PH workers hold protest on Labor Day, call for wage hike among others

by: Jose Gabriel Ignacio

The government should urgently respond to calls and petitions for wage increases, end of labor contractualization, and job security improvement, labor groups called out on Monday, May 1.

Worker groups led by the All Philippine Trade Union (APTU) marched from España Blvd. to Mendiola Peace Arch to voice out their clamor on insufficient minimum wage and the prevailing system of worker contractualization amid the country's inflation woes.

This is the first Labor Day protest under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term. During his campaign, which he reiterated in his State of the Nation Address (Sona), Marcos vowed to stabilize the soaring prices of food and electricity as well as propagate more employment opportunities for the country.

The Philippine inflation recently hit a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January this year.

Labor leader Leody de Guzman told Six Stars Capitol that the government should prioritize strengthening the country’s local industries, particularly agriculture, to solve wage crises rather than repeatedly inviting foreign investors to commit and open businesses in the country.

“Ang dapat, sa halip na sa mga kapitalista sumandig, sumandig ang gobyerno sa mga manggagawa at mga magsasaka; paunlarin ang ating kanayunan at ang ating industriya,” de Guzman said.

“Lahat ng presidente, hindi lang si Bongbong, pagkapanalo, punta sa ibang bansa, mag-iimbita ng foreign investor, isang daang taon na nating ginagawa yan pero hindi umuunlad ang bayan atang yumayaman, mga kapitalista,” the former presidential candidate added.

Marcos is currently on a four-day working visit in the United States (US)—his 2nd meeting with President Joe Biden since September last year.

Call to convert plans to action

According to the latest data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippines' minimum wage for non-agriculture workers for Metro Manila currently stands at Php570, which is only 49.1 percent of the Php1,161 family living wage of the region as of January 2023. This prompted the labor groups to call the attention of legislators to pass bills filed in pursuit of this demand.

On March 14, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Bill No. 2002, or the Across-the-Board Wage Increase Act of 2023, which seeks to raise wages in the private sector across all regions by Php150.

Last month, a similar provision was also filed at Congress by Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Partylist Representative House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza—House Bill No. 7871 or the Wage Recovery Act of 2023, which seeks for a legislated across-the-board wage recovery increase of Php150 in the daily wages of private sector workers.

Moreover, there is also House Bill No. 7568 filed by the three-person Makabayan Bloc to assist Filipinos workers in private sectors, proposing to mandate Php750 across-the-board daily wage increase nationwide. The bill was authored by Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro, and Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Danniel Manuel.

The same authors filed House Bill No. 2173, or the Pro-Worker Security of Tenure Act of 2022, seeking to ban all forms of worker contractualization in the country.

Urge for ‘real’ representation

The labor groups also castigated Marcos for signing Executive Order (EO) No. 23 on Apr.30, creating an inter-agency body to oversee labor cases as no members or representatives from the labor force were consulted not got involved in the decision-making process of the EO.

In a statement released by the APTU via the KMU’s Facebook page, they said that as a signatory to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 144 on tripartism and social dialogue, the Philippine government is “obliged to involve workers and employers in decision making, especially on issues that directly affect them, especially on matters pertaining to the resolution of long-standing cases of killings of trade unionists and other violations of freedom of association.”

“Iyan ang isang kongkreto o panibagong patunay na ang gobyernong ito ay hindi naman talaga para sa mga manggagawa. Gagawa ng propaganda, na akala mo’y totoo pero ‘pagka inintindi mo, hindi pala. Outside pa rin ang mga manggagawa,” de Guzman said. “kaya hindi yung totoo yung kanyang sinasabi na ‘Ang pangarap niyo, ay pangarap ko.’”

Article 2 of the said convention states that each member of the ILO which ratifies this convention are to operate procedures that ensure effective consultations, with respect to the matters concerning the activities of the ILO “between representatives of the government, of employers and of workers.”

De Guzman lamented how the government exercises the system of tripartism, saying that it fell short on manifesting its essence of practicing social dialogue with the labor sector just like this situation that the APTU currently deals with.

“Dapat ang majority do’n, mga manggagawa. Dapat paupuin do’n ang lahat ng kinatawan ng mga pederasyon. Dapat gano’n ang pag-uusap. Magsama-sama yung mga negosyante, magsama-sama yung mga manggagawa at doon mag-usap. Kung magbotohan, magbotohan,” he said.

“Hindi yung boto ng mga kapitalista, at yung gobyerno na siyempre pinondohan ng mga kapitalista nung eleksyon, do’n na rin boboto. Talo yung mga manggagawa. Kaya walang matinong tripartite para sa mga manggagawa,” de Guzman added.

The APTU also accused the DOLE for “cherry-picking recommendations and evading action on FOA concerns raised by HLTM, and will be perceived as doing such by the ILO and other nations.”

Government’s progress

Meanwhile, the President ensured that the Palace is taking actions to respond labor and employment issues that the country raises.

Marcos ordered the DOLE to spearhead job, livelihood and business fairs to provide added opportunities to Filipino workers. On Apr. 30, DOLE-NCR organized job fairs at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

The DOLE organized a total of 40 job fairs nationwide for the celebration of the Labor Day with over 15,000 applicants and nearly 700 hired on the spot as of writing.

In his Labor Day message, Marcos applauded all Filipino workers for their huge contribution to the boosting of the country’s economy.

“Ngayon ay pinaparangalan natin ang mga bumubuo ng ating sektor ng paggawa—silang nagbabahagi ng kanilang kaalaman at kasanayan upang patuloy na maitaguyod ang isang maunlad at produktibong Pilipinas,” the President said.

Marcos encouraged the Filipino workers to partake in the job fairs and other initiatives that the government would do to strengthen the country’s labor force and assured them that his administration would do and maximize everything it has to respond to the people’s demands.

No announcements, however, on wage hikes and contractualization were made by the Palace.

The groups’ movement is also the first Labor Day protest in three years since the peak of the pandemic’s onslaught as restrictions and lockdowns continue to ease.