SENTRO or Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa [1] was formally established when it held its founding congress August of 2013. Representing at least 80,000 members in the private, public and informal sectors, including migrant workers, women and the youth, SENTRO is committed to take social movement unionism (SMU) to new heights by intensifying the organizing of industry and sectoral unions in the country.

The founding members of SENTRO include unions in the automotive, metal and metal-related industries, hotels, hospitals, beverages, broadcasting, banks, electric power, and some others in the manufacturing sector. Its member unions in the public sector include those in the local government units (LGUs), postal service and some national government agencies. SENTRO also includes one of the country’s biggest federations of transport workers, a national confederation of informal settlers, a migrant workers’ group in Hong Kong, and a youth organization.

SENTRO also vowed to help strengthen international workers’ solidarity, as it decided in one of its resolutions to affiliate to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the biggest global labor center with more than 300 member federations representing about 174 million workers in almost 160 countries and territories. SENTRO also encourages its affiliates to align themselves with global union federations appropriate to their respective industries or sectors. The GUFs that some SENTRO members are currently affiliated to are the IUF, IndustriALL, ITF, PSI, and UNI.

The founding members of SENTRO are the Alliance of Filipino Workers (AFW); APL; APL- Youth; Federation and Cooperation of Cola, Beverage and Allied Industry Unions (FCCU); KAMAO; League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO); Mariners’ Association for Regional and International Networking Organization (MARINO); National Alliance of Broadcast Unions (NABU); National Confederation of Transportworkers’ Unions (NCTU); National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN); Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA); Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance (PMA); Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS); Postal Employees’ Union of the Philippines (PEUP); Progressive Labor Union in Hong Kong (PLU); and Workers’ Solidarity Network (WSN).