• Brother Arnel Dolendo, sisters, and brothers from the Philippine Trade and General Workers’ Organization (PTGWO) PTGWO;
• Distinguished guests, good morning!

Warmest greetings of solidarity on your 21st National Convention!

The Philippine Trade and General Workers’ Organization (PTGWO) founded in 1953 is one of the country’s oldest and largest labour union federations.

In pursuit of decent work, the PTGWO continues to promote the interests and welfare of Filipino workers. With the theme “Continuously Organizing, Persistently Empowering,” for your convention today, the PTGWO demonstrates its continuing and unwavering commitment to decent work and labour rights, particularly your determination to continue exercising your right to freely associate, organize and collectively bargain despite multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PTGWO’s ability to organize workers and assist them negotiate decent wages and better working conditions, before and during the pandemic, reminds all Filipino workers of the importance of trade unions and workers’ democracy.

Your organizing efforts, worker empowerment initiatives, and labour rights education programmes have greatly benefited PTGWO union members in understanding and advocating for their rights and benefits as workers within the spirit of tripartism and social dialogue.
 
Finally, more workers are better off today because of unions like PTGWO, whose unwavering and unceasing commitment to advance the rights, welfare and interests of workers across all industries where its presence is seen and felt – food and beverages, manufacturing, banking, construction and building, shipping and seafaring, transportation, essential utilities, and general trade and services, among others.

I wish you all a joyful, fruitful and successful National Convention!

Maraming salamat po at mabuhay (Thank you very much and long live)!