Senate asked to heed workers’ cry and pass Security of Tenure bill

With tens of thousands of workers from different labor groups marching across the country on Labor Day to call for regular jobs and an end to endo, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Senate to pass the Security of Tenure bill. The bill has languished in the Senate even as the House of Representatives had already passed its version last year. The proposed bill would make regular employment the norm and contractual jobs as the exception in well defined cases.

“The senators should heed the demand of Filipino workers whose cry rang loud and clear on Labor Day. Even President Duterte called them out that Congress should pass laws that guarantee security of tenure and the right to self-organization. With nine more session days of Congress left, we vow to fight endo till the endgame,” argued Rene Magtubo, chair of PM and spokesperson of the Nagkaisa labor coalition.

Yesterday in Manila, some 10,000 workers rallied under the Nagkaisa banner with the demand to pass the Security of Tenure bill as the main slogan. Similar mobilizations were held by Nagkaisa and its affiliated organizations in Bataan ecozone, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Iligan and General Santos City.

Magtubo however averred that “The President should do more than just read a speech about workers’ rights. He should issue instructions to his allies in the Senate, such as Senator Cynthia Villar, to pass the Security of Tenure bill which has stalled over the objections of key senators. Actions should match words. Promises must be fulfilled.”

Meanwhile the demand for wage and voice that were among the highlights of the Labor Day marches yesterday are reflected in the grievances of an alliance of workers in three Mitsubishi car dealerships. The alliance of labor unions is holding simultaneous lunch break protests tomorrow to flex it muscles.

The main picket is at that Otis, Paco, Manila office of Union Motors where a company board meeting is happening tomorrow. Some 50 workers are expected to participate in the Paco protest.

The Peak Motors workers union is on the verge of a strike over a deadlock in CBA negotiations for a wage hike. Meanwhile the Union Motors labor union is preparing to file a refusal to bargain complaint. Finally three officers of the DCT union are facing termination.

The alliance of the three unions are complaining that the separate issues are a concerted attack by the three car dealers which have interlocking directorates and owners. The alliance is alleging that the deadlock over wages and harassment of union officers are part of a design to weaken or bust the unions.

The alliance is called United Unions of Union Motors, Peak Motors and DCT Motors. It is made up of the Union Motors Corp. & Sales Employees Association, Peak Motors Phils. Employees Association and DCT Workers Union.

May 2, 2019