2024 in Review: Workers caught between economic difficulties and political intramurals

In 2024, workers faced severe challenges in their wages, benefits and working conditions as they were caught in the vise of economic difficulties brought about by the cost-of-living crisis and escalating intramurals between the two leading political dynasties in the country.

 

While the average inflation of 3.2% in 2024 was almost half compared to 2023, it continued to erode the purchasing power of wages. Relatively higher price increases in food and utilities also disproportionately hit the bottom rungs of the income deciles, meaning the formal and informal workers. Thus, the demand for another round of minimum wage increases in 2024 was a recurring theme for organized labor. The campaign for a wage hike was two-pronged with wage bills for a P150 increase filed at Congress and at the wage boards.

 

The Senate approved a P100 increase in the minimum wage in February 2024. This advance was a result of organized labor successfully leveraging the rift between the upper and lower house of Congress over the latest move to amend the Constitution. The Senate stood pat against charter change and instead pushed for the wage bill’s passage. However, the reverse was the case in the House of Representatives. Despite conducting hearings on the P150 wage hike bill, the House Labor Committee sat on the proposal and basically killed it. In contrast with this inaction on the workers’ demand for a wage hike, the House was fast and furious with the quadcomm hearings on the drug war and extra-judicial killings during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and the investigation on the controversial budget of the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte and the Department of Education during her tenure.

 

The year ended with no legislated wage hike but with wage orders for several regions. Notwithstanding the wage orders, minimum wages in all the regions—including those which increased, like Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Cebu and Central Luzon—remained below the official poverty line. Even though the threshold was assailed for being too low—as the controversy over the P64 daily food budget revealed. With the wage boards perpetuating a system of poverty wages, calls for the abolition of provincial rates became popular.

 

On another front, organized labor and civil society allies fought a defensive war to keep Philhealth funds devoted to improving benefits services to members and providing services for indigents as mandated by the Universal Health Care Act. P60 billion of Philhealth’s funds were transferred by President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. to fund unprogrammed items in the national budget before the Supreme Court stopped in October the last tranche of P29.9 billion.

 

Another battle erupted in December when the Congressional bicameral conference committee removed the subsidy for Philhealth along with cuts in other social services. The labor coalition Nagkaisa led protests in Metro Manila and Cebu—including a big rally in Mendiola—to call for the restoration of the Philhealth subsidy and social services budget. But President Marcos Jr. did not heed the popular clamor as he signed the national budget by year end with the much-assailed budget insertions for ayuda kept intact. Among these was the P26 billion unprogrammed budget for AKAP which has been criticized as funding for electoral patronage. As if on cue, the COMELEC allowed the distribution of ayuda even during the midterm elections this year—breaking with long-established rule of prohibiting the use of public money for vote buying. This means that formal and informal workers will now have to beg trapos for assistance for medical and other emergencies instead of getting health insurance as a right.

 

Even as demands for higher pay, lower prices, more jobs and decent work remain very popular issues during the election period, prospects are bleak that the polls will result in positive outcomes for workers given that political dynasties—which are evolving from fat to obese—dominate the landscape. Workers have no allies either in the two main political dynasties—the House of Polvoron and the House of Fentanyl—which will be fighting for supremacy in May 2025.

 

Workers will have to endure worse economic difficulties as political infighting heightens in 2025 and the remaining years of the Marcos, Jr. administration. Nonetheless, this situation also motivates organized labor to engage with public outrage over wanton government corruption and dynastic political dominance. A big multi-sectoral rally this month promises to jumpstart a robust movement for good governance, in which workers’ demands should be embedded and integral. 

Press Statement

January 4, 2025

Group condemns arrest of 10 members on the way to SONA

 

Ten members of the Bulacan chapter of the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) and the driver of the vehicle they were using were detained and stopped from proceeding to the protest rally on the occasion of the last State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte.

 

“We condemn the illegal detention of our members and the violation of the right to peaceful assembly. We call for their immediate release. On Duterte’s last year in power, the pandemic of human rights violations continue even as the administration’s covid response is an epic fail,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

The PM Bulacan group was on the way to the SONA rally but was stopped at a checkpoint around 8:30am. When the police saw banners and placards, the group was informed that they were in violation of "ELCAC and social distancing."

 

“We were all wearing masks and face shields. And the van was big enough for the ten of us to be social distancing inside,” explained Ver Estorosas, PM Bulacan chair and leader of the group. The group is still detained at the Hillcrest Caloocan sub-station 8 "pending investigation."

 

PM mobilized factory workers, urban poor and community youth to the SONA rally held at the Commission on Human Rights grounds. “We demand TABAKK or Trabaho, Ayuda, Bakuna, Karapatan at Kasarinlan. This set of demands correspond to the recent Pulse Asia survey in which jobs, the economy, inflation, vaccination and the West Philippine are what Filipinos want to hear of the SONA. But we have no illusions that Duterte will heed these grievances as what he is concerned now is the continuation of his regime and avoiding incarceration for the crimes committed under his bloody regime,” Miranda insisted.

 

Yesterday, PM joined the group Movement Against Terror Law in unfurling a giant streamer emblazoned with the slogan “Goodbye Duterte” along Commonwealth Avenue.

Photos of the PM Bulacan group can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10159214841459323

 

July 26, 2021

Duterte’s refusal to sign EO is an epic fail on endo promise

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today criticized President Rodrigo Duterte for failing to follow through on his campaign promise to end contractualization. In response, the group appealed for the labor movement to make Labor Day a national day of protest.

Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, asserted that “Tinimbang si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte pero napatunayan siyang kulang. The President refused to exercise executive action in signing the labor drafted EO to make direct hiring the norm in employment. The buck stops with the President and he cannot pass the burden to Congress.”

“By opting not to issue an EO and instead leaving it to Congress to address widespread contractualization of labor that has gravely affected workers’ security of tenure and their exercise of other fundamental rights to form unions and collectively bargain, the President has effectively reneged with his campaign promise,” he added.

PM explained that the labor-drafted EO is a reasonable measure but that employers take a hardline position against direct hiring of workers. “Labor's position that direct hiring be the norm with exemptions to such rule is a compromise that balances employers' arguments that certain jobs need flexibility. But such exemptions should be vetted by the Labor Secretary in consultation with the National Tripartite Council. The labor-drafted EO is a paradigm shift in that contracting out will not anymore be the sole prerogative of management but will instead be subject to tripartite consensus. In this way, the gross abuses of contractualization will be regulated and stopped. But employers don't want any compromise formula to unli contractualization. They want to have their cake and eat it too. Thus their fairy tale-cum-horror stories about scared investors,” Magtubo expounded.

Magtubo argued that “Workers have not forgotten Duterte’s campaign promise to end contractualization in one week and his strong words that he will accept no compromise on ending endo which he called ‘anti-people.’ Where is the political will if not iron fist in ending endo?”

He insisted that “Duterte cannot do a Pontius Pilate by passing the ball to Congress where capitalists and their allies are obviously well entrenched. Today the President has undeniably betrayed the mass of workers who voted or are supporting him because of his pledge to abolish contractualization.”

“In the class struggle between workers and capitalists on the keystone issue of regular jobs, Duterte has exposed who he sides with. The emperor is wearing no clothes. Duterte is the CEO of the capitalist class in the country. He is not a leftist or socialist president as he has boasted repeatedly,” Magtubo averred.

However PM declared that “The fight is not yet over. This only proves that the force of reason will not prevail for the interest of the workers because there are more powerful forces like the employers and their organizations that can influence the President.”

Magtubo declared that “We call on all labor groups to close rank, launch protest actions and convert the coming Labor Day commemoration as a national day of workers indignation and protest.”

April 19, 2018

Too many draft EOs spoil the promise to end contractualization--PM

In a news statement Sec. Bello said “the more drafts the better for the President to have a better option.”

Labor groups beg to disagree. Sec. Bello did not mention that there was a DTI (read: employer) draft that was also submitted to the President and not only the labor-draft that contains a provision on government’s policy of direct hiring of employees to principal employers in order to strengthen workers’ security of tenure. The DTI draft is obviously a “business-as-usual” policy that allows labor contracting on almost all jobs and functions that has changed the norm of employment from direct-hiring to agency-hiring.

Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chair Ka Rene Magtubo, a convenor of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition calls on the President “to sign the labor-drafted EO which would pave the way for the realization of his campaign promise. The labor-drafted EO will also send a strong signal to Congress to attune their security of tenure measures to the policy of direct hiring as a norm in employment relations.”

“The DTI or the employers EO can never be a solution to the widespread contractualization of labor. The employers are the main culprit for the prolferation of agency-hired employees, as such a culprit can never provide a solution to the problem they have committed”, Magtubo added.

PM stands firm on the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition's statement that “its leaders will only attend the invitation for the signing of an EO if the labor-drafted EO would be subject of the signing.”

April 15, 2018

Mga riders pumalag sa panukalang bigger license plate sa mga motorsiklo

Daan-daang motorcycle riders mula sa Bulacan, at ibat-ibang asosasyon sa Metro Manila ang nagmotorcade patungong Senado ngayong umaga para iprotesta ang pagkakapasa ng Senate Bill No. 1397 o ang Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act na inakda ni Senator Richard Gordon.  Ito raw ay para masawata ang laganap na ‘riding in tandem’ crime.

 

Tinawag nila ang kilos-protesta na “Tindig Rider Laban sa Double Big License Plate”.  Magsasagawa umano sila ng susunod pang mga aksyon sa darating na mga araw.

 

Nakakabit sa motorsiklo ng mga nagpoportestang mga rider ang mga plakard na hugis oversized plates ang kanilang mga saloobin kaugnay ng panukala.  

Kalakhan umano ng mga rider ay mga manggagawa na gamit ang motorsiklo hindi sa krimen kundi sa lehitimong paghahanapbuhay sa pormal at impormal na sektor.  Gamit din aniya ito ng kanilang mga pamilya para sa mabilis at ekonomikong moda ng transportasyon.

 

Ang panukala, kapag naging ganap na batas, ay nag-uutos sa LTO at sa mga may-ari ng motorsiklo at scooter na palitan ang kasalukuyang plaka ng over-sized license plate na mababasa sa distansyang 12 at 15 metro.

 

Ayon kay Robert Perillo, Pangulo ng Bulacan Motorcyle Rider Confederation (BMRF), may halong diskriminasyon ang panukala ni Gordon dahil lahat ng rider ay pinagdududahang kriminal o kaya ay maaring maging kriminal sa simpleng dahilan na motorsiklo ang gamit nilang sasakyan.

 

Paglilinaw pa ni Perillo, ang mga riders ay laban din sa mga kriminal na salot sa lansangan at sa buhay ng mamamayan, pero hindi aniya tama na ang criminal activities ng iilan ay maging pabigat sa mas nakararami. Mas makabubuti aniya na katulungin ng pulisya at LGUs ang organisadong hanay ng mga riders laban sa krimen kaysa gawin silang palagiang suspek sa bawat krimeng nagaganap sa kani-kanilang mga lugar.

 

Naniniwala ang grupo na hindi solusyon ang malalaking plaka sa pagsugpo sa street killings dahil ang kriminal umano ay madaling mag-adap sa bagong sitwasyon lalo na kung alam nila na madali nila itong malulusutan.

 

Magiging pabigat din umano ang gastusin sa mga bagong plaka na ito dahil ang malaking plaka ay mas mahal, bukod pa sa mahal na mga penalties sa violations sa ilalim ng panukala na lahat ay kakarguhin ng mga rider.

 

Humihilling din ang grupo ng mga riders ng pakikipag-usap sa mga kinauukulan upang maipaliwanag nila ang kanilang panig kaugnay ng panukala.

 

Naipasa umano sa third at final reading ang panukalang ito sa senado na wala silang kamuwang-muwang, hindi nakonsulta, at hindi man lang nahingan ng kanilang pananaw.

Motorcycle Rights Organization

2 August 2017

Workers to troop to Congress tomorrow for SONA reaction, demand end endo

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the SONA of President Rodrigo Duterte for failing to tackle the delivery of campaign promises including ending contractualization. Tomorrow, members of PM along with other groups from the labor coalition Nagkaisa will troop to Congress to call for the passage of the Security of Tenure bill.

“Duterte’s SONA—minus the stories and curses—was all about death and taxes. People will die. Filipinos will be taxed. Taxes will be used for the war on drugs and the armed forces instead of for social services. In contrast, the SONA’s silence on endo and other reform promises was deafening,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and spokesperson of Nagkaisa.

More than a hundred workers will assemble at the gates of Batasang Pambansa at 11:00 am tomorrow to push for the enactment of a law to prohibit all forms of contractualization. It will also be an opportunity for labor to air its reaction on the SONA.

Magtubo explained that “The SONA was full of sound and fury but signifying nothing for workers. Workers got absolutely nothing from the two-hour long SONA speech of President Duterte. The SONA started on the theme of the promise of change. Thus workers waited for Duterte to elaborate on the delivery of the promises. But not a single word on ending endo. And no much else too on other social reform issues.”

“Instead the narrative of whether promises were delivered were overshadowed by Duterte’s rambling rants against his critics, principally human rights advocates and the mass media. Indeed the rants were an entertaining distraction from the embarrassing topic of undelivered promises. Paradoxically only China was unreservedly praised,” he added.

Magtubo insisted that workers were left with unanswered questions after the SONA. “So has the promise of change been delivered? Obviously not, but why? After the hours-long stories, curses and boasts, how will the lives of the workers and the poor be changed permanently? Of these, there were no answers,” he argued.

Martial law legality is more impunity – labor group

Photo from Rappler

The decision is extremely disappointing but not surprising. This is how the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) reacted to the Supreme Court verdict rendering legalities to the imposition of martial law in Mindanao. “There seems to be an established judicial pattern here. The majority justices who didn’t share the agonies of martial law victims have only seen the legality of the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in the absence of an express law prohibiting it. In the same manner, these justices may have only seen the exclamation point in Marawi to support the President in suppressing a pocket rebellion through martial law,” stated PM Chair Renato Magtubo. The group reiterated its concern that placing the entire Mindanao under martial law may result in more human rights violations, massive dislocation of communities, and further destruction to properties and social infrastructure due to violence and prolonged military actions until the entire island is cleared of state enemies. It also warned the palace not to utilize martial law as a tool to suppress civil liberties. “Legally martial law does not suspend the free exercise of human rights, except for those who would be directly charged with the crime of rebellion or invasion. But if a culture of impunity can reign today even without martial law, how far can it go under an emboldened commander-in-chief and the police leadership who mocks and vilifies human rights to the max?,” asked PM. The death toll in Marawi is still on the rise while the destructions due to war have created a humanitarian crisis comparable to the previous wars in Mindanao. “If the picture of Marawi and the tens of thousands of bakwits who fled away from it will become the generalized condition under martial law in different parts of Mindanao, then the policy can neither be just nor beneficial to both the Muslims, Lumads and Christians in the long run,” added PM. The group, however, clarified that it is for the ultimate reign of peace and prosperity in Mindanao and that these can only be achieved through social development and political settlement of different conflicts. “The military solution was the dating daan that failed Mindanao and the entire country. It should not be repeated. It should not be extended. A repeat and extension of it will only benefit the terrorists who also crave for blood and violence to fill our land,” concluded Magtubo.

04 July 2017

The fight for regular jobs, other rights continues

Today is the first Labor Day celebration under the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD).  Indeed, a quick year had passed when, few days before the Labor Day 2016 celebrations, all presidential candidates, including PRRD, swore before the entire nation to liberate the working class from the endemic problems of contractualization and low wages.  

On contractualization, the PRRD vowed to put an end to the despicable practice of agency-hiring.  On wages, he promised the abolition of provincial rate system which for decades, created inequity and wide disparities in wages between regions and provinces of the country.

Workers had long been fighting for ultimate deliverance from precarious working conditions that made them poor and exploited.  Electing a President who pledges to end the problem of contractualization and low wages was therefore a welcome development to many workers. As such, labor organizations under Nagkaisa labor coalition have been very cooperative with the administration in making it sure that the President’s promises are fulfilled.  

We actively participated in all the workshops, meetings, summits, and Congressional hearings organized by the government to make sure that the interest and specific concerns of the working class on the issue of endo and other rights are recognized and properly addressed by official bodies.  We also held countless conferences, consultations and mass actions to demand attention to our grievances.  We did all these because we want all forms of contractualization prohibited both in the private and public sector.  We even actively sought an audience with the President when we felt betrayed by the labor department on the issue of contractualization. 

Now the hard questions: Did workers get what they deserve from this level of engagement with the government?  Did contractualization end upon the issuance of Department Order (D.O.) 174?  Are other labor and human rights more protected now under the new administration? 

We in Nagkaisa had already expressed our rejection of D.O. 174.  Our demand today is for the President to draw up an Executive Order in line with the workers’ demand for total prohibition of agency-hiring and fixed-term employment and also, to certify as an urgent administration measure HB4444 (Mendoza, TUCP-PL) and HB 556 (Bayan Muna, Anakpawis) which seek the same.

Furthermore, the government has to finally resolve the long-running dispute on outsourcing between the Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the PAL Employees Association (PALEA) to prove the government’s decisiveness in addressing labor rights violations in giant and powerful companies.

