Labor Day buildup: Women workers to light candles for wage hike, regular jobs

 

Women members of the partylist Partido Manggagawa (PM) and PUP students under the group SPEAK will hold a candlelight protest tonight as a buildup for the Labor Day commemoration tomorrow. Some 100 women workers and students will gather around 7:00 p.m. tonight at Mendiola to call for regular jobs and a living wage. The demands echo the main issues of the planned Labor Day mobilization of thousands of workers tomorrow.

“We support all initiatives to augment the income of workers such as the recent petition for a P710 across-the-board wage hike or a legislated salary increase for all workers. But we believe the best solution is to abolish the present system of regional wage setting that is the fulcrum of the policy of cheap labor. It is high time to institute a wage commission with the mandate to set national wages at the level of cost of living,” explained Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

The highlight of the protest tonight is the lighting of candles by women workers. The group plans to hold a noisy but peaceful mass action at Mendiola to drumbeat the main calls of the Labor Day rally. Among the chants and placards to be delivered by the protesters are: End endo! End provincial wage! Stop TRAIN! Presyo ibaba! Sahod itaas! 105 days Expanded Maternity Leave, Ipatupad!

Tomorrow PM and allied organizations NFL, Agila, Umalab Ka, Pwersa and Kilos Maralita will assemble at the Petron gas station along the eastbound side of Blumentritt in Espana at 7 a.m. The group will march to Welcome Rotonda at 8 a.m. to link up with other groups for a short program. And then the Labor Day march led by the Nagkaisa labor coalition will start at 9 a.m. and end at Mendiola. Some 10,000 workers are expected to participate in the march to Mendiola.

PM will also hold Labor Day mobilizations at Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Iligan. The rally in Cebu will be a joint Nagkaisa-KMU rally at downtown Colon in the morning of May 1. The Bacolod mass action will be a march by sugar workers and factory laborers through the Fountain of Justice in the afternoon.

“On the eve of international May Day, we challenge the candidates of the opposition to make a stand on the demands of workers for regular jobs and a living wage. After three long years, the administration has not delivered on its promise to end endo and end provincial wages. But ordinary voters will not be inspired by the Otso Deretso if they cannot make a straight forward commitment to workers’ demands for regular jobs and a living wage,” Miranda averred.

She stated that “Women workers are still waiting for the release of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Expanded Maternity Leave law. While pregnant workers, both in the formal and informal sector, can avail of its benefits 15 days after expanded maternity benefit became law last February 20, its implementation is still dependent on the IRR.” 

April 30, 2019

Women workers candlelight protest tonight

Media Advisory

April 30, 2019

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Judy Ann Miranda @ 09228677522

Women workers candlelight protest tonight

What: Women workers to raise demands on endo, wages and TRAIN

When: Tonight (April 30), 7 p.m.

Where: Mendiola

Details: Some 100 informal working women and students of PUP to lead a mass action tonight as a build up to the Labor Day mobilization of workers. 

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Candle lighting protest 

The issues to be raised are:

End endo! End provincial wage!

Stop TRAIN! Presyo ibaba!

Sahod itaas!

Ipatupad 105 days Expanded Maternity Leave!

Tomorrow PM and its affiliated organizations will assemble at the Petron gas station, Blumentritt along the eastbound side of Espana at 7 a.m. The group will march to Welcome Rotonda at 8 a.m. to link up with other groups for a program. And then the Labor Day march led by the Nagkaisa labor coalition will start at 9 a.m. and end at Mendiola. PM will also hold Labor Day mobilizations at Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Iligan.

DOLE asked to probe union busting at Cavite ecozone

With just a week to go before Labor Day, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to investigate complaints of union busting at the biggest export zone in the country. Workers of garments factories in the giant Cavite Economic Zone are complaining of union busting by their management.

“We ask Secretary Bello to act with dispatch as workers’ right to choose to be represented is being curtailed by foreign investors. With these cases of union busting, freedom of association will be among the highlights of workers’ commemoration of Labor Day on May 1,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The workers of Korean-owned Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. are alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections in April. Last April 14, some 100 workers in a motorcade of 50 motorcycles held a mass action at the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone in support of the Jisoo union.

Magtubo reminded Sec. Bello that “Last May 2018, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances. Thus we ask Sec. Bello to put its commitment into action.”

“To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last March Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts,” Magtubo explained.

Meanwhile another union busting complaint, by workers in Daegyoung Apparel Inc., also Korean-owned, was settled last Monday during a hearing by the DOLE-National Conciliation and Mediation Board with management pledging not to interfere in their employees’ right to unionize. The Daegyoung union filed for preventive mediation because workers were being called by management to meetings and asked to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Magtubo declared that “We commend the management of Daegyoung for committing to respect freedom of association and will hold them to that promise. As far as we know, things have changed in the factory since the settlement of the union busting complaint.”

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. Jisoo supplies to well-known and global garments brands such as Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato.

Photos of the riders protest at the Cavite ecozone can be accessed at

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157074669864323?__xts__[0]=68.ARCNe8Xq2DOLfIoDmiOvTmmdL-gw9m6y4kEKWiSzaD0_wJnX3WzPLxABqjj5qRM7ZpljywAYDZDVioixOOblkpcSAvz0tgFoIKM4BTcKao1_b7UxfGK-HRMbsegXNlpcq0CM-vpThuUaCHPe1sDu6WaBYpUyMUW1zEA5zLzKSnLGs8Fb3r8urgcjk5Z46ES9MZxYLd64wmU5SeZUpgcuDWTQwB61Qahdk9_JDKRyqROGAllu3qO6-604MCgtkyPYV-NZhwzmjW2qpMeELJh0m5T7apHMw_NYVnBp4SvDojKegkTF4AZTEDl2zILQuw3EclpbSw8A2FjmgL1k8mcn&__tn__=-R

April 24, 2019

Workers ask DOLE to include labor reps in Boracay inspection

Photo from Philstar.com

The partylist group Partido Manggagawa welcomed the inspection by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) of Boracay establishments even as it asked for the inclusion of labor representatives in the plan.

“We request the DOLE to include duly deputized representatives of labor groups in the planned inspection in Boracay to ensure compliance by Chinese-owned shops and stores of our labor laws and regulations. Under DO 183 released in 2017, reps of workers and employers can be deputized as labor inspectors to strengthen the labor law compliance system. Dozens of deputized inspectors from workers organizations have been trained since then and should now be deployed by the DOLE in Boracay,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “Some 30,000 workers were displaced by President Rodrigo Duterte’s closure of Boracay last year and most of them have not found employment again in the island. So we are concerned about reports that the Chinese-owned establishments have been exclusively hiring Chinese nationals as cashiers, cooks, waitresses, laborers and drivers. This is a violation of our labor regulations as these are jobs that can be done by Filipinos.”

“However, we do not call for the expulsion or deportation of Chinese workers. The Chinese migrant workers should be treated justly just as we would like our overseas Filipino workers to be treated with dignity abroad. Once there is a formal determination that their jobs can be done by Filipinos and can be filled up, the Chinese workers can then be repatriated back to China at the expense of their Chinese employers who violated our laws. The Chinese workers must be paid by their Chinese employers for their wages for the duration of their contract even though it was not served because of the repatriation. This is our pro-migrant worker resolution of these problem of influx of Chinese workers in our country,” Magtubo explained.

He averred that “Finally, we ask the DOLE to priotize the re-employment of Filipino workers displaced by the Boracay shutdown last year. The government has a master list of these displaced workers. Now that Boracay is back in business, these workers should be re-employed as promised.”

April 21, 2019

Workers, riders protest union busting at Cavite ecozone

Press Release

April 14, 2019

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Dennis Sequena @ 09480194340

Riders from factories all around Cavite trooped to the giant ecozone at the town of Rosario this afternoon to protest union busting at two Korean-owned garments companies.  Some 100 workers in a motorcade of 50 motorcycles held a mass action at the main gate of the Cavite Economiz Zone to slam the management of Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Daegyoung Apparel Inc. Workers from the two garments factories are complaining of union busting by their management.

The workers are alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union in the companies. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections this month. While in Daegyoung, workers are being called by management to meetings and asked to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Last May 2018, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances.

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. A preventive mediation petition is due to be filed by the Daegyoung workers.

