Church, labor groups to fight ‘livelihood crisis’

THE Catholic Church and labor groups vowed to fight “livelihood crisis and societal injustice,” which they said are killing the poor, including workers.

“We are sick of suffering from neglect. Our patience has run out with the ‘crisis in livelihood and reign of injustice in society,’” the Church-Labor Conference (CLC) said in its National Heroes Day message as it recognized heroes, living and dead, who fought for the country.

“Bay a ni man kung ituring ang mg am ang gagawa, kami ay hindi mga martir [Even if workers are considered heroes, we are not martyrs],” it added as it called on the government to stop labor con tr actualization.

“Our united voice is appealing to the government to give every Filipino his/her right to decent life and livelihood, especially the poor,” the CLC said.

The group expressed commit “God’s peace may truly reign on earth’s kingdom, not money, politics and violence.”

Organizers said “it is only right for the Church to promote workers’ rights to just pay, secured tenure and organize and strengthen their row.”

The labor groups called on the - tant” duty to make a priority the well-being of the people.

“It is killing them through low wages, rising prices of goods and con tr actualization ,” they said.

“They also run the risk of being a victim or ‘collateral damage’ of [the Duterte administration’s] war against drugs,” according to the CLC.

promise of government to draw from the Church’s stand on social issues.

“Where is the promise of change and development? Why did the masses fall into poverty and violence? According to the Church’s statement on social issues, to live with dignity is to recognize and respect the rights [ of workers] to secured tenure, just compensation to meet their human needs, so that they may use [ them] for food, scholarship, housing and other necessities,” the CLC said.

“The system of contractualization remains despite Executive Order 51 and Department Order 174. Over 10 million people have become jobless, while prices of services and goods soar. It cannot be supported by a small salary,” it added.

The CLC is composed of Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilos na Manggagawa, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines- Caritas, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of ManilaArchdiocesan for Labor Concerns, Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association, Federation of Free Workers, Kapatiran, Kayumanggi and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino.