The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is an independent labour center promoting genuine, militant and patriotic trade unionism. It is genuine because it recognizes the struggle between labor and capital and upholds the legitimate interests of the working class; militant because it relies on the workers collective struggle in defending trade union and democratic rights; and patriotic because it seeks to end imperialist domination and control over the Philippines.
In particular, the KMU aims to protect and promote the workers’ right to employment, a decent wage, humane working conditions, and their right to form unions, bargain collectively and to strike; defend the workers movement from yellow unionism and its reformist, economist and collaborationist tendencies; and heighten the political awareness and class consciousness of the workers through massive education, organizing and mobilizations in and out of the workplace.
KMU was established on May 1, 1980 during the last years of the dark days of Martial Law under the Marcos dictatorship. Its launching activity at the Araneta Center in Cubao was the biggest conglomeration of workers during martial law, attended by more or less 50,000 people.
KMU’s present membership is widely spread across the industrial, service and agricultural workers.
It has 9 labour federations namely:
National Federation of Labor Unions-KMU (NAFLU-KMU), Alliance of Nationalist and Genuine Labor Organizations-KMU (ANGLO-KMU), Association of Democratic Labor Organization-KMU (ADLO-KMU), Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa-KMU (IBM-KMU), National Federation of Workers Union (NFWU-KMU), Genuine Labor Organization of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (GLOWHRAIN), Drug, Food and Allied Workers Federation (DFA), Labor Alliance for Development (LAND), and Organized Labor Association in Line Industry and Agriculture (OLALIA).
Three (3) mass organizations are also under its wing, namely, the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON), the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) and MIGRANTE Philippines.
KMU has chapters in major regions in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
KMU has bilateral and working relations with unions in Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Africa and North and South America.
KMU is an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and ITUC Asia Pacific. It is a member of regional and international networks and organizations, among them, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), Southern Initiative on Globalization and Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR), Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links (APWSL), Committee on Asian Women, Clean Clothes Campaign, Good Electronics and Our World is Not For Sale network. KMU is also an associate member of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA).