Workers Demand Wage Hike and Push Labor Agenda for Labor Day

 

 Amid economic hardship, workers demand higher wages, job security, and public services on Labor Day as political elites vie for power

 

·       Manila: Groups comprising National Wage Coalition will assemble along various points in España then march at 7:00 am to Mendiola for a joint program. PM and allied groups will assemble at Petron Blumentritt at 6:30 am

·       Cebu: Various labor groups will converge at Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City at 9:00 am

for a joint program

·       Bacolod: Sugar farm workers will lead the rally in the city

·       Iloilo: The coalition United Labor will assemble in the morning in front of UP Visayas then march to the Provincial Capitol for a joint program

·       Iligan: Unions will hold a rally in the morning at the plaza with the city’s tripartite industrial peace council

 

As the nation approaches Labor Day, Filipino workers are amplifying their demands for higher wages, regular employment, and accessible public services amid worsening economic conditions. Recent surveys reveal the deepening crisis: over one in four Filipino families experience involuntary hunger—the highest rate since the pandemic—while more than half consider themselves poor, the worst in 21 years. 

 

These findings contradict the government’s rosy economic claims of low inflation and unemployment. The reality is stark: minimum wages remain below the poverty threshold, contractualization (endo) is rampant, and public services like PhilHealth are being gutted to fund political patronage. 

 

Workers’ Demands

 

Workers demand a legislated wage increase and reject the regional wage board system that keeps provincial rates pitifully low. The Senate has approved a ₱100 hike, while the House passed ₱200. President BBM must immediately endorse a legislated salary increase.

·       Nationwide wage hike, not provincial rates

·       Regular jobs, not precarious endo contracts

·       Fully funded public services as a right, not subject to patronage

·       Respect for labor rights, including unionization and collective bargaining

 

Labor Day must spotlight the independent voice of the working class, whose agenda—higher pay, job security, affordable prices, and public services—are initial steps towards a lasting solution to mass suffering. 

 

Political Hypocrisy vs. Workers’ Unity

 

While political dynasties like the Marcoses and Dutertes battle for power and loot public coffers, workers face hunger and exploitation.

 

Enough of elite theatrics—Labor Day must unite workers across factions, regions, and generations behind a shared platform. 

 

On Labor Day, labor groups will be rallying together despite electoral divides, prioritizing workers’ demands over partisan loyalties. 

 

PM urges workers in key cities nationwide to join the Labor Day mobilizations to press for a P200 wage hike, regular jobs, quality public services, and affordable prices for basic goods and services.

April 28, 2025

Duterte must be held accountable for drug war and labor-related killings

  

The workers group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that former President Rodrigo Duterte must be held accountable for the widespread killings that transpired under his administration. “Duterte must face the music for all the killings during his bloody regime, from drug war killings to the murder of labor leaders and activists,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and Marikina City councilor.

 

He added that “For all intents and purposes, Duterte admitted to his culpability for the drug war deaths in his testimony yesterday at the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing. But we must also remember that the drug war extended into a war against human rights defenders. His violent rhetoric not just against drug addicts but also against human rights activists enabled the security forces and vested interests who consider labor and environmental rights defenders as enemies or terrorists. Justice must be served to the 68 victims of labor-related killings under Duterte.”

 

Labor groups put the number of labor leaders and activists killed at 68 from 2016 to the end of Duterte’s term. For 2024, the Philippines slipped in the Labour Rights Index compared to its 2022 score because of the lack of protection for freedom to unionize and bargain collectively. The Labour Rights Index is maintained by the WageIndicator Foundation and the Center for Labor Research based in Amsterdam.

 

“The Philippines got a zero score for Freedom of Association which is to be expected given the unsolved labor-related killings. The Human Rights Watch counted four more union leaders and activists killed under the current administration bringing the total to 72. Moreover, the recommendations of the International Labour Organization’s High-Level Mission in 2023 remain remain pending due to the government’s lack of social dialogue with workers’ groups,” Magtubo explained.

 

The High-Level Mission was the result of outrage at the brutal daylight murder of union organizer Dennis Sequeña just a couple of days before the International Labour Conference of 2019. Sequeña’s killing remains unsolved despite a finding by the AO 35 national task force that it is labor-related. “Justice for Dennis Sequeña will partly be achieved if Duterte is punished for the thousands extra-judicial and labor-related killings under his administration,” Magtubo concluded.

October 29, 2024

Comelec's Suspension of PI Proceedings: Merely a Truce in an Escalating Power Struggle

 

In the midst of an intensifying power struggle between the competing dynasties of the UniTeam coalition, the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition views the recent suspension of the people's initiative (PI) proceedings by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as nothing more than a temporary truce.

 

The labor group stated this view while holding another picket outside the Senate Building on Tuesday, coinciding with the scheduled committee hearing on alleged irregularities in the PI process.

 

The Senate action was also part of Nagkaisa’s continuing campaign to press for the enactment of the P150 across-the-board wage hike, end to endo, and other economic measures to address the rising cost-of-living crisis, which for them requires immediate action from Congress and the Executive rather than to revising the Constitution at this point in time.

 

“Chicha hindi chacha ang kailangan ng mga manggagawa, lalong hindi ang pumili sa pagitan ng polvoron o fentanyl,” asserted Partido Manggagawa (PM) Secretary General Judy Miranda, as she dismissed claims about the benefits arising from constitutional amendments.

 

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), observed that the recent counter-rally in Davao on January 28 has further intensified the conflict between former allies within the UniTeam, and it looks like the war of dynasties has reached the point of no return.

 

“Hindi pa patay ang PI,” Mata insists, noting that the Comelec’s suspension of PI proceedings might only be a tactical move to buy more time for both sides to strategize.

 

Both Miranda and Mata emphasized the importance of exposing the political and economic motives behind the House-led push for charter change through PI, at the same time cautioning against allowing the anti-charter change narrative to be co-opted by the Duterte dynasty for their own political gain.

 

Addressing President Duterte's shifting stance on charter change, they remarked, "Duterte may attempt to rebrand himself as an opponent of charter change, but his track record speaks volumes about his true intentions."

 

They reminded the Senate that it was Duterte who vetoed the Security of Tenure bill passed by Congress, failed to fulfill his promise of abolishing the provincial rate system in wage setting, and destroyed unions through red tagging during his term, “therefore making him a sham ambassador of the anti-chacha campaign that he wants to elevate into a war against Bongbong Marcos and Martin Romualdez.”

 

In conclusion Nagkaisa! urged the Senate to prioritize pressing issues such as the proposed P150 wage hike and highlights the importance of distinguishing authentic agenda to improve the lives of workers from the personal and partisan political interests of the warring political dynasties.

PRESS RELEASE

Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition

30 January 2024

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid02dqzW4Fnf2aN9Fw5K2XA1vdr3ZD82TkLX2tCSU3vYSULEMscQU5WYVxfsoYNVXC7zl

Labor coalition tells union allies to encourage Biden to remind BBM of need to respect workers’ rights in the Philippines

Photo from Twitter

Because President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has opted to visit US President Joe Biden rather than meet Philippine labor groups on Labor Day to discuss mounting economic and labor rights concerns, the Nagkaisa labor coalition sent appeals instead to its trade union allies in the US to encourage Biden to remind Marcos of the need to restore the free exercise of labor rights in the Philippines amid widespread violations during the Duterte administration as confirmed by the recent ILO High Level Tripartite Mission in its report.

 

Official advisory of the Marcos-Biden meeting on Labor Day stated security as well as trade and investment as main subjects of the bilateral talk.

 

The Biden administration, as explained by embassy officials during a meeting with Philippine trade unions early this month, is pushing for a “worker-centered” trade policy.

 

“But how can PH workers benefit from any trade talks with the US when all the coercive instruments instituted by the Duterte regime are kept intact by Marcos Jr.? For us, for trade to be worker-centered, it has to redound to the benefit of workers,” said Nagkaisa Chair Atty. Sonny Matula.

 

But anticipating a rather security-focused Marcos-Biden meeting, labor groups in Nagkaisa has requested their counterparts in the USA, the same groups that led the filing of a GSP complaint in December 2022, to urge Biden in their trade talks to encourage Marcos Jr to demonstrate seriousness in addressing the long-standing concerns of the labor movement, starting with taking concrete steps to realize the recommendations of the ILO HLTM.

 

“All it takes for President Marcos Jr. to show its seriousness on trade and labor is for him to issue an Executive Order establishing the Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association,” insisted Matula.

 

According to Matula, trade union leaders and organizers have faced lethal violence, with 68, or 69 now with the most recent case in Negros, who were killed since 2016.

 

“The situation seems to hark back to the 18th or 19th century, as if unionizing is still considered a crime. But with President Marcos opting to visit US President Biden rather than meet with Philippine unions to talk about this issue this coming Labor Day, we hope he learns from Biden’s Presidential Task Force on union organizing that supports union revitalization in the US, and hopes that upon his return a decision is made to establish a Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association in the Philippines, as recommended in the ILO-HTLM report.”

 

Aside from labor rights and the creation of a Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association, the Nagkaisa and the unified Labor Day action by All Philippine Trade Unions on Monday would also raise demands for immediate wage hike, an end to ‘endo’ or contractualization and creation of decent jobs, as well as provisions of quality public services, including those for women and the youth. 

PRESS RELEASE

Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

29 April 2023

Ref: Atty. Sonny Matula

Chairperson

09178079041

 

Labor groups alarmed at MEPZ mass layoff

 

Labor groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) expressed their concern at the retrenchment of some 4,000 workers across five factories of the Sports City group of companies.

 

“This is alarming for workers in Cebu and elsewhere. For the biggest MEPZ employer to retrench 1/4 of of its workers may be a portent of worse things to come. What is the response of the government? Don't tell us ‘unity’,” exclaimed Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson.

 

Workers of garment firms Mactan Apparels, Inc.; Metro Wear, Inc.; Globalwear Manufacturing, Inc.; Feeder Apparel Corporation; and Vertex One Apparel Phils. Inc.—all owned by Sports City—were affected in the largest termination yet this year. Sports City is the biggest employer in the Mactan Economic Zone and supplies to global garment brands.

 

Both PM and SENTRO said that they will further investigate the claims of Sports City about the “sudden dropping and reduction of orders from our clients.” “We cannot take these claims at face value. In fact, factories traditionally increase their production in the ber months to meet the huge spike in demand during the holiday season. We will seek help from our allies abroad to check the veracity of these claims of diminished orders,” Derige insisted.

Sports City supplies apparel to global brands Adidas, Under Armour, Saucony, New Balance and Lululemon. 

 

He said that workers were caught off guard by the mass layoff. He explained that “There was no social dialogue between the employer and the employees. A better option is that negotiations transpire between employer and employee representatives so that workers have voice and participation in the basis and terms of the termination.”

 

Last year, unions were formed at Mactan Apparel, Metro Wear and Globalwear but were defeated in the certification election. PM had slammed the companies for delaying the elections for almost half a year even as an anti-union campaign was conducted using social media.

 

In the face of the mass layoff at the MEPZ and other companies, PM and SENTRO also called on the government to heed the demand for employment guarantees. The proposal of the labor coalition Nagkaisa calls for public employment, preferably in climate jobs, for unemployed workers over a period of 100 days to nine months at minimum wages or P10,000, whichever is higher. In response to this demand, the Department of Labor and Employment undertook a study of a social protection floor which has remained unimplemented.

 

“It is high time that the employment guarantee and other social protection mechanisms are enacted,” Derige ended

September 30, 2022

Labor group slams employers seeking wage exemptions: “Wag kayong kuripot”

  

Joey Concepcion, big capitalist and presidential adviser

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed employers for seeking exemption from the recently announced minimum wage hikes as it shouted out to them: “Wag kayong kuripot!” The group called on workers to express outrage as the most vulnerable workers will be left with nothing if the employers get their wish.

 

Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Frank Carbon, vice president in the Visayas of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Joey Concepcion, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship, all declared that employers will be hit by the pay increases. Last Friday, the Western Visayas regional wage board hiked the minimum wage by P55 to P110. Likewise, the NCR wage board announced a P33 increase, thus raising the minimum wage in Metro Manila to P570. PM had earlier called for a P100 legislated wage hike.

 

“Pera na magiging bato pa. This is what will happen if the employers’ demand for exemption or deferment is granted. The wage hikes are not even enough to recover the value lost to inflation for the past three years. Deferring the pay increase and exempting employers will be rubbing salt on the wound,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He added that “Doomsday scenarios of firms going bankrupt, laying off workers and inflation running amok are just the usual disinformation and scare tactics of employers in their class war against a wage increase and a profit decrease. Studies have shown that the employment and inflation effects of wage increases in developing countries are marginal. Employers are being disingenuous in saying that salary hikes will just induce price increases but they are silent on the fact that wages have already been eroded by inflation. Workers are the victims of inflation and wage hikes are not its cause.”

 

The group insisted that the pandemic-induced economic crisis is not an argument against a wage hike. “On the contrary, it is a reason to provide money to consumers through a pay increase. Boosting the purchasing power of consumers—especially lowly paid workers who spend most of their take-home pay compared to high income earners—will pump prime the economy and lead to the revival of MSMEs.”

 

PM pointed out that a MSME with 10 workers, will only incur an additional P330 in daily wage costs or P8,580 in monthly labor expenses which translates to a mere 0.3% of its P3 million asset size. “This will definitely not bankrupt an MSME. But a lack of market because of low consumption will kill an MSME. A wage hike will create a virtuous cycle in the economy. Capitalists simply do not want to share the profit they have accumulated through the decade and a half of sustained economic growth,” Magtubo expounded.

May 18, 2022

Amidst high inflation, labor group renews call for P100 wage hike

 

Photo by OneNews.PH

In reaction to the 3-year high inflation of 4.9% this April, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) reiterated its call for a P100 wage hike. The Philippine Statistics Authority released the inflation rate which is a rapid monthly increase of 0.9% over the previous inflation data for March.

 

“P100 is wage recovery, not a real increase in salaries. From 2018 to the present, real wages have declined by a significant amount of 8%. The rising inflation rate further erodes real wages. The National Wages and Productivity Commission’s own data shows that as of February 2022, the P537 minimum wage in Metro Manila is worth only P494 due to inflation since 2018,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina councilor.

 

The wage hike was among the demands raised by PM and other worker groups in the nationwide Labor Day activities a few days ago. PM is asking that an emergency session of Congress tackle a legislated wage hike. “The regional wage boards are useless. Instead workers want Congress to pass a law mandating a P100 across-the-board wage increase, even for those receiving salaries above the minimum wage since everyone has been affected by inflation,” asserted Magtubo.

 

He added that “P100 is really not enough to raise minimum wages to the level of the cost of living. Thus, a holistic approach necessitates a cash aid, price discounts and a jobs program in response to the spike in food prices. Families of the unemployed and informal workers should be given a cash assistance of P10,000 a month. In the long-term, support for farmers must be accelerated, food sovereignty must be promoted and land conversion must be stopped. Local programs that connect farmers to consumers and workers’ communities must be encouraged.”

 

The group is also supporting the labor coalition Nagkaisa’s call for an emergency jobs creation program called unemployment support and work assistance guarantee or USWAG. PM and other labor groups coalesced under the Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni signed a covenant the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan that calls for approximating the living wage and abolishing the system provincial wages.

 

Magtubo explained that “Metro Manila workers last got a minimum wage increase on October 30, 2018, more than three years ago. The most recent wage hike was for Region 2 on February 4, 2020, on the eve of the lockdowns. The worst off are workers in Calabarzon, where most factories are now situated, who last got a minimum wage increase on February 28, 2018. None of the regional wage boards have done anything for the past three years since they are an instrument to cheapen wages.” 

 

May 5, 2022

Media Advisory: BPO workers presscon today vs April 1 RTO

Media Advisory

March 27, 2022

Inter Call Center Association of Workers

Contact Bryan Nadua @ 09569778484

 

“April Fools’ Prank”: BPO workers shout out against April 1 Return-to-Office Order

 

What: Calling the government’s April 1 Return-to-Office order (RTO) for some 1.4 million BPO employees an “April Fools’ prank” that endangers safety and health, and work-life balance,

BPO workers are appealing against implementation of the RTO

 

When: Today, March 27 (Sunday), 11:00 am

 

Where: 766 Edsa ALAB Leni-Kiko Volunteer Center (formerly Victory Liner) near Kamias

 

Details: BPO workers and friends will speak about their concerns on the impending RTO on April 1. Aside from issues over occupational safety and health, and work-life balance, they are raising the question of social dialogue and asserting that BPO workers were not consulted on the RTO.

Riders group call for dialogue on fuel subsidy

 

The riders’ advocacy group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) called on the government to hold a social dialogue with riders engaged in ride-hailing, food delivery and courier services for the provision of fuel subsidies. “We are asking the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to meet with riders in order to clarify its plan to distribute fuel subsidies. Riders shoulder the weekly gasoline price increases and thus deserve ayuda,” said Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general.

 

He also added that the group is supporting the call of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan for the temporary suspension of the excise taxes on oil products to reduce pump prices. The suspension is provided for under the TRAIN law but subject to certain conditions. “We believe that the extreme difficulties brought about by the weekly oil price increases for more than two months already are more than enough as supervening conditions for the suspension of excise taxes. This will benefit jeepney drivers and operators, app riders, farmers and fishers principally and the rest of the people too as oil prices impact the whole economy,” Pangan explained.

 

He added that while it welcomes the DoTr announcement that people engaged in full-time ride-hailing and delivery services are entitled to the fuel subsidy, there is no transparency in the plan. “In the first place, the DoTr does not know if the registered motorcycle owner is using his or her vehicle for platform work. Not even the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is aware of this due to the informal nature of the freelancer or independent contractor relationship,” Pangan explained.

 

“Only the apps know who their riders are. But a social dialogue should involve all stakeholders, thus riders should have voice and participation,” Pangan insisted.

 

The group averred that if riders were treated as employees not freelancers then ayuda provision would be much easier, similar to how workers were granted ayuda under CAMP or SBWS. The employment status of riders has been the subject of controversy, even sparking protests amidst the pandemic and prompting the DOLE to issue an “advisory” on the issue.

 

Kagulong earlier lambasted the DOLE advisory as “inutile” since it did not clarify the employment status of riders. “We reiterate our call for the DOLE to convene a technical working group (TWG) with riders and other freelancers. The TWG formation was a commitment of the DOLE in the 2021 labor summit meetings with workers and employers. Sadly, this is another broken promise of this administration.”

 

Kagulong is actively supporting the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Pangilinan for their commitment to the riders’ agenda and track record of participatory good governance. “Aangat ang buhay ng riders sa isang gobyernong tapat sa partisipasyon ng nasa laylayan sa pamamahala,” Pangan concluded.

Photos of riders call for fuel subsidy can be accessed here:

https://www.facebook.com/kagulong2020/posts/488947976127043

March 1, 2022

Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong

Noise barrage and candle light protest vs return of Marcos to power

 

The groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Kalipunan ng Kilusang Masa (Kalipunan) which unites workers, farmers, women and students will lead a protest action this afternoon at 5:30 pm against the return of the Marcoses to power.

 

“EDSA’s epic fail is engendering a throwback to dictatorship. Since EDSA’s let-down is plain to see, memes of a Marcos golden age look like fact rather than fiction,” averred Judy Miranda, PM Secretary-General.

 

The highlight of the protest is a noise barrage and candle lighting at the People Power Monument. The riders’ group Kagulong will assemble at Mall of Asia then hold a “unity ride” to join Kalipunan.

 

“Poverty, inequality and injustice have persisted and plagued our country since 1986. True, these were a pestilence even during the Marcos dictatorship despite recent attempts to prettify the thingy called martial law. The infamous infrastructure projects of Marcos which keep popping up on social media were no more than just opportunities to rob the people while pushing generations of Filipinos deep into debt. The plunder of the national treasury and the systematic human rights violations by the state still have no parallel during the post-EDSA regimes. Abuse of power is necessarily worse under a dictatorial regime which does not have to bother with the niceties of due process, civil liberties, press freedom or a political opposition,” Miranda explained.

 

She added that “All those political—and social, we should not forget—contradictions during the 14 years of the Marcos dictatorship finally exploded in that historic event called the ‘people power uprising.’ While the yearning for democracy was central to EDSA, the cause of social justice—the demand of workers for rights, of peasants for land, of students for reform, among others—was no less a key impetus.”

 

“The EDSA democracy is a skeleton without flesh. The formality is there but the substance is lacking. Elections are a farce. Instead of an exercise in democracy, it is a rigodon for dynasties and warlords. Regime after regime played deaf to the cry for social justice as globalization dictated by the IMF and WTO was embraced. Cheap labor was used as a come on for foreign investors. Farmers buckled under the onslaught of cheap imports. Social services suffered as the national budget was decimated by debt outlays, a big part of which was to pay loans taken out by Marcos. With a bleak future in the country, millions of Filipinos migrated despite all the sacrifices and difficulties. To those living in the purgatory of the EDSA democracy, the hell of martial law is little comfort. No surprise then that purveyors of fake news, creative imagination and alternative facts are having a field day. EDSA’s epic fail created a vacuum that is being filled by an authoritarian throwback,” Miranda concluded.

February 25, 2022

Militants to mobilize against Marcos return in EDSA commemoration

 

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) and its allies are mobilizing for a protest action tomorrow in the commemoration of the EDSA 1 people power uprising. The group and the coalition Kalipunan ng mga Kilusang Masa are holding a noise barrage and candle lighting around 5:30 pm at the People Power Monument.

 

“The 2022 elections pose the question of consolidating a turn to authoritarianism or pivoting to a regime that respects civic space and civil liberties. Democratic freedoms are necessary for the advancement of the struggle of workers and the poor for social justice. Thus, the progressive labor and social movements are campaigning for candidates that will guarantee the expansion of the democratic space,” declared Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

 

The riders’ rights group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) will join PM and Kalipunan in the protest action. Kagulong will assemble at the Mall of Asia by 3:00 pm then have a “unity ride” to the People Power Monument to link up with other groups.

 

Miranda explained that “On the 36^th anniversary of the EDSA uprising, it is time to admit the bitter truth that its failed promises have laid the fertile ground for the revival of authoritarianism and a revision of history. EDSA’s epic fail is engendering a throwback to dictatorship The workers and the poor have been witness, nay victims, to the disaster of three decades of EDSA democracy. Under the leadership of the elite faction opposed to the Marcos dictatorship, the democracy built after EDSA was only a caricature.”

 

“Is a return to the past the answer to the misery of the present? We say no, as Filipinos who wish the best for our country. Is it time to move on instead of celebrating EDSA as the Duterte administration says? We say no, for we believe the real alternative is to level up EDSA. People power is hollow without democratizing power. Only a decisive resolution to the demands of workers for decent jobs, of farmers to control of land, of the poor for social protection and of the people for national sovereignty will rid the country of the plague of destitution and inequity. Empowering the people—providing economic security to the masses and also their participation in policy decisions—will pull the rug from underneath historical revisionists and wannabee dictators,” Miranda insisted. ###

Government’s deeds do not match words on human rights issues

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the government on its response to the European Union Parliament’s critique of inaction by the Philippines on human rights concerns.

 

“Deeds do not match words. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles are being disingenuous when they say that the administration is acting on the complaints. In reality, violations of human rights continue with impunity. The recent controversial arrest of Dr. Naty Castro is a case in point. Arrest, detention and red-tagging of critics and activists is on top of the thousands killed in the bloody drug war and the dozens of unionists murdered under the present dispensation,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

The group said that the EU Parliament is not the only international body taking the government to task. In its latest report, the International Labor Organization’s committee of experts on the committee of experts on the application of conventions and recommendations averred that speedy and effective probes of the killings of trade unionists and the conviction of perpetrators are lacking if not absent.

 

Magtubo added that “Just to cite one case, the murder of union organizer Dennis Sequeña remains unsolved to this day, almost three years after he was shot while facilitating a labor seminar for export zone workers in Cavite. It was the outrage over the killing of Dennis just days before the annual International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2019 that precipitated the current complaint against the Philippine government for systematic violations of Convention 87 and Convention 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

 

 “Aside from Dennis, no justice has been served for the killings of PM leaders Orlando Abangan of Cebu, Rolando Pango and Victoriano Embang of Negros Occidental. As the ILO report has noted, the government keeps on repeating that investigations are happening without providing any details,” Magtubo insisted.

 

The group also stated that the government is dragging its feet on a review of the rules governing the conduct of security personnel during disputes and the scrapping of a program on peacekeeping in the export processing zones.

 

“The Philippine Economic Zone Authority in particular has been blocking progress on strengthening the freedom to unionize and the right to protest of workers in export processing zones. Their latest maneuver has been to change the name of the Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office to Alliance for Industrial Peace and Program Office but the aim of militarizing ecozones by setting up police precincts and suppressing unionism remains in place,” Magtubo explained. 

