Labor’s inherent dignity still unappreciated in PH
A CENTURY and a decade since the first Labor Day was commemorated in the Philippines, Filipino workers are still seeking society’s appreciation of and respect for the dignity of human work. The plight of millions of workers continue to worsen under the globalization policies that the Aquino administration inherited from previous administrations and has opted to adhere to. The dignity of human labor has been traded and commodified for the superprofit of the ruling elite.
Human work is regarded as part of the continuing act of creation. The fruits of the toiling laborers’ hard work are invaluable contributions to nation-building. However, for many workers, the backbone of the Philippine economy, their situation has become more and more depressing within an economic–political system that keeps tightening the chain of oppression and modern slavery.
“Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of hosts” (James 5:4). Even as President Aquino calls for a “good job day,” palliatives like poverty wages and contractual employment, which are secured in place by trade-union repression in the face of the rising prices of basic commodities and eroding living standards, are the everyday realities Filipino workers continue to struggle with.
No amount of sugarcoating and patronizing by the State can change the degrading condition of Filipino workers. Despite a 6.6-percent GDP growth, 7.1 percent of the 98 million Filipinos remain unemployed in January 2013. This, after almost three years into Mr. Aquino’s six-year presidency. Poverty incidence also remained unchanged in the first half of 2012, as reported by the National Statistical Coordination Board.
The people who breathe life and development to our nation are bleeding dry from wretched poverty and intense starvation.
Giving importance to workers worldwide, the Promotion of Church People’s Response reiterates its aspiration to fight for and promote the welfare of the people, especially the poor. The assertion of the right to work and dignity of labor is an unceasing clamor. We long to see the day when workers are giving their best and their full potential and are enjoying the fruits of their labor; when justice has been rendered upon them through new structures and systems that allow especially the marginalized and downtrodden among them to attain abundant life.