On the wage issue, the government should now consider granting workers substantial wage hikes in the face of mounting prices of basic commodities.  At the same time, the proposed tripartite commission to review and revise the existing guidelines and rules on wage-setting should be formed immediately. 

Related to the issue of prices is our demand for the government to adopt new policy measures in addressing the high cost of power and the monopolization of the power industry.

There are several other labor rights issues that were brought out during the February 27, 2017 dialogue with the President. These include:

§  the immediate ratification of ILO Convention 151 which empowers the public sector workers to organize their own associations and unions; 

§  subjecting the appointment of genuine worker representation in tripartite bodies of government and GOCCs to annual official review; 

§  the deputization of trade unions as Labor Law Compliance Inspectors;

§  prohibiting the collection of recruitment fees to OFWs and a ban on sending domestic workers to the Middle East, until their rights and welfare are assured once they get deployed;

§  the holding of quarterly dialogues with the Labor Sector; 

And lastly, Nagkaisa has already expressed alarm that some members undertaking legitimate trade union work may have been killed or arrested on trumped up charges under the cloak of the drug war.

These agenda remain pending before the Office of the President and other concerned government agencies.  Unfortunately the failure to stamp out the problem of contractualization during the last ten months gave this administration a bad mark.  And unless this failure is rectified by corrective measures and affirmative actions in relation to other labor rights demands, a slide into further isolation from the working class population is a serious problem that will hound this administration in days to come.

Today, thousands of workers, youth and women from our member-organizations will be marching along the streets of Espana and Mendiola in Manila as well as in other major cities of the country like Cebu, Bacolod and Davao. Later today, leaders of Nagkaisa will be meeting with PRRD in Davao City to pursue those concerns and to demand accountability from those entrusted to resolve issues in favor of workers.

We will never back down in pressing for these demands through collective negotiations and mass actions.  We have regular jobs and security of tenure to win. And we have other labor and human rights to reclaim!

1 May 2017

Wealth of PH 1% can feed entire nation – Partido Manggagawa

PRESS RELEASE

23 January 2015

 

Their number can hardly fill up a bus but the combined wealth of the country’s richest families can easily feed the entire nation.

 

This reality, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) said, can help explain the unreturned query of Glyzelle Palomar to Pope Francis on why only few people come to their help.

 

PM said Glyzelle was definitely not referring to the country’s 1% as the few good Samaritans but to the few likely neighbors that occasionally come to their aid. 

 

“Now it can be explained to Glyzelle that with just half of their estimated wealth of $74 billion (Php 3.2 trillion) in 2014, the country’s Richest 50[1] can actually provide 17 to 24 million families the basic minimum requirements of daily living for one year,” explained PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

 

There are about 12 million Filipino families who consider themselves poor based on the latest survey by the Social Weather Station (SWS).  Government statistics, however, put the number of families in extreme poverty to only 4.2 million in 2012.[2]

 

The same report points out that in 2012, a Filipino family of five needed Php 7,890 to meet its basic food and non-food requirements every month.  For food alone it needs Php 5,513. 

 

Based on these estimates, a family of five needs at least Php 94,680 in one year to keep themselves above the poverty threshold or Php 66,156 to beat the food threshold. 

 

Fortaleza expounded that assuming the richest 50 gave up only half of their wealth which is equivalent to Php 1.6 trillion out of compassion for the poor, that can easily translate to 17 million families surviving poverty in one year or 24 million families surviving the food threshold. 

 

With an average size of 4.6 members, the Philippines has about 22 million families.

 

The labor group explained further that the combined wealth of the richest 50 is equivalent to five years salary for about 5 million minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region. 

 

But Fortaleza was quick to point out that this kind of scenario will never work out since in reality, it is the super rich that feeds on the hard labor and meagre income of poor Filipinos. 

 

The Forbes’ list of Philippines richest 50 showed families in oligopolistic control of the country’s vital industries such as power, water, telecommunications and transportation, banking and finance, farmlands and real estates, construction, highways, mining, hotels and restaurants, media and entertainment, and even in services like schools and hospitals.

 

Fortaleza pointed out that common issues against the capitalist owners of these industries include labor contractualization; high cost of their products and services; organized fraud with their capture of regulatory agencies; and their control of political power through sponsorship of political parties to actual bribery.

 

PM came up with its own assumptions also to echo Oxfam’s analysis that the richest 1% is gaining control of more than half of the world’s wealth by 2016.  The latter released its report on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where world leaders talk mainly about business and other global concerns.

 

Fortaleza said that similarly, the richest 50 in the Philippines is getting a bigger slice (almost a third) of country’s gross domestic product as their wealth increased by 428%, from $14 billion in 2008 to $74 billion in 2014.   

 

The Philippine GDP, according to the World Bank, was estimated to value $272 billion in 2013. ###

---

[1] www.forbes.com/philippines

[2] NSCB - Despite rise in the number of families, extreme poverty among families remains steady at 1.6 million in 2012—NSCB 

Group asks UN Special Rapporteur to query Negros labor activist killings

Press Release

December 10, 2014

  

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Partido Manggagawa asked UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst to inquire on the killings of labor activists in Negros Occidental. “The culture of impunity and extra-judicial killings of labor activists persists under the administration of Benigno Aquino III. In the last two years, two farm worker leaders have been killed while another survived an assassination attempt, all in Negros where agrarian and labor disputes simmer,” stated Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

Forst is in the Philippines and has expressed interest in requesting the government for an official visit and investigation after meeting with human rights groups over the past several days. Two predecessors of Forst were unable to obtain invitations from the government to inquire into reports of attacks against human rights defenders in the country.

The spate of killings against worker and land rights defenders in Negros happened amidst agrarian and labor disputes between farm workers and sugar planters. Last November 29, Rolando Pango, a PM member, labor leader in Binalbagan town and an organizer in neighboring Isabela town died after being shot in the head by two men. Pango had previously received death threats while he was assisting workers of Hacienda Salud in Isabela town in processing for coverage under land reform and in filing illegal dismissal charges against landlord Manuel “Manolet” Lamata. Lamata heads the powerful Negros sugar planters association.

PM also called on the Department of Labor and Employment, the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council and the Department of Justice to take cognizance of Pango’s case as they have a mandate to act on labor-related extra-judicial killings.

Since 2011, the labor coalition Nagkaisa!, of which PM is an affiliate, has been engaged in dialogue with the Aquino administration on key labor issues, including some 62 unsolved cases of labor-related extra-judicial killings.

Magtubo added that in December 29, 2012, Victoriano Embang, president of the Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla town, was killed amidst another agrarian and labor dispute with the influential Montillano clan. His brother, Anterio, also a leader of MACFAWA, later survived an ambush in February 28, 2013.

Still PM insisted that the most widespread infringement of human rights in the labor front is the violation of workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

“The onslaught of state-sanctioned contractualization schemes have effectively disarmed workers of their ability to defend themselves, through their unions, against many forms of abuse and exploitation” concluded Magtubo.

Labor party demands turnover of US Marine suspect in transgender killing

Press Release

14 October 2014

Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemns the killing of transgender woman, Jeffrey Serdoncillo Laude a.k.a. Jennifer Laude, allegedly by a US Marine participating in the Balikatan exercise in Olongapo City 11p.m. of October 11.

PM expressed its readiness to mobilize its women and LGBT members and coordinate with other groups in a fight to seek justice for Laude. The group had also been active in the Nicole Subic rape case campaign.

According to reports, the US embassy had issued a statement assuring its full cooperation with Philippine law enforcement authorities.  The same commitment was expressed by the US government during the hearing of “Nicole” in the Subic rape case, but in the end convicted rapist Daniel Smith was allowed to escape by Philippine authorities in collusion with the US embassy.

“It has been almost three days yet both suspect and probable witnesses remain in the custody of American authorities in Philippines soil,” declared PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda. She added that “Similar to our demand during the trial of the Subic rape case, custody of suspect should in the hands of Philippine authorities.”

The group insists that nothing justifies Laude’s killing. “Being gay, hiding the fact that he is gay or being a prostitute does not make Laude’s killing right,” Miranda ended.

PM once more called for the repeal of the Visiting Forces Agreement under whose provisions the Balikatan exercises are conducted. “This recent incident again exposes that the VFA does not provide protection for Filipinos whose civil and social rights may be violated by US soldiers and moreover ties the Philippines to the imperialist agenda of the American government,” Miranda explained.

She furthered that ”We have nothing to gain and more to lose from allowing US soldiers, ships and planes to base in Philippine territory. An independent foreign policy is our best defense against external threats even against China’s claims on disputed islands.”

Partido Manggagawa demands reinstatement of café workers

PRESS RELEASE

03 September 2014

A high-end café and restaurant located at the heart of Malate district in Manila is getting the ire of organized labor after its management sacked several workers upon learning of their move to organize a union some few months back. 

A picket led by Partido Manggagawa (PM) was held today at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Manila demanding the reinstatement of Edaville Minoza, Jesus Porlas, Parsamson Hadjirul, Edgar Pancrudo, Stephen De Leon, and Romy Castolo.  All of them were dismissed by the company in January and May of this year without valid reasons and apparently for initiating the formation of a union which is a guaranteed labor right.

According to PM, Hizon’s/ZA’s Café in Malate is a cozy place where celebrities and Manila’s VIPs come as regular guests.  But its workers, 54 in all, are unjustly treated by the company since the time of their employment.  Most of them had been working in the Café for more than ten years yet they are not enrolled in the social security system, Philhealth and Pag-ibig.  They likewise are underpaid, enjoy no job security and have no union representation.  

“This company violates almost all of the core labor standards.  Thus the labor department cannot play deaf and blind to this blatant breaches in labor rights,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

A notice of strike, on the basis of management interference, illegal dismissal and union busting, was filed before the labor department by Hizon workers in January after the first batch of termination.  The case is still pending before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB). 

Magtubo said the labor department has the obligation to order the immediate reinstatement of Hizon workers as their dismissal was clearly a retaliatory action by the management against legitimate union activities. 

He added that it is also the duty of the State, the labor department in particular, to enforce labor law compliance to all companies however big, powerful, or small they are.

PALEA calls on Ramon Ang to drop charges against members

Press Release

November 9, 2012

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) today called on new Philippine Airlines (PAL) President Ramon Ang to drop all charges against its members in order to facilitate a solution to the labor row. Last Wednesday a second PALEA member was arrested in Makati City while the first was detained for several days last October in Malvar, Batangas.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa, said that “We hold Mr. Ang to his commitment to Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo that he desires a just and mutually beneficial resolution of the dispute. Arresting PALEA members one by one in order to demoralize our determination to fight is contrary to the contents of Mr. Ang’s letter to Bishop Pabillo. We hope Mr. Ang realizes that for PAL to fly the flag proud it needs motivated regular workers not just brand new planes and a bigger airport.”

PALEA member Ether Gonzaga was served a warrant yesterday noon while attending a barangay meeting. Meanwhile Romeo Sayas was arrested in his hometown in Batangas. Gonzaga declared that “Our will to struggle against contractualization is strengthened not weakened by PAL’s trumped op charges. We will gladly eat harassment cases for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” Gonzaga, aged 54, worked as catering coordinator at PAL for 20 years before being retrenched last year. A single parent to two sons, her job at PAL supported an extended family that included her 86-year old mother, a sister, two brothers and relatives in Iloilo.

Rivera insisted that “The arrest of Romeo and Esther are a travesty of justice. They should not have been arrested in the first place and the charges should have been dismissed outright.” He quoted the Department of Justice Ministry Circular No. 15 (Series of 1982) and the Department of Labor and Employment Order No. 40-G-03 (Series of 2010) that no criminal information can be filed against workers without the required clearance from the DOLE.

Sayas, Gonzaga and another 37 PALEA members were issued warrants of arrest by the Pasay City Municipal Trial Court branch 44 after finding probable cause to a grave coercion case filed by Philippine Airlines against workers who defended the protest camp when it was attacked by hired goons on October 29, 2011.

With the onset of the air travel peak season, Renato Magtubo, PM national chair, renewed the call of labor and church groups for the public to boycott PAL until the labor dispute is resolved and charges against PALEA members are dropped. “We ask OFW’s, balikbayans, students, workers and other travelers to book airlines other than PAL and Air Philippines as labor rights are being violated at the flag carrier,” he reiterated.

Rivera extolled Sayas as a “working class martyr.” “Sayas worked for 20 years as ramp equipment operator in the airport, at first as a contractual, and then he became a regular PAL employee but was finally retrenched for refusing to be outsourced. He has two children, and hails from a working class family—his brother is also a fighting PALEAn and their father formerly worked at PAL,” he stated.

PALEA lawyers have previously file a motion to quash or recall the arrest warrants Aside from the case against the PALEA 39, there are is another criminal suit and a separate civil suit pending against union members, all arising out of the labor row concerning outsourcing at PAL.

