The Struggle of Powers: Empire versus Multitude

More than a hundred years ago, Marx had already wondered and asked that at the height of industrialization, how come there are still so many poor people? I then ask this question in the same line of his thinking: At height of globalized capitalist production how come these major capitalist institutions downsize, lay-off their employees and opt for outsourcing with ease even if they have already reached billions of dollars of profits and cash reserves? How come the government affirm these downsizing activities by major corporations and criticize the protests of workers? How come even the justice system and legislations heavily favour these corporations? I wonder why labor issues between capitalist institutions and the workers around the world are still very rampant, here and there when these corporations already have billions of dollars in terms of profits and cash reserves. With the aid of current events and recent history, I shall demonstrate the power of this new form of global sovereignty called Empire, a new form of global sovereignty that subjects the Multitude to alienation, exploitation and subordination. At the same time on the other hand, I shall be demonstrating as well how powerful the Multitude could be. They could be in fact more powerful than all these capitalist institutions. While Empire has already been materializing right before our very eyes, the concept of Multitude and the becoming common of labor is still an ongoing project, a work in progress.

Last August 2011, the Philippine Airlines had declared to close down three of its departments – its call centre reservations, in-flight catering and airport services having opted to outsource employees. This would mean that they would instead be contracting with agencies that specialize and provide catering and call centre services so they would be maximizing profits. With this move, the Philippine Airlines will be able to annually save from 10 to 15 million dollars which they said will be used in the rehabilitation of their old units or perhaps the money will be used in purchasing new aircraft units. PAL then decided to lay-off 2600 workers but as a consolation prize they’re offered to be rehired by third-party service providers companies such as Sky Logistics, Sky Kitchen, and SPi Global Holdings. The workers who will be laid off will also be receiving separation benefits. Consequently being employed in a third-party agency would definitely mean that these employees would receive reduced salaries. These employees would only be probationary in status. The office of the President had already approved the outsourcing proposal that the Philippine Airlines will be implementing.

In connection to these developments, the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) had a series of protests last September. Three days before the onslaught of the outsourcing typhoon, PALEA conducted its mother protest against lay-off and contractualization. The members of PALEA reported to work in Ninoy Aquino International Terminal II which is exclusively for Philippine Airlines but would stop moving cargo, refuelling planes, manning check in counters and all other jobs, leaving thousands of passengers stranded amid the wrath brought by typhoon Pedring as numerous flights were cancelled and the operations were disrupted. Besides the protests held, PALEA also beforehand filed a petition for certiorari at the Court of Appeals questioning the Office of the President ruling on the legality of the outsourcing plan at Philippine Airlines.

These are the key facts that I shall be diagnosing with the aid of Hardt and Negri’s Empire and Multitude as my theoretical and conceptual framework. The labor issue between Philippine Airlines and its employees clearly manifest the power of Empire and Multitude. To start, I shall at this point demonstrate how powerful the concept of Empire can potentially be.

At the time of post modernity, the economic activities of these capitalist institutions have become more autonomous from political control and government intervention such as the regulation of prices, downsizing and outsourcing activities, etc. Thus I’d say that the concept of command or planned economy is dead and consequently political sovereignty had increasingly declined. The tables have been turned and it is these major capitalist institutions such as SM, 7-Eleven Philippine Airlines, etc that are dictating and controlling the production and other economic activities. As Hardt and Negri mentioned in the preface of Empire, “The factors of production and exchange – money, technology, people and goods – move with increasing ease across national boundaries.” At the time of Empire therefore, the nation-state has less and less power to regulate these flows and impose authority over the economic affairs of these capitalist institutions. The nation-states have become merely instruments of these capitalist institutions such as the Philippine Airlines in their economic activities and they are not even in the position to control even they’re downsizing and outsourcing plans and activities. Every economic efforts done by the government of nation-states is directed not towards a national purpose but is directed globally. Even the sovereignty of nation-states had declined. This decline however implies that sovereignty is taking another form, subsumed into a global sovereignty and this is the very concept of Empire.

Extracting from the labor issue between PAL and its employees cited above, this is the piece of evidence I shall present to the claims of Hardt and Negri that the power unleashed by these capitalist institutions or by Empire had led to the decline of political sovereignty and the sovereignty of nation-states. It is very apparent that Malacañang willingly affirmed the outsourcing plan of Philippine Airlines and they also based on the statement of Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, even criticized the protests as an insensitive move. I just don’t find it reasonable why the palace has placed themselves on the side of these capitalist when in fact they have engaged themselves previously in contractulization and now to outsourcing. This would imply that the employees that they have in the mentioned department could only work for a certain span of time and is uncertain for rehiring. These contractual employees also wouldn’t receive benefits such as retirement benefits from the Social Security System or SSS.

How could the palace affirm such activity of PAL where it would mean unemployment for 2600 people? While it is true that they were offered jobs in servicing agencies instead, this would still imply that they would receive less salary much lesser than they have received when directly employed in PAL and it would mean on the other hand millions of dollars of savings for the Philippine Airlines. How could the palace support such move by PAL? How could the workers who are fighting for the security of their jobs appear to be the antagonists of this struggle? How could the palace favour Philippine Airlines more than the workers? How come the Philippine National Police, whose primary aim is to serve and protect the people, forcibly escorted these workers out of the NAIA terminal two? Is it because of the illegality of the protests conducted by the workers? If we have legislations concerning labour to whose interest is it in favour? These questions remain to be subjected to my suspicion.

