On this day in 1988, thousands of school teachers in the Philippines went on strike, leading to mass firings and suspensions by the government.

The following account of the strike is quoted verbatim from a history of trade unionism by the International Communist Current, a left communist organization headquartered in Paris, France:

"In September 17-21, 1988 thousands of school teachers led by Association of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA) went on strike due to unpaid allowances. Classes were completely paralyzed, prompting Education Secretary Cariño to dismiss and suspend 3,000 teachers. This struggle was "led" by the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines]. Instead of generalizing the struggle of the teachers, CPP isolated it, leading to its failure. This took place as the workers' movement in general was on the wane.

...The years 1987-1988 were the last expression of the generalization of workers' struggles. Attempts of the militant workers to generalize their struggles were marred by union sabotage of sectoral and industry by industry struggles of the unions."