PALEA slams arrest of another member

Press Release

November 8, 2012
PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) condemned the arrest of another of its members as it planned protests at the airport area in response. PALEA member Esther Gonzaga was arrested yesterday around noon in Makati City and was granted temporary freedom by 6:30 pm after posting bail.

Gonzaga’s arrest follows the earlier apprehension of Romeo Sayas who was detained in Malvar, Batangas for several days before he was released on bail.  Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice chair declared that “The harassment case of grave coercion was filed by the management of PAL against the PALEA 39 who valiantly defended the protest camp when it was attacked by hired goons on October 29, 2011.”

Aside from the case against the PALEA 39, there are two more criminal suits pending against union members due to the labor row. Rivera called on new PAL President Ramon Ang “to facilitate the resolution of the labor dispute by dropping the trumped up charges against our members which were filed under the old company management of Jaime Bautista.”

Gonzaga was arrested near her residence while attending a barangay meeting as she is a community leader. She is one of two women among the PALEA 39. PALEA believes that the warrants of arrest on the remaining 37 PALEA members may also be served in the coming days.

Rivera explained that as enunciated under DOJ Ministry Circular No. 15 (Series of 1982) and DOLE Order No. 40-G-03 (Series of 2010), no criminal information can be filed against workers without the required clearance from the DOLE. “Absent such clearance, the courts are mandated to dismiss the charges outright. Such a policy, started after the formal lifting of martial law, aims to resolve rather than aggravate labor disputes and regulate the proclivity of capitalists to engage in harassment suits against workers,” Rivera elaborated.

PALEA also lambasted Pasay Assistant City Prosecutor Orlando Mariano and Judge Bibiano Colasito of the Pasay MTC Branch 44 for finding probable cause and ordering the issuance of arrest warrants against 39 PALEA members. “These officers of the court not only defied labor statutes but infringed on our members right to due process, and thus deserve to face administrative charges,” Rivera insisted.

He also denounced PAL lawyer Atty. Santiago “Sonny” Quial for “legal machinations.” Quial is running for district representative in Pasay for the coming elections. “As many PALEA members are Pasay voters, we will make sure that a law breaker does not become a law maker,” Rivera claimed.

PALEA calls for release of detained member

Press Release

October 18, 2012

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) called for the release of Romeo Sayas, its member arrested in Malvar, Batangas and detained since Tuesday. “Free Romeo Sayas,” chanted hundreds of PALEA members as they marched this afternoon for the second straight day in front of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) In-Flight Center near the Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa, said that “The arrest of Romeo is a travesty of justice and we demand his immediate release.” He explained that Sayas should not have been arrested in the first place and the charges should have been dismissed outright. Rivera quoted the Department of Justice Ministry Circular No. 15 (Series of 1982) and the Department of Labor and Employment Order No. 40-G-03 (Series of 2010) that no criminal information can be filed against workers without the required clearance from the DOLE.

Sayas and another 38 PALEA members, including two women, were issued warrants of arrest by the Pasay City Municipal Trial Court branch 44 after finding probable cause to a grave coercion case filed by Philippine Airlines against workers who defended the protest camp when it was attacked by hired goons on October 29, 2011.

Meanwhile Renato Magtubo, national chair, announced that they are coordinating with other labor groups to raise funds for Sayas’ PhP 12,000 bail bond. “I appeal to workers organizations and labor advocates to chip in for a ‘Piso para sa paglaya ni Romeo Sayas’ drive as his incarceration may complicate his diabetes and gout, and also to alleviate his family’s agony who have suffered enough from his one year of joblessness.”

With the air travel peak season approaching, Magtubo renewed the call of labor and church groups for the public to boycott PAL until the labor dispute is resolved and charges against PALEA members are dropped. “We ask OFW’s, balikbayans, students, workers and other travellers to book airlines other than PAL and Air Philippines as labor rights are being violated at the flag carrier,” he reiterated.

Rivera extolled Sayas as a “working class martyr.” “Sayas worked for 20 years as ramp equipment operator in the airport, at first as a contractual, and then he became a regular PAL employee but was finally retrenched for refusing to be outsourced. He has two children, and hails from a working class family—his brother is also a fighting PALEAn and their father formerly worked at PAL,” he stated.

PALEA lawyers are preparing to file a motion to quash or recall the warrants of arrest while protests at the DOLE and DOJ are also being planned. Aside from the case against the PALEA 39, there are is another criminal suit and a separate civil suit pending against union members, all arising out of the labor row concerning outsourcing at PAL.