larger raids and retaliation against union and progressive organizers are unacceptable and the latest evidence of the effort to silence and intimidate those seeking to improve the lives and conditions of Filipino workers,” said Chris Shelton, President of CWA. “CWA strongly condemns the raids and arrests and stands in solidarity with Anne and her family and all those arrested in what appears to be a crackdown on workers exercising their human rights. We call on other international observers, including multinational corporations operating in the massive BPO industry in the Philippines, to use their voices to call for Anne’s release as soon as possible and to speak out against the climate of fear and retaliation targeting workers that is on the rise in the Philippines under the government of President Rodrigo Duterte.”