February 22, 2022

Labor group to Bello: Deeds do not match words on killings of unionists

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello’s statement that the government is addressing the killings and repression of labor leaders and trade unionists. “Deeds do not match words. Labor Secretary Bello is unfortunately being disingenuous when he says that the government is acting on the complaints. In reality violations of labor rights continue with impunity,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He added that “Just to cite one case, the murder of union organizer Dennis Sequeña remains unsolved to this day, almost three years after he was shot while facilitating a labor seminar for export zone workers in Cavite. It was the outrage over the killing of Dennis just days before the annual International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2019 that precipitated the current complaint against the Philippine government for systematic violations of Convention 87 and Convention 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

 

Echoing the observation of the ILO committee of experts on the application of conventions and recommendations in its latest report, PM averred that speedy and effective probes of the killings and the conviction of perpetrators are lacking if not absent.

 

“Aside from Dennis, no justice has been served for the killings of PM leaders Orlando Abangan of Cebu, Rolando Pango and Victoriano Embang of Negros Occidental. As the ILO report has noted, the government keeps on repeating that investigations are happening without providing any details,” Magtubo insisted.

 

The group also stated that the government is dragging its feet on a review of the rules governing the conduct of security personnel during disputes and the scrapping of a program on peacekeeping in the export processing zones.

 

“The Philippine Economic Zone Authority in particular has been blocking progress on strengthening the freedom to unionize and the right to protest of workers in export processing zones. Their latest maneuver has been to change the name of the Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office to Alliance for Industrial Peace and Program Office but the aim of militarizing ecozones by setting up police precincts and suppressing unionism remains in place,” Magtubo explained.

February 14, 2022

Salaries of low-paid workers should rise faster than higher waged ones—labor group

Photo from Rappler

In reaction to a report that telecoms and IT jobs got the highest entry-level wages last year, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) stated that salaries of low-paid workers should rise faster than higher waged ones. “This is one way to achieve inclusive growth which is an avowed labor market agenda of the government but is evidently not materializing,” averred Judy Miranda, PM secretary-general.

 

The Jobs Street report revealed that entry-level jobs in telecoms and IT command an average monthly salary of P19,000 to 20,000. “Telco and IT workers deserve those wages and maybe even more. In comparison, the monthly minimum wage in the NCR, which is the highest nationwide, is less than P14,000 and has not risen in three years. In Eastern Visayas, the minimum wage is just above P8,000. This wage disparity in non-agricultural wages is bad for workers and not good for inclusion,” explained Miranda.

 

She added that “We should remember that many workers, many of them women, are paid even less than the minimum. In the NCR, there are 1 million minimum wage earners but more than 800,000 workers paid below the minimum. It is worse nationwide: 2.4 million minimum wage earners but 8 million paid below the minimum. These are numbers culled from the October 2020 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority.”

 

PM is calling for raising the minimum wage through direct wage increases combined with price discounts, social security subsidies and public services provisioning. The group also advocates for the abolition of regional wages and the institution of a national minimum wage.

 

“President Rodrigo Duterte once upon a time promised to end the system of provincial wages. But similar to his betrayal of the end endo pledge, Duterte will end his term with the regional wage system firmly in place to cheapen workers’ wages. In contrast, Vice President Leni Robredo has signed a covenant with labor groups which includes a provision for establishing a national minimum wage and ways to achieve a living wage,” Miranda avowed.

 

“Not only is a national minimum wage rational since cost of living varies little across the country, it is also efficient since dozens of regional and local minimum wages are difficult to enforce,” Miranda argued.

 

PM is signatory to the covenant along with labor centers and federations that have committed to support the tandem of Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan. 

January 27, 2022

Bello asked to dialogue with labor groups on urgent demands

 

Photo from Asia Nikkei

The workers group Partido Manggagawa (PM) welcomed the announcement of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello that labor inspections will resume for the year 2022 after being suspended last December. “Labor inspections are a key mechanism in ensuring compliance with labor standards and enforcement of occupational safety and health protocols, especially during the pandemic since pasaway employers have weaponized covid and abused workers,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

The group reiterated its call for Secretary Bello to heed the Nagkaisa labor coalition’s request for a dialogue on urgent demands confronting workers such as the no vaccination, no ride and no jab, no job. “A planned dialogue between Department of Labor and Employment officials and Nagkaisa labor coalition leaders has long been delayed. Instead of social dialogue, the government is exercising social distancing with labor groups,” Magtubo asserted.

 

Earlier Secretary Bello apologized for the chaos over the no vaccination, no ride policy to which the PM demanded that the controversial order be withdrawn immediately. “Confusion has arisen over these issues because of lack of social dialogue, among others,” Magtubo averred.

