Uploaded October 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
People's Media Advocacy, Asia (PMAA) is a research and social enterprise collaboration between PhD Students Daniel Rudin, Aphid Stern, and media professionals and labor advocates in Manila. Gifts to this effort will help the UCSC-based Rudin and Stern develop tools to improve the PMAA’s citizen labor journalism. PMAA is registered as an NGO in the Philippines, and has received funding from the University for California Institute for Research in the Arts, the UCSC Blum Center, BigIdeas@Berkeley, Public Services International, Building and Woodworking International, the ASEAN Services Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC), and the Union for Canada (UNIFOR).
It is socially necessary to ensure a safe workplace for all, yet the decline in union membership has impacted the ability of workers to achieve better working conditions and improved wages. ASEAN union density is at an all-time low, and contractual work proliferates. Due to non-compliance by both business and government regulatory bodies—particularly in the Philippines—and a decline in permanent work, PMAA has elected to focus on trade unions to promote labor rights to the general public. Our theory of change recognizes that for there to be worker protection, there must be strong civil society action, and that unions are the strongest civic organizations to uphold the rule of law at work. PMAA believes that Philippine and ASEAN unions are particularly well-positioned to act in the public interest. Despite their decline, Philippine trade union activity is outward-looking, leading, for instance, a robust campaign against precarious work. While our theory of change identifies this activity as exemplary, these very unions fall short in their campaign work due to their lack of capacity and inability to reach the general public. PMAA aims to "fill the gap" with a two-pronged solution.
Number one, PMAA has built up the Center for for People's Media (CPM) to act as a conduit between the general public and knowledgeable news and labor advocates. The CPM model consists of social news trainings, usually hosted by Philippine and ASEAN trade unions. We provide social news, digital tools, and train labor leaders and rank and file unionists in media skills. These trainings have been held in cities throughout the Philippines, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and usually result in social media teams that pursue advocacy, organization, and defense of labor laws in their workplace and regions. Our own social news intersects with the output of our trainees, who provide us with photos, press releases, and even video reports.
Number two, we provide digital tools for the citizen journalist, giving them a voice through our social media platform and connecting them to organizations that can address or amplify their concerns. We receive personal messages and emails asking for advice on specific labor issues. We then connect these individuals directly with labor advocates within the scope of our network, and leverage our own network in the mainstream news to broadcast their concerns. In this way, CPM advocates for citizens working outside the borders of the labor movement.
To track social impact, we monitor union-client success rates at contract negotiations, legal reform, and labor violation reporting. In the past year, we have publicized management interference in the certification elections of a union at the Yokohama factory. A recent post on the extrajudicial killing of a labor leader reached over 80,000 viewers on Facebook. Our Facebook page has 33,000 members and counting. We also assisted 300 terminated Pizza hut workers—we trained the workers, used our social news network, and leveraged our news media network, convincing CNN Philippines to cover the story. In days, the illegally terminated workers were returned to work. PMAA also expects to play a future role in the passage of the Security of Tenure Bill and minimum wage legislation, including the establishment of a wage floor that will reduce rural to urban migration.
Daniel Rudin and Aphid Stern aim to work from the Film and Digital Media department at UCSC to improve PMAA’s research and technology capacity. This will including leveraging the power of social media to better track the number of union contracts, violations reported, union engagement, legal reforms, and media mentions. We also aim to develop tools and strategies to improve outreach to unorganized workers. Ultimately, by bridging the media gap between marginal labor groups and the mainstream, PMAA aims to contribute to a more just and democratic society in the Philippines and ASEAN.
People's Media Advocacy, Asia (PMAA) is a research and social enterprise collaboration between PhD Students Daniel Rudin, Aphid Stern, and media professionals and labor advocates in Manila. Gifts to this effort will help the UCSC-based Rudin and Stern develop tools to improve the PMAA’s citizen labor journalism. PMAA is registered as an NGO in the Philippines, and has received funding from the University for California Institute for Research in the Arts, the UCSC Blum Center, BigIdeas@Berkeley, Public Services International, Building and Woodworking International, the ASEAN Services Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC), and the Union for Canada (UNIFOR).
It is socially necessary to ensure a safe workplace for all, yet the decline in union membership has impacted the ability of workers to achieve better working conditions and improved wages. ASEAN union density is at an all-time low, and contractual work proliferates. Due to non-compliance by both business and government regulatory bodies—particularly in the Philippines—and a decline in permanent work, PMAA has elected to focus on trade unions to promote labor rights to the general public. Our theory of change recognizes that for there to be worker protection, there must be strong civil society action, and that unions are the strongest civic organizations to uphold the rule of law at work. PMAA believes that Philippine and ASEAN unions are particularly well-positioned to act in the public interest. Despite their decline, Philippine trade union activity is outward-looking, leading, for instance, a robust campaign against precarious work. While our theory of change identifies this activity as exemplary, these very unions fall short in their campaign work due to their lack of capacity and inability to reach the general public. PMAA aims to "fill the gap" with a two-pronged solution.
Number one, PMAA has built up the Center for for People's Media (CPM) to act as a conduit between the general public and knowledgeable news and labor advocates. The CPM model consists of social news trainings, usually hosted by Philippine and ASEAN trade unions. We provide social news, digital tools, and train labor leaders and rank and file unionists in media skills. These trainings have been held in cities throughout the Philippines, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and usually result in social media teams that pursue advocacy, organization, and defense of labor laws in their workplace and regions. Our own social news intersects with the output of our trainees, who provide us with photos, press releases, and even video reports.
Number two, we provide digital tools for the citizen journalist, giving them a voice through our social media platform and connecting them to organizations that can address or amplify their concerns. We receive personal messages and emails asking for advice on specific labor issues. We then connect these individuals directly with labor advocates within the scope of our network, and leverage our own network in the mainstream news to broadcast their concerns. In this way, CPM advocates for citizens working outside the borders of the labor movement.
To track social impact, we monitor union-client success rates at contract negotiations, legal reform, and labor violation reporting. In the past year, we have publicized management interference in the certification elections of a union at the Yokohama factory. A recent post on the extrajudicial killing of a labor leader reached over 80,000 viewers on Facebook. Our Facebook page has 33,000 members and counting. We also assisted 300 terminated Pizza hut workers—we trained the workers, used our social news network, and leveraged our news media network, convincing CNN Philippines to cover the story. In days, the illegally terminated workers were returned to work. PMAA also expects to play a future role in the passage of the Security of Tenure Bill and minimum wage legislation, including the establishment of a wage floor that will reduce rural to urban migration.
Daniel Rudin and Aphid Stern aim to work from the Film and Digital Media department at UCSC to improve PMAA’s research and technology capacity. This will including leveraging the power of social media to better track the number of union contracts, violations reported, union engagement, legal reforms, and media mentions. We also aim to develop tools and strategies to improve outreach to unorganized workers. Ultimately, by bridging the media gap between marginal labor groups and the mainstream, PMAA aims to contribute to a more just and democratic society in the Philippines and ASEAN.
