“P200 wage hike + P20 subsidized rice”—labor group

The group Partido Manggagawa called on the government to complement the roll out of the P20 subsidized rice with certification of the P200 wage hike if it is serious in responding to worsening hunger and poverty in the country.  “Offering cheap rice is not enough, as Malacanang seems to think. P200 wage hike plus P20 subsidized rice are initial steps to alleviate the conditions of poor and hungry Filipinos. We ask President Bong Bong Marcos to certify as urgent the pending P200 salary increase bill in Congress,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

Labor unions and workers groups are all set for nationwide rallies tomorrow to push their demand for a legislated wage hike.

·        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 and allied groups will hold an indoor assembly in the morning. In the afternoon, they will assemble at Rizal Elementary School then march to Bacolod Plaza afternoon

·        Iloilo: The coalition United Labor will hold a program at 1:00 pm 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

Miranda insisted that “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.”

She added that “Reality on the ground contradicts the government’s rosy economic claims of low inflation and unemployment. The reality is stark: minimum wages remain below the poverty threshold, endo is rampant, and public services like PhilHealth are being gutted to fund political patronage.”

Many of the Labor Day events tomorrow will be joint activities of different workers groups. “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,” Miranda ended.

April 30, 2025

Ibandila ang dagdag sahod at agenda ng manggagawa sa darating na Labor Day

 

Papatindi ang pagdarahop na dinaranas ng masang Pilipino sa harap ng maka-mayaman at maka-dayuhang patakaran ng gobyerno at sa gitna ng away ng naghaharing uri para sa poder pampulitika. Sinasalamin ito ng naglabasang mga survey nitong nakaraang mga araw na naglalantad sa lagay ng buhay ng masa. Lagpas isa sa bawat apat na pamilyang Pilipino ay walang makain—pinakamataas mula sa rurok na inabot noong pandemya. Lagpas kalahati naman ng mga pamilya ang itinuturing ang kanilang sarili na naghihirap—pinakamataas sa nakalipas na 21 taon.

 

Pinabubulaanan nito ang magagarang datos ng gobyerno. Kesyo napakaliit na ng inflation rate. Diumano napakababa na ang bilang ng walang trabaho. Hirap at gutom ang masa dahil ang minimum wage—sa kabila ng taunang pagtaas—ay mas mababa pa sa official poverty threshold. Hirap at gutom ang masa dahil endo ang pangkaraniwang trabaho. Hirap at gutom ang masa dahil ang serbisyo publiko gaya ng Philhealth ay kinakatkong para pondohan ang ayuda na pinamumudmod ng mga trapo.

 

Para makaahon sa gutom at hirap, kailangan ng pagbabago. Unahin ang manggagawa kaysa kapitalista. Itaas ang sahod at gawing regular ang trabaho. Pondohan ang serbisyo publiko bilang karapatan. Igalang ang karapatan ng manggagawa na mag-unyon at makipagnegosasyon sa kompanya para pagandahin ang kondisyon sa paggawa.

 

Wala tayong maasahan sa wage board na paborito ng mga kapitalista dahil laging barat ang provincial rate na binibigay. Sa halip, dapat isabatas ng umento sa sweldo. Sa Senado ay matagal nang pasado ang P100 dagdag sahod. Sa House of Representatives ay pumasa naman ang P200 umento. Basbas na lang ni Pangulong BBM ang kailangan para maging batas ang panukala.

 

Sa Labor Day, sa Araw ng Manggagawa, igiit natin ang agenda ng obrero: dagdag-sahod, regular na trabaho, serbisyo publiko at murang presyo. Unang hakbang ang mga ito para sa pag-alwan ng buhay ng masa. Panimulang mga hakbang ito tungo sa pagbabago ng maling sistemang umiiral.

 

Sa nakaraang dalawang taon ay saksi tayo sa away ng dalawang higanteng dynasty—ang mga Marcos at Duterte—para sa kapangyarihan na kurakutin ang kabang yaman ng bansa. Sa nakalipas na mga buwan ay saksi tayo sa paligsahan sa eleksyon ng mga trapo na puro porma at walang plataporma.

 

Tama na ang budots at budol ng mga dynasty at trapo. Oras na para tugunan ang hinaing at hiling ng mga manggagawa at mahihirap. Samantalahin natin ang Labor Day para imarka ang independyenteng boses at agenda ng uring manggagawa.

 

Sa NCR, habulin nating mabuo ang pagsasama-sama ng labor groups sa kabila ng kani-kaniyang kandidatong pinatatakbo. Ang plataporma ng manggagawa bilang sagot sa hirap at gutom ay sapat na rason para magkaisa ang magkakaibang grupo. Sa mga rehiyon, kumporme sa sitwasyon kung mabubuo ang kahalintulad na pagsasama. Saanmang lugar, tiyakin