Rallyists hit broken promises to labor

Workers and teachers took to the streets yesterday to push for higher salaries and to protest President Duterte’s failure to stop all forms of contractualization as well his failure to fulfill his other campaign promises.

Protesters who joined the Labor Unity rally in Mendiola in Manila burned the “Du30monyo,” a large effigy of Duterte.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Duterte for prioritizing Charter change over improving the lives of poor workers, and for rejecting the workers’ demand to stop the end of contract scheme or “endo.”

“Workers are bearing the brunt of the broken promises of the administration,”

the labor group said.

PM chairman Rene Magtubo also warned of higher unemployment rate with the six-month closure of Boracay, Duterte’s call for Filipino workers in Kuwait to come home and the impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN Law) on the lives of the poor.

“President Duterte is again making a personal promise, this time of providing jobs for overseas Filipino workers. But he has yet to deliver on his campaign promise two years ago to end ‘endo’ the moment he assumes the presidency. Mr. President, not another broken promise,” Magtubo said.

“Even as jobs remained contractual not regular, wages are being eroded by the escalation of prices. Where is the iron fist to control prices? Government is sleeping on the job!” he added.

KMU further pointed out that there was no real increase in wages since Duterte took over.

“Instead of a substantial wage hike, Duterte gave us price hikes through the notorious TRAIN Law. As a result, the gap between the current minimum wage levels and the estimated family living wage has grown ever wider,” KMU said.

Members of the Alliance for Concerned Teachers (ACT) also joined the Labor Unity rally organized by KMU and Nagkaisa labor coalition in Mendiola.

“Salary increase is a highly sensitive issue for teachers and it is abominable how the Duterte regime has first played around with, then turned a deaf ear to, our urgent call for economic relief,” said ACT secretarygeneral Raymond Basilio.

“The urgency for salary increase has doubled since the implementation of the TRAIN Law in January 2018. Teachers are already 80 percent deep in debt last year,” he added.

Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns condemned the continuing contractualization among the ranks of daycare workers.

“The situation of agricultural and industrial workers as well as workers in the service sector is no different from what the daycare workers are experiencing, they are all deprived of the right to security of tenure… More unfortunately, a majority of our daycare workers are underpaid,” Salinlahi secretarygeneral Eule Rico Bonganay said.

Members of KMU, Nagkaisa, Bayan and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas also staged a protest at Plaza Miranda in Angeles City in Pampanga.

They urged the government to increase the P380 daily minimum wage in the region.

Citing a study by think tank IBON Foundation, Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said “the nominal minimum wage still falls considerably short of the rising family living wage. As of March, P1,168 is needed daily to support a family of six, while P973 is needed for a family of five.”

“The series of price hikes on basic goods and services early this year further dwarfs the real value of the worker’s wage not only in the National Capital Region but most especially in various regions where wages are far lower due to the divisive Regional Wage Boards,” he said.

For Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, while the work situation in the country is complex and compounded by various factors, it does not justify the exploitation of workers.

“Work – and the problems connected to it – should be approached in a holistic way. It should not be seen simply in financial or economic terms. Work is not solely a task accomplished, a merchandise produced or a target profit reached. Work is fundamentally what happens to the human person,” he said in his Labor Day message yesterday.

“Thus genuine working conditions are fostered not simply by transactions but by a covenant relationship between partners who respect and protect everyone’s dignity. In a covenant relationship there is no room for exploitation,” he added.

PNP: Peaceful Labor Day

Despite the protests held across the country, Labor Day was generally peaceful, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde attributed the peaceful celebration to the preparations of the police force and the cooperation of labor leaders.

The Manila Police District estimated that the number of protesters in various locations in Manila did not reach 10,000.