 

PM also welcomed the statements of Senators Kiko Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros against the no vaccination, no ride policy. Magtubo said that “We call on Senators Kiko and Risa to open an investigation on the no vaccination, no ride, no jab, no job and similar discriminatory policies.”

 

“These policies are patent discrimination against workers and poor. In contrast, rich people—vaccinated or not—are free to move around since they have cars to use. These unfair and biased policies disproportionately impact people in the laylayan,” Magtubo insisted.

 

He stated that the Department of Transportation’s discriminatory ban on unvaccinated individuals taking public transport is a repeat of the railroading of the jeepney phaseout amid the pandemic lockdown in 2020. “The impromptu jeepney phaseout eliminated the livelihood of several hundred thousand jeepney drivers and operators at a time they needed it most,” Magtubo explained. 

January 24, 2022

 

Sorry not enough, repeal no vaccination, no ride policy—labor group

 

Photo from the internet

In response to the declaration of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello that the government should apologize for the confusion over the no vaccination, no ride policy, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the controversial order be withdrawn immediately.

 

“Sorry is not good enough. Apologies will not bring back the lost pay of daily paid workers who have been barred from public transport by enforcers since last week. It is not over eagerness on the part of enforcers but impunity of security forces who have been given a free pass since the onset of the pandemic to implement discriminatory policies and double standards in enforcement. Kapag VIP's malaya, kapag mahirap kawawa ngayong pandemya,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He called on Secretary Bello to immediately convene a meeting with labor groups to hear their concerns about policies such as no vaccination, no ride and no jab, no job. “A planned dialogue between Department of Labor and Employment officials and Nagkaisa labor coalition leaders last week did not push through again. Instead of social dialogue, the government is exercising social distancing with labor groups,” Magtubo asserted.

 

PM also welcomed the statements of Senators Kiko Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros against the no vaccination, no ride policy. Magtubo said that “We call on Senators Kiko and Risa to open an investigation on the no vaccination, no ride, no jab, no job and similar discriminatory policies.”

 

“These policies are patent discrimination against workers and poor. In contrast, rich people—vaccinated or not—are free to move around since they have cars to use. These unfair and biased policies disproportionately impact people in the laylayan,” Magtubo insisted.

 

He stated that the Department of Transportations’s discriminatory ban on unvaccinated individuals taking public transport is a repeat of the railroading of the jeepney phaseout amid the pandemic lockdown in 2020. “The impromptu jeepney phaseout eliminated the livelihood of several hundred thousand jeepney drivers and operators at a time they needed it most,” Magtubo explained.

January 19, 2022

Workers group oppose no vaccination, no ride policy

 

Photo by Grig Montegrande/Inquirer.net

The workers group Partido Manggagawa expressed its opposition to the “no vaccination, no ride” policy on public transport vehicles. “This is patent discrimination on workers and poor who rely on public transport for mobility and commuting to work,” stated Rene Magtubo, chair of the Partido Manggagawa (PM).

 

The ban on unvaccinated individuals using public transport is to be implemented by the Department of Transportation (DoTr) on Monday. “In contrast, rich people—vaccinated or not—are free to move around since they have cars to use. These unfair and biased policies disproportionately impact people in the laylayan,” Magtubo insisted.

 

The group is calling on the DoTr and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to dialogue with labor groups and commuter organization so that concerns of workers and the poor will be heard and heeded. A meeting between the labor coalition Nagkaisa and the DOLE is scheduled this week on workers demands for free testing and other issues related to “balik trabahong ligtas.” The meeting has not yet transpired.

 

Magtubo pointed out that the DoTr policy is tantamount to putting unvaccinated workers on forced leave since they cannot commute to work. It also unfairly puts jeepney drivers and operators responsible for unvaccinated commuters riding the vehicles. “Has the DoTr realized the implications of their no vaxx, no ride policy? If not, it is because they do not seek to dialogue with workers and commuters’ organizations and prefer to unilaterally impose discriminatory policies,” Magtubo insisted.

 

He stated that the DoTr’s discriminatory ban on unvaccinated individuals taking public transport is a repeat of the railroading of the jeepney phaseout amid the pandemic lockdown in 2020. “The impromptu jeepney phaseout eliminated the livelihood of several hundred thousand jeepney drivers and operators at a time they needed it most. Now, it will temporarily make unvaccinated workers jobless since they cannot commute to work,” Magtubo explained.

January 13, 2022