Dennis Sequena, Partido Manggagawa coordinator in Cavite, explained that “To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last month Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts.”

He added that “In Daegyoung, workers recently formed a union to address issues of low wages, lack of benefits and excessive production quota. In one incident, he union president confronted one of the supervisors for asking workers to sign the anti-union pledge. As a result he has been slapped with a case for insubordination and is due to be suspended. These blatant management interference in the right of workers in Jisoo at Daegyoung to unionize are a gross violation of the Labor Code and the International Labor Organization’s Convention 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

Both Jisoo and Daegyoung supply to well-known and global garments brands. Jisoo manufactures clothes for Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato. Daegyoung produces garments for Kohl’s of US, Vera Wang of US, Jennifer Lopez of US and UBase International of Korea. ###

Workers to hold protest-motorcade tom at Cavite ecozone

Press Release

April 13, 2019

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Dennis Sequena @ 09480194340

To protest the union busting at two Korean-owned garments factories, Cavite workers are holding a motorcade tomorrow. Some 100 workers from different factories in motorcade of 50 motorcycles will stop at the main gate of the Cavite Economiz Zone in Rosario, Cavite to slam the companies Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Daegyoung Apparel Inc. Workers from the garments factories are complaining of union busting by their management.

The workers are alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union in the companies. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections this month. While in Daegyoung, supervisors are asking workers to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Last year, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances.

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. A preventive mediation petition is due to be filed by the Daegyoung workers.

Dennis Sequena, Partido Manggagawa coordinator in Cavite, explained that “To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last month Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts.”

He added that “Meanwhile in Daegyoung, workers recently formed a union to address issues of low wages. The other day, the union president confronted one of the supervisors for asking workers to sign the anti-union pledge. As a result he has been slapped with a case for insubordination and is due to be suspended. These blatant management interference in the right of workers in Jisoo at Daegyoung to unionize are a gross violation of the Labor Code and the International Labor Organization’s Convention 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

Both Jisoo and Daegyoung supply to well-known and global garments brands. Jisoo manufactures clothes for Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato. Daegyoung produces garments for Kohl’s of US, Vera Wang of US, Jennifer Lopez of US and UBase International of Korea.

Garments workers slam union busting at two Cavite factories

With less than three weeks to go until Labor Day, workers at two Korean-owned garments factories located at the Cavite Economic Zone are complaining of union busting by their management. These complaints once more put respect for freedom of association at the top of workers’ demands.

Workers at the Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Daegyoung Apparel Inc. are both alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union in the companies. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections this month. While in Daegyoung, supervisors are asking workers to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Last year, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances.

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. A preventive mediation petition is due to be filed by the Daegyoung workers.

Dennis Sequena, Partido Manggagawa coordinator in Cavite, explained that “To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last month Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts.”

He added that “Meanwhile in Daegyoung, workers recently formed a union to address issues of low wages. The other day, the union president confronted one of the supervisors for asking workers to sign the anti-union pledge. As a result he has been slapped with a case for insubordination and is due to be suspended. These blatant management interference in the right of workers in Jisoo at Daegyoung to unionize are a gross violation of the Labor Code and the International Labor Organization’s Convention 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

Both Jisoo and Daegyoung supply to well-known and global garments brands. Jisoo manufactures clothes for Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato. Daegyoung produces garments for Kohl’s of US, Vera Wang of US, Jennifer Lopez of US and UBase International of Korea.

April 12, 2019

PSA’s P10,481 poverty threshold means malnourished Filipinos

Photo by Philippine Daily Inquirer

The partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) lambasted the PSA for its poverty threshold of P10,481 for a family of five. “This threshold implies malnourished Filipinos and a miserable standard of living,” averred Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “PSA’s threshold is similar to NEDA’s much maligned P10,000 monthly budget for a family of five announced last year. In contrast, our own cost of living survey found that a family of five in the National Capital Region needs P1,300 daily or P39,000 monthly to live decently as of May 2018.”

“PSA did not provide additional details for its poverty threshold. But its food budget of P7,337 and P3,144 non-food budget contrasts with NEDA’s estimate of P3,834 for food and P6,008 for non-food. Out of the P7,337 food budget of PSA, we guess that P2,000 is allotted for rice. Such a budget can only buy 60 kilos of P32 NFA rice—which is hard to find in the market—for one month or 2 kilos per day to be shared by 5 people. This translates to just two cups (400g) per person per day or around 500 calories, just a fraction of the recommended daily calorie intake of 1,500-2,000. This means malnourished and stunted workers and children,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

In PM’s own study, P3,150 monthly are needed to buy daily 2.5 kilos of the cheapest commercial rice at P42. Of the P39,000 monthly budget, 44% is earmarked for food and 56% for non-food items. Utilities like electricity, water and cooking gas make up 8%, house rent 15%, transportation expenses 11% and education needs 13% of the total budget.

“Our cost of living study is in fact an underestimation as it does not provide for leisure and recreation, savings or social security which should comprise 10% as a standard or for a house help which is a necessity if the government insists that both parents must work to sustain the family,” Magtubo averred.

PM is calling for a substantial wage hike and national minimum wage as promised by President Rodrigo Duterte. The group is supporting pending bills calling for a national minimum wage of P750 to P800.

Magtubo insisted that “The focus now is on worsening inflation that has eroded workers nominal wages. But hardly noticed is growing inequality due to the stagnation of real wages while productivity is booming. From 2001 to 2016, labor productivity grew by at least 50 percent, yet the real wages did not grow at all. Workers have been denied their fair share in the fruits of production.” 

Cost of Living Estimate

for a family of 5 living in NCR (May 2018)

Items	Volume/Cost	Daily Cost	Monthly Cost	% share
Food & Beverages			17,446.50	44.33
rice	2.5kg/day x P42 (sinandomeng)	105	3,150
ulam & gulay	3 servings (P82/pax/day x 5 pax)	410	12,300
seasoning	2kg onion (P97/kilo), 1kg garlic (P110/kilo)	10.13	304
fruits	4kg  x P60 (banana)	8	240
cooking oil	2 liters x P106	7.07	212
sugar	2kg x P56.25	3.75	112.5
soy sauce	1 liter P42	1.40	42
vinegar	1 liter P34.50	1.15	34.50
fish sauce	1 liter P53	1.77	53
coffee	2 (100g) x P76.25	5.08	152.50
milk	3 (900g) x P282	28.20	846
Utilities			3,358	8.53
electricity	200kwh (P10.90/kwh)	72.67	2,180
water	20cu.m. (P23.95/cu.m)	15.97	479
LPG	1 cylinder	23.30	699
House rental			6,000	15.25
	1 month rent	200	6,000
Toiletries			1,027.05	2.61
soap	6 bars (135g) x P40.50	8.10	243
shampoo	2 (180ml ) x P101.90	6.79	203.80
sanitary napkins	3 (packs of 8) x P42.75	4.28	128.25
toothpaste	2 (150ml) x P77.50	5.17	155
laundry soap	24 (70g pack) x P5.50	4.40	132
deodorant	2 (40ml) x P82.50	5.50	165
Education			5,170.83	13.14
miscellaneous fees	3 pax x P750 = P2250/schoolyear	6.25	187.50
school allowance	100 x 2 pax & 50 x 1 pax/day x 22 days x 10 months = P55,000/yr	152.78	4583.33
theatre tickets	1 ticket x P200/grading x 4 periods x 3 pax/schoolyear = P2,400	6.67	200
school projects	2 subjects x P100 /grading x 4 periods x 3 pax = P2,400/schoolyear	6.67	200
Health			450	1.14
ascorbic acid	5 (1 tablet ascorbic acid generic) X P3	15	450
Communications			1,500	3.81
phone or cellphone	at least P25/day load x 2	50	1,500
Transpo expenses			4,400	11.18
fare to and from work	2 pax x P100/day x 22days	146.67	4,400
Total		P1,311.77	P39,352.38

NOTES:

1.     Family is composed of a couple with 3 children. Children are all in public schools (2 HS level and 1 elementary), school supplies, work books expenses, internet use for research are not yet included

2.     Basket does not include bill for a house-help

3.     Utilities such as electricity and water vary from time to time depending on consumption

4.     No item for leisure/recreation

5.     Health budget does not include medical expenses

6.     No budget allotted for savings.  NWPC basket provides 10% of the total

April 11, 2019