Key to building this solidarity is carrying out a sophisticated communications strategy, of which the International Solidarity Affair (ISA) is the most developed aspect. Each year for the ISA, the KMU invites workers and labor leaders from around the world to travel to the Philippines for an extensive 10 day program, revolving around the celebration of International Workers' Day (May 1). This is seen as a way to develop both international labor support for the struggles of the KMU and to help build international labor solidarity between Filipino workers and workers from other lands; hence, it is more than a one-way process. During this program, "visitors" are given an in-depth "exposure" to the day-to-day reality of Filipino workers. While the program includes formal ceremonies with nationaldignitaries and meetings with KMU leaders, its centerpiece is going out into the various regions of the Philippines and meeting workers and, at times, their families. This takes place at their workplaces, picket lines and sometimes in their homes.

This article combines both accounts of practical experiences and theoretical reflections. It reports my experiences and observations during the 1988 ISA, begining with an overview of the entire program and a report of formal activities in Manila that began the ISA. From there, it examines current theory on labor internationalism and communications, both of which are necessary to understand the ISA. After that, it discusses the KMU's six part communications strategy to build international labor solidarity, evaluating the ISA as one aspect of thisstrategy and providing additional details on how the KMU conducts ISA-related activities in the (outlying)provinces. Afterwards, it reflects on the impact of the ISA on workers who live both in and outside of the Philippines, evaluates the KMU's overall communications practices, and suggests how these practices could be expanded to enhance democracy within the organization and the larger society. It finishes with some thoughts concerning implications that this case study has for communication theory.

A. The 1988 ISA

While working as aprinter and being a member of the Graphic Communications InternationalUnion, AFL-CIO, I participated in the 1988 ISA along with workers and laborleaders from Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, NewZealand, Sweden and the United States. (There were also Japanese workers there but because of translation needs,they had a separate program.)

Preparation was extensive.Prior to traveling to the Philippines, vistors received an orientationprogram which acquainted them with the country and suggested what they would experience and what they might like to take withthem. Preferences for where each person might like to travel or what theywere specifically interested in seeing were solicited. In addition,visitors received information abouthow they should act while in workers' communities, what type of clothingwas appropriate, and how they should donate money to an organization shouldthey desire to do so.

Once we were in the Philippines, we received a considerableamount of information. The KMU had prepared "orientation packets" for each vistor, in which wewere given an overview of the national situation and the KMU's position onspecific national issues such as the US military bases, and specificinformation on the region that we would visit.

The importance the KMU placedon the International Solidarity Affair was evident. There was animpressive opening ceremony in which some of the visitors activelyparticipated. Senator Wigberto Ta–ada of the Philippine Senate gave the keynote address. Speeches were also given by KMU Chairperson Crispin Beltran andother leaders. The event was covered in the national media. Andthroughout the entire 10 day program, visitors had extensive access to highlevel KMU leaders.

After the formal ceremonies, the visitors were informed where we would bevisiting. The group was split up by destination and our guide gave us a"situationer" (situation report) for the area in which we would betraveling. I was traveling to Mindanao with Philip Statham, an Australian trade union official, and we were given athree hour situationer by KMU-Mindanao Deputy Secretary General JoelMaglunsod, who had been flown in from Davao City to brief us and to serveas our guide.

However, instead of detailingevents in the provinces -- the heart of the ISA-- at this point in time, Iwill wait until later when I discuss the ISA as one part of the KMU'scommunication strategy.

B. Labor Internationalism

Because the ISA is an effortto build international labor solidarity, itmust be evaluated on that basis. And rather than trying to survey thefield of labor internationalism, which has previously been done by PeterWaterman (see especially Waterman, 1988d), and because Waterman has madethe most consistent and extensive efforts to theoretically and politically understand this issue, I will startwith his conceptualization. After reviewing this, I suggest a somewhatdifferent approach and then discuss the implications for the KMU.

1. Waterman'sConceptualization

Waterman makes the point thatbefore we can come to a contemporary understanding of laborinternationalism, we must first understand what is meant by"internationalism." He writes:

2. Discussion ofWaterman's Conceptualization

Waterman's thinking is clear and has a sophistication lacking in most otheraccounts. He argues, in fact, that traditional labor and socialistinternationalism might have been more developed around democratic andnational issues than specifically proletarian ones, even at their peak. And conceptually, he suggests that tounderstand labor internationalism, we must include internationalistsubjects, purposes, forms (spaces, strategy, direction and scope),organization and leadership.

But there is still somethinglacking. While these points are well-taken, they beg the issue that Ithink needs to be confronted: how can we evaluate the laborinternationalism that does take place?

Rather than limit ourunderstanding of labor internationalism to a "shopping list" ofpropositions, such as the 12that Waterman advances but that imply none are any more important thanothers, it seems helpful to recognize that there are different levels oflabor internationalism and they should be prioritized. By suggesting thatsome efforts are more developed (or even more desirable!) than others, I am not suggesting that those lessdesirable should be negated--as in saying, if they don't meet my standards,they're "bourgeois," harmful or even worse--but rather it implies thatthey should be appreciated for what they accomplish, while suggesting more can be done.

With that understanding, I suggest there are three levels of laborinternationalism, which I list from the lowest to the highest, althoughthey are on a continuum and not discrete. And each successive levelincorporates efforts at the lower level(s). The first level is where workers cooperate with each other acrossinternational boundaries: this can include everything from letter writingand donating funds up to and including taking direct action (sabotage, "hot cargoing"/black-listing of goods and equipment, strikes) insupport of other workers' labor and democratic struggles. The second levelis where workers help people in the "target" country change their socialorder: thus workers supporting social movement unions which are specifically fighting to change their social order;workers supporting different social sectors such as women who arestruggling to change the social order, as well as workers supportingliberation struggles as a whole, would be forms of this level of labor internationalism. And the third level iswhere workers in one country struggle to change their own social order soas to be able to both support peoples in other countries struggling tochange their respective social ordersand to live in solidarity and on a more equitable level with peoplethroughout the world.

Approaching labor internationalism in this manner recognizes thereality of imperialist (oppressor/oppressed; dominator/dominated) powerrelations in the world and suggests that ending them is better thanallowing them to continue to exist. And approaching labor internationalism in this manner validates thestruggles by workers in an oppressed nation--in this case thePhilippines--as being just as important as those by workers in an oppressornation--such as the United States--when they struggle to change their respective social order: by challenging their socialorder to no longer allow itself to be dominated by others or to dominateothers, workers confront dominative power which is ultimately the verybasis for their own subjugation.

3. Implications for the KMU

With an understanding of these different levels of labor internationalism,the labor internationalism being practiced by the KMU is of the thirdlevel. However, especially in seeking international labor solidarity fromworkers in the more economically developed countries (MEDCs), its efforts in seeking support would fit with the second aspect;i.e., they are trying to get workers in the MEDCs to support them in theirefforts to change their own social order.

Locating their efforts in the second level of labor internationalismincludes worker-to-worker cooperation, but it specifically includesbuilding support for KMU efforts in the face of harassment and interventionby the Philippine state, whether by legalor illegal forces. This also allows supporters in the United States to challengeefforts by the US Government to send aid and give trading privileges to thePhilippine government, giving opportunities for supporters to address issues through invoking campaigns about"labor rights" which, in turn, allows other ways for international labor solidarity to bebuilt. It also provides KMU supporters in the United States theopportunity to challenge the AFL-CIO's international operations in thePhilippines. Furthermore, this aspect of labor internationalism also allows KMU supporters in every country tochallenge international labor organizations, such as the InternationalUnion of Food and Allied Workers Organizations (IUF), when they attack theKMU (see Scipes, 1989b).

Prioritizing different levelsof international labor solidarity provides a criteria by which solidaritywork can be measured and suggests additional work that can beundertaken.

It is important to locate the KMU's efforts to build international laborsolidarity within the theory of labor internationalism before going on tocommunications theory. But having done that, we can now proceed.

C. Relevant Communications Theory

Before evaluating the International Solidarity Affair as a form of internationalistlabor communication, I must review the relevant communications theory.Because the KMU's minimum project is to extend mass democracy throughoutthe entire social order, this specifically requires that we review theory that addresses the role of buildingdemocracy within social conflicts. 