This only goes to show that even if the palace had released statements approving the outsourcing of Philippine Airlines, it was the least they could do because they do not have the autonomy to regulate and command the economic activities of PAL. It is actually the other way around. In fact, the outsourcing plans of PAL would definitely be advantageous to the government especially to the Bureau Internal Revenue because the more profit and income generated by PAL would definitely mean a higher amount of business taxes that will come in which they could use for future projects presuming that these businessmen would file and pay their taxes properly. Another advantage for the government lies in their tourism department. Since the added savings was said to be allocated for the purchase of new aircraft units, this would definitely project to boost up tourism in the Philippines as PAL is the flag carrier airlines of the country. Lastly, having more contractual and outsourced workers in major capitalist institutions would definitely imply that the Social Security System will be able to save up funds instead of insuring benefits to these workers. The problem however is that these advantages were worth unemployment for 2600 workers. This only proves that because of the increased and globalized capitalist production, the nation-state and its government no longer holds the autonomy that will command, regulate and control the activities of these multinational companies because these MNCs such as PAL are highly essential in boosting up the economy. Thus, to this therefore I conclude that the command economy is dead. At the time of Empire, it is the reign of these corporations. It is the reign of a free market economy in which economic intervention of the nation-state and its government is limited only to tax collection and enforcement of private ownerships and contracts.

After presenting the power that Empire holds in the labor issue between Philippine Airlines and its employees, I shall now proceed to demonstrate how more powerful the Multitude can be. Hardt and Negri defined Multitude is that which is “composed of a set of singularities, a social subject that cannot be reduced to sameness, a difference that remains different.” Though the concept is composed of differences that cannot be reduced into sameness but rather commonality, “it is not fragmented, anarchical or incoherent.” The actions of the multitude is said to be based not in unity or identity but on what they have in common. In analyzing the case cited above, I shall be using the Philippine Airlines Employees Association to represent the concept of Multitude because these workers are under the rule of capital.

We could see clearly in the struggle of PALEA that truly they are the base structure that is they are the ones that allow history to move forward. It is totally an ideological to say that it is the workers who need these capitalist institutions because without them they wouldn’t meet ends. It is rather these capitalist institutions who heavily rely on the labour of the workers for it is because of their hard work, sweat, energy, solid efforts and their toiling that provided PAL millions of dollars of revenue. As we’ve seen, there were hundreds of domestic and international flights were cancelled the previous weeks due to the protests slash boycott of the workers. In the protests, the workers reported to work but never refuelled the planes, never entertained the passengers, and ceased moving cargos that had caused inconvenience to the travelling public and disruptions in PAL’s operations. PAL consequently may have lost millions and even billions of dollars in the cancelled flights. They have to rebook the passengers and because they were stranded, PAL even paid for their lodging in hotels while waiting for the flight and these losses were all brought about by the workers. The boycott and protests has the power to totally paralyze Philippine Airlines or any other hegemonic capitalist institution. That is just how powerful the workers can be.

Even if Empire’s prowess are its decentralization and deterritorialization, the Multitude must realize that this concept it is self-defeating – that a simple false move could be the demise of a certain capitalist institution. The Multitude can be that powerful in defeating Empire.

Although Empire has a superior power that restricts the government and the nation-states to regulate and intervene in their economic activities, the Multitude can be in fact way more powerful than Empire. However, this is not only the struggle of PALEA in this case but what should present into our consciousness is that it is the struggle of each and every worker albeit dissimilar but common. We could also participate in their struggle by not forgetting our sense of passion, anger, and boycott as well. If the Multitude participates in the boycott for instance of all these abusive capitalist institutions who outsource and lay-off employees at will, surely the workers will triumph over the subjugation of capital. Although we cannot escape capital, we could always leave a sting to this black hole, we could always be insubordinate to capital in so many ways. For instance, if then we have to buy CDs of our favourite artists in record bars that costs around half a thousand pesos, now we could freely download any song we desire to hear as we already have these P2P file sharing software and websites. We could be insubordinate as well to Philippine Airlines in order for us to render justice to the workers who were outsourced and laid-off at will by not supporting and patronizing their travel services. We could instead patronize Cebu Pacific for domestic flights and Thai and US Airways for international flights. If the entire Multitude actively and passionately participates in this move, surely Philippine Airlines would find its demise. The power of the Multitude whose attacks to Empire remains arbitrary and target-less is the realization of the common, the awakening of the consciousness that we are in a common struggle with capital.

The struggle of PALEA is the struggle of every worker from different walks of life who in one way or another are subjected to the rule of capital – teachers, pilots of aircrafts, saleslady, counsellors, lawyers, flight attendants, actors and actresses, farmers, street vendors, fishermen, fast food crew members, and even employees who do nothing all day but press the elevator button, etc.

We can now visibly see the workers of the world that Marx had been summoning more than a hundred years back is has been even made more possible at the time of the mobility, fluidity and flexibility of postmodernity for we already have the technology that would permit us to unreservedly establish connections to the world when labor has become already common.

Workers of the World unite!


References:

Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri. Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.

Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri. Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004

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