In this section, I review twoaccounts of media involved in social struggle from less economicallydeveloped countries--one from South Africa (Tomaselli and Louw, 1989), and the other from Mexico (Stangelaar, 1986)--as wellas refer to Peter Waterman's work in The Netherlands where he is trying todevelop propositions supporting the development of internationalistcommunication (Waterman, 1988b). After reviewing each, I then discuss their respective perspectives and suggestwhat they might mean to this study of the KMU's International SolidarityAffair as a communications strategy.

However, the issue ofcommunications goes beyond "simple" communication. As will be seen, the struggle to establish a "people's media"--mediathat is squarely on the side of the disempowered in the battle to changethe social order--is, in reality, a struggle to democratize society. Thusthe relevance of communications theory to the KMU extends far beyond "just" building international laborsolidarity, but is crucial to its very vision of a new social order.

1. Review

I'll structure my review toaddress studies which run, in relation to my concerns, from the moregeneral to the more specific.

(a) Tomaselli and Louw

Keyan Tomaselli and Eric Louw are two activists/academic researchers inSouth Africa. Their article is an effort to reflect on their overallexperiences with a media activist research unit at the University of Natal,and to try to share some of the issues and problems shared by "the movement" in the struggle to democratizeSouth Africa. It is an effort to draw out lessons from their experiencesand generalize them.

These authors state that thereare two categories of media in South Africa that can be considered "progressive":these are "the social democratic independent and the left-alternativepresses" (Tomaselli and Louw: 204).

They describe the two categories:

Thus, Tomaselli and Louw arguethat in creating a media network to support social change, it should meetseveral principles. It should

(b) Stangelaar

For the best example of theoryof alternative communications that I've been able to find, developed through his work on video in Latin America, I must turn to thework of Fred Stangelaar, 1986. In this piece, Stangelaar defines what hemeans by "alternative communication":

(c) Waterman

From this perspective, PeterWaterman has proposed "10 propositions on 'internationalist communication'." Waterman is interested indeveloping a concept of internationalist communication, which he defines as"the creation of transterritorial solidarity relations which enrich andempower popular and democratic communities or collectivities by exchanging, sharing, diversifying and synthesizingtheir ideas, skills and arts" (Waterman, 1988b: 26). In a propositionfocusing on labor communication, he writes:

2. Discussion

The most immediate consideration is that all of these studies are relatedto the expansion of democracy, and of social struggle to create it, fromthe bottom-up through the transformation of the various social orders.Therefore, each is of immediate relevance to this study concerning the KMU.

Tomaselli and Louw provide aclear idea on the interrelationship between the media, although they onlyaddress the print media, and developing democracy. They see the development of "progressive" media asbeing a key issue for the development of democracy, and although I didn'tspecifically refer to it, the maintenance of democracy once it is achieved;i.e., in their work, they also specifically raise the question of "how organic intellectuals of the left canbe prevented from becoming a new elite" (Tomaselli and Louw: 214). Butwhile putting out some excellent thinking and a general "philosophy" of therole of progressive media in themidst of social struggle, and ideas on how this can best beoperationalized, they do not provide theory regarding communicationitself.

Stangelaar, on the other hand, does theorize on the different types ofcommunication, and does specifically provide some basic principles ofalternative communication. He firmly places AC in the social struggle,rather than being removed from it. His conception of communication is not limited to the print media and, in fact,although he writes of AC as a communications process, it seems quite plausible that his conceptualization can extend toinclude direct, interpersonal communication as well as that which ismediated.

Waterman puts forth 10 propositions on which the concept of"internationalist communication" can be developed. While these areinteresting in general, his is the only effort which specifically mentionslabor (as in labor movements) as a particular area in which to develop alternative communications.

To summarize, all three ofthese writings are interesting and useful to our evaluation of the KMU's efforts. Stangelaar inparticular provides some clear guidelines from which to approach thiscommunications work, although Tomaselli and Louw provide a context andgeneral lessons from working within that context that are very important to our evaluation, and Waterman suggests theimportance of evaluating labor movement efforts. With this background, itis now time to evaluate the KMU's International Solidarity Affair asinternationalist labor communication.

D. ISA as Internationalist Labor Communication

The KMU is engaged in a project to transform the Philippine social order.But it is a non-violent struggle. As KMU Chairperson Crispin Beltranstated in an interview on May 2, 1990 in Manila, in which he differentiatedthe KMU's strategy from that of the Communist Party of the Philippines: "The most important consideration isthe peaceful and parliamentary character of our struggle: we denounce theuse of violence in order to achieve our goal" (Scipes, 1995). Key to this is the full establishment of democracy. And while thereare many within KMU who want to take this further, and counterposesocialism to capitalism, this has not been concretized and, in fact, theevents in China, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union over the past few years have forced some within the KMUto re-evaluate their ideas.

The key to achieving this project of social transformation for the KMU leaders is the development of a strong, democratic labor movement that is based in workplaces throughout the society. This labor movement has built strongties to other social movements in the Philippines and has been andcontinues trying to do the same with labor movements around the world.Thus the concept of labor internationalismhas been integral to their project from the beginning. Central to this has been the establishment of an International Department tocoordinate this work. The International Department has developed asophisticated communications strategy by which to carry out the project of building international labor solidarity. I review theoverall communications strategy, and then focus specifically on theInternational Solidarity Affair.

1. KMU's Six-Part Communications Strategy

I have differentiated six aspects to the KMU's communications strategy thathas been designed to build labor internationalism, both in general andspecifically with the KMU itself. One aspect has been the development ofperiodicals to convey news and information about the KMU and its struggles, as well as to provide KMU'sanalysis of the situation in their country to others. Initially there wasKMU Correspondence and KMU InternationalBulletin--with the Bulletin being limited to only a couple of times a year, albeit ingreater depth, with Correspondence being generally amonthly magazine--but in 1988, KMU dropped the Bulletinand began producing an improved Correspondence monthly. And while most of the news focuses on the Philippine situation,there is always news of labor and democratic struggles around the worldincluded in Correspondence--and this has included news of labor struggles in the US, such as thoseagainst the Hormel, Greyhound and International Paper corporations.

Another publishing effort,which is tied into KMU's internal education program, is the publication anddissemination of their key trade union education manual, GTU:Genuine Trade Unionism (EILER, 1988). One edition of GTU is in English,allowing them to send it to labor organizations in different parts of theworld. I have been told by a senior South Korean trade unionist thatGTU was very useful in their efforts to develop their new democratic unionmovement, and KMU Chairperson Crispin Beltran has told me that the SouthKoreans have translated it into their language.

Another aspect of the KMU's communication strategy is encouraging groups inother countries to set up "solidarity" or "support" committees, which aredesigned to communicate updates on the situation in the Philippines andspecifically KMU struggles to people and workers of other countries. Thus, in the US, there are the Philippine Workers Support Committees,with chapters in several different cities; in Britain, there's the TradeUnion Committee of the Philippine Solidarity Committee; in Australia,there's the Asian-Australian SolidarityLinks committee; all which have done considerable work in building supportwith the KMU. Both PWSC in the United States and AASL in Australia havetheir own publications, while the TUC in Britain publishes news and reports in the journal of the Philippine Solidarity Committee. Thesesolidarity groups also work to facilitate visits by KMU leaders in theirrespective countries, while serving as contact points and screens forpeople wanting to visit the KMU.

The fourth aspect is international travel by leaders. KMU leaders havecarried out extensive international travel to communicate about and buildsupport with their efforts, particularly focusing on various labormovements. While most of these trips have been to the more economically developed countries, where the labor movements aregenerally larger and have more financial resources, they have also traveledto various "third world" countries as well as to Eastern Europe and theformer Soviet Union. One innovative effort was organizing a European Solidarity Conference in London duringFebruary 1986, which included labor leaders and representatives from anumber of unions from throughout Europe. KMU leaders have alsoparticipated in two conferences of labor organizations throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans Area in Perth, Australiaduring 1990 and 1992.

The fifth aspect is the development of "exposure" visits throughout thePhilippines by foreigners. This takes place in its most formalized anddeveloped sense during the International Solidarity Affair, but KMUcoordinates visits throughout the country all through the year. This may be little more than just arranging for unionleaders in different parts of the country to meet with the "exposurists"and update them on the situation in their area, or it may involved a very detailed"exposure" to a local area. In any case, it is another attempt tocommunicate the reality of Filipino workers to foreign guests. This workcan often pay off to an even greater degree if and when the visitors report back to people in their own country, andeven more so if the visitors get reports of the visit published or getinterviewed in the alternative or mass media at home. 

And the sixth aspect of this communications strategy is the initiation and development of the International Solidarity Affairas a means to both communicate to worker-visitors the real situation ofFilipino workers and to involve KMU members at all levels in thiscommunications process. That this even takes place around International Workers' Day (May Day), which the KMUcorrectly recognizes as originating in workers' struggles in the US during1886 around the eight hour day, reinforces the international solidarity focus on the event.

Three things are immediately observable concerning the KMU's communications strategy: (1) ittakes place within a larger struggle for social change; (2) it is amulti-faceted approach; and (3) it is highly integrated into the KMU'sstrategy for social change. It is clear that the KMU takes its communications work extremely seriously.

And within this largercommunications strategy, I now want to focus specifically on the ISA as oneaspect.

The point is that the ISA isa unique communications effort within the overall communications strategyof the KMU. But it is also, as far as I can discover, a unique effortwithin labor internationally: I can find no other example of a systematic,regular program that is designed to build international labor solidarity. Thus it deserves being analyzedindependently.

(a) The ISA

The immediate purpose of theISA is to get workers from countries around the world to travel to thePhilippines to introduce them to the reality of Filipino workers; the idea is to get these visitors to work within their labormovements and societies once they have returned home to build support forthe KMU specifically but also for Filipino people's struggles in general.Thus building personal connections between each visitor and Filipino workers is seen as the key to doingthis. So while visitors are treated with respect and given access to highlevel leaders throughout the KMU, the crucial point is to get the visitorsout of Manila and into the provinces where they can see the real situation. (I discussed events prior toleaving Manila in the section above on the 1988 ISA.)

Once in the provinces, besidesintroductory meetings with local area leaders, visitors are taken to meetwith workers at various workplaces. 

For example, duringour 1988 visit to Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao, we were takento meet hotel, dock and garment workers. At each stop, we got an overviewand analysis of their situation and an update on their current activities. We were encouraged to ask any questions we might have, and theunion members shared their personal experiences and tried very hard to getus to understand. But we also gave reports on the situation for workers inour respective countries, and talked about how our labor movements were confronting the problems in oursocieties. The workers asked us questions: why did we come to thePhilippines, and particularly Davao City? They wanted to know why we werewilling to takeserious risks--the vigilante movement (i.e., death squads) was stronger in Davao City than anywhereelse in the country, and quite obvious with numerous "check points"throughout the city--to come learn about their struggles. As we talked, wegot a sense of each other and one could also see solidarity being created. One man even gave me the addressand phone number of a sister in California and asked me to call her andtell her he was ok--I was pleased at how much this message meant to herwhen I later contacted her and delivered it.

After spending a couple of days in the more urban parts of the city, wewent to a rural part to visit workers on a banana plantation. Theseworkers had been waging an intense struggle to maintain their union, withArmy units all around the area in this supposedly "rebel-infested" area. In fact, union officer Peter Alderite hadbeen hacked to death by vigilantes using bolo knives the year before rightoutside the union office on the plantation. Other officers lived in thebanana trees for months following the killing, although things had been a little quieter for awhile.

We had an extensive program at the plantation. We received an in-depthbriefing by the union president, who told us both about the union strugglesand the labor process for growing bananas. We then spent hours walkingaround the plantation, talking to workers as they worked, who explained their tasks. We covered the wholerange of the growing process, from planting to boxing the bananas forshipment. After spending the day in the workplace, we were invited by workers to visit their "community" and toeat with them. We met spouses and children, and visited their homes. Weshared information about schooling in the different societies and variousthings from our lives. Althoughvery poor, they shared what they had and related to us as equals--theyconveyed their strong sense of self-assurance and confidence that comesfrom having stood up for themselves and their colleagues. We then traveledto another part of the plantation and talked with Lisa and Philip Alderite, the widow and son of the slain unionleader. It was a particularly intense conversation since we met on thefirst year anniversary of Peter's assassination. Afterwards, we returnedto the community where people shared some coconut wine called "tuba." We spent the night on mats on thefloor and had breakfast in the community before going to other parts of theplantation and meeting other workers.

After several days in DavaoCity, we returned to Manila where we rejoined the other visitors. On May Day, we marched with approximately 150,000workers through the streets of the city to Luneta Park for a spirited rallyand speeches. The day after, we spent time sharing each group of visitors'particular experiences, and hearing the details of an armed attack on marchers in Laguna Province on MayDay. The ISA ended with a dispedida (departure) party. Among other things, we sang songs of struggle from ourrespective homelands. It seemed an excellent way to end the ISA.

Having a sense of what actually takes place during these visits allows oneto see that there is a second part of this communications strategy: ourpresence signified to those workers that their lives, their struggles,their victories, their losses and their pain was important to workers in other parts of the world. And that wewere willing to spend considerable amounts of money to travel to thePhilippines and then take certain risks to show our concern and make theseconnections illustrated to them that this was a serious concern, not something taken lightly. It is from thissecond part that one can see the ISA as a mutualcommunications process, a spiral, in which we learned from each other: itsurpasses a one-way flow of information.

(b) Evaluating the ISA from a Communications TheoryPerspective

But how do we evaluate thisfrom a theoretical perspective? First of all, following Tomaselli andLouw, this communication process is multidimensional--as stated above, thisis a spiral process. It definitely is a process to strengthen the grassroots democracy in the union andlarger society.

Following Stangelaar, the ISA qualifies as alternative communication. Itmeets all of his criteria for AC: it is based on an orientation towardtotal social transformation; it has a language which comes direct from thepeople and confronts that of the oppressor; it has a mobilizing and organizing role, following a spiralcommunications model; and the people are directly involved.

And, following Waterman, itqualifies as internationalist communication. The ISA "aids in the creation oftransterritorial solidarity relations which enrich and empower popular anddemocratic collectives by diversifying, exchanging and synthesizing theirideas..." (Waterman, 1988b: 12).

E. Reflections

The KMU's efforts to build international labor solidarity are havingimpacts on workers in other countries--and have the potential to do moresowhen workers from still other countries respond to KMU efforts--and theyare affecting their own members.

1. Workers Outsidethe Philippines

The KMU's communications pratices have placed the issue of internationalsolidarity again at international labor's table: workers supportingworkers is counterposed to the post-World War II traditions of labormovements in so-called developed countries either supporting their "own" state which may then act in support of workersoverseas but also may act against them (as sometimes in the US, andthroughout Western Europe and Japan), and/or attempting to dominate overseas labor movements (a favorite approach of the AFL-CIO).

The KMU's practices differ from "traditional" efforts in another extremelysignificant way: they are not done behind the backs, and without theknowledge, of their members. To the contrary, especially during the ISA,the KMU involves its members, and generally tries to keep the membership well informed overall. Again, thisdirectly contradicts the practices of the AFL-CIO, which tries to hide itsinternational operations and, when forced to publicize them, usually lies, deceives and in other ways distorts theactual situation (see Scipes, 1987).

By inviting workers to the Philippines to experience much of the day-to-dayreality of Filipino workers, the KMU takes the issue beyond being an"intellectual concept": spending the night with a workers' familyimmediately demonstrates the difference between workers' situations there and those in the developed countries. Yetat the same time, the pride of these workers shows immediately that they consider themselves second to none (in an assertive rather than anagressive manner), despite their poverty and general lack of power. Italso fills one with admiration for the level of organization and successachieved to date by these workers, oftentimes under horrible situations .

If nothing else, travel to partake in the ISA forces the visitor tore-evaluate her or his "knowledge" of developing countries. It brings hometo the visitor the reality that there are working people in the "ThirdWorld"--as opposed to mass media images of victims always seeking handouts; thatthese workers are not the enemy, stealing jobs from developed countryworkers, but sisters and brothers in the struggle against domination andespecially by Capital; and that there is a lot we can learn from these workers and their organizations. Thesefactors can combine to get visitors to be willing to consider alternativesto their own trade union practices, as well as alternative views concerningtheir own social order. Additionally, experiences on this level also contribute to building a new globalconsciousness.

However, I think the most important impact of the KMU's internationalactivities is that of providing an alternative view of what trade unionismcan be. While certainly riskier than the economic type of trade unionismpracticed today in the developed countries, social movement unionism as practiced by the KMU offers workerstheir own position of power in the struggle to determine the future courseof development of their own society, and a means of uniting with socialmovements for maximum impact.

2. Workers in the Philippines

But what benefits acrue to KMUmembers from its efforts to build international labor solidarity?Obviously, financial aid and moral and political support from workersoverseas are two benefits.

However, there are even moreimportant benefits. Knowledge that developed country workers are coming tolearn from them is extremely important; besides any other benefits, thiscontradicts the "message" given in Philippine schools and mass media that they are inferior todeveloped country workers, and it indirectly challenges the racism that"brown" people aren't as valuable or human as "whites." These visits alsosignify that Filipino workers are part of something larger, that they are part of the world-wide struggleagainst domination. Especially during hard-fought struggles where it iseasy for workers to feel all alone and isolated, this becomes a signficantfactor.

But the solidarity visits also bring something of more immediate benefit: they are a concrete way bywhich Filipino workers learn that workers around the world know about theirstruggles, are concerned about them as human beings, and that visitors arewilling to spend valuable time and money--and at times, take considerable risks--to come express theirsupport and solidarity by the most real way possible. The impact of thison Filipino workers is something that simply cannot be underestimated.

Additionally, thecommunications practices discussed herein can serve as a basis for furtherextending democracy within their own unions and within the larger socialorder.

From my experiences with the KMU, I have seen that it is democraticallyrun. Having participated in meetings at different levels of theorganization, I've found debate to be lively, critical and open. It seemsthat issues can be put forth by the rank and file for discussion and debate, although I've only been present atmeetings where issues have been presented by leaders. However, I've never seen any situation where I felt members were unable orreluctant to talk with their leaders--the situation is such where theorganization could not survive if this type of situation emerged.

Yet I do wonder what the situation will be like should the pressure betaken off the KMU, and some type of real democracy institutionalized in thecountry. Will this mean a deterioration of the democracy in theorganization as people "relax"? Will bureaucratization raise its ugly head? Obviously, no one knows, but as I pointed out in an earlier article (Scipes, 1992a:156-158), this issue needs to be confronted beforehand so as to be able toreduce any negative tendencies within the organization. Some of thiscommunications theory suggests a way to try to nip this problem in the bud: establishing democratic forms ofmedia at the grassroots level--not by staff or leaders but by rank and filemembers--would be a way to both counteract any anti-democratic tendenciesin the organization and, more importantly, institutionalize additional democratic structures in the union,while helping to further develop democracy throughout the largersociety.

What would this look like? The first idea is one of creating rank andfile-run local newspapers. This could be based in the union or, takingadvantage of the fact that KMU unions are social movement unions, in thecommunity. The latter would be preferable, perhaps involving the spouses and even some of the older children inthe conception, production and distribution of the paper. Obviously, this would prevent the focus frombeing limited to just workplace issues, and could serve as media for thelarger workers' community. Also, as people joined together from differentorganizations, it could work to build deeper solidarity relations with a larger body of people. (Thus it wouldbe conceptualized along the lines of Tomaselli and Luow's"alternative-left" papers.) But while this could be an elaborate process,it does not have to be an expensive one: the paper could be mimeographed and passed out hand-to-hand. Self-sufficiencycould be achieved with enough financial support. But while this papercould be started in a local union or in a local alliance--a combination oflocal unions--it should be run and funded outside of the union structures: that way, people get theopportunity and responsibility of developing their project themselves.

Another possibility is toorganize people to produce a short, say 15 minutes a week, radio program tobe aired on the local radio station. A well thought out proposal to station managementmight be favorably considered--especially if it came from a group that hasshown it has strong organizing skills in the community and was willing touse them to pressure station management to accept their proposal should management be unwilling to accomodatethem. Similarly, another group might organize to produce a weekly columnor news item in the local commercial paper.

It is here that Tomaselli andLouw's work offers some clear guidance. They point out that there are traditionally three main themesaround democratizing media: (1) thinking about the type of mediastructures needed and how to create them; (2) thinking about democraticpractices in the larger society and what role media is to play in developing them; and (3) how to prevent the emergence ofa new elite.

As they point out:

Two thoughts on all of this.First, included in these issues is the conception of leadership. What isleadership? Traditionally, it is thought of being the art of leading, ofgetting people todo what one wants them to do, and it is carried out by a person or peoplewho occupy formal positions in an organization. But Harvey Jackins, 1987,suggests a much different approach: leadership occurs when any personwithin the group thinks about the well-being of the group as a whole, and not just his or her immediateself-interest. In other words, any person in the group can be a leader,regardless of formal position held or not. And Jackins goes further,arguing that to succeed, every group needs at least one leader of this type; without this, a group will fail. So onekey point in the development of any alternative media project is to try todevelop everyone into a leader of this new type, so that everybody takesresponsibility for the well-being of the entire group.

Second, what is the base for a project such as I've suggested? Thereneeds to be an on-going relationship with a stable institution with whichmutually-based solidarity can be built and expanded. This does not have tobe a local union--it could be a community-based group--but I think a social movement-typeunion would provide an excellent base. This is because a union consists ofpeople from a wide range of backgrounds, with a wide range of politicalperspectives, and it is rooted in workers' communities. It also unites workers from all their differentperspectives. Because it is part of a national organization, it can callon this network for support, both financial and, more importantly, foraccess to people to help provide training, experience, guidance, etc. KMU unions are also democraticorganizations, so a proposal such as this could definitely be seen as a wayto both strengthen democracy within the union and within largersociety.

But what then would be the relationship with a particular local union? Isuggest that the union conceive of an alternative media project as beingone to strengthen democracy in the union and larger society and, therefore,make it a priority for development. (I think it needs to be conceived and projected as a democratic project rather than a communications project, so that people feelconnected with it.) The goal would be to, after extensive discussion andratification, initiate an alternative media project. The union mightprovide an original and limited subsidy or perhaps better a loan, and support for reaching out to people in the largercommunity from whom the media workers could get skills training, advice,etc. However, this would have to be seen as spawning a new organization,rather than an on-going union organization. In other words, the union would providehelp in getting it off the ground but then it would be a completelyindependent organization over which the union would have no control otherthan as part of the larger "clientele" of the media project. Obviously, this would take an exceptional union, butI think this type of union is fairly common in the KMU.

3. Implications for Communications Theory

Besides having implicationsfor the KMU and the struggle for democracy in the Philippines, this case study of the International Solidarity Affair andsuggestions that I've presented as a result of my reflection on the ISA andKMU's communication strategy as a whole have implications forcommunications theory. I'll suggest three.

This study has looked at theefforts by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Labor Center of the Philippines to build international laborsolidarity, and specifically at the KMU's sophisticated communicationsstrategy to build this solidarity. This has been evaluated from thecontext of both labor internationalism and communications theory. I reported on my experiences as a participant in the1988 International Solidarity Affair, the most developed aspect of theKMU's communications practices, focusing on the heart of the ISA which takes place among workers whensharing their particular experiences. Additionally, after reflecting onthe impact of the KMU's efforts on both workers inside and outside thePhilippines, I made suggestions in which expanding the scope of rank and file-based media work was presented asa key strategy in furthering democracy within the KMU as well as within thelarger Filipino society. Further, I reflected back on relevant mediatheory, finding it useful and yet presenting ways in which this case study and reflection suggests this mediatheory should be extended. 

Additionally, my methodology of using a case study and applying theory toit, as well as then applying the case study back upon the theory, hasitself been a form of spiral communication, thus increasing the value ofthis article. This overall attempt therefore honors the work of the KMU, while suggesting how it can beextended--and its relevance extends far beyond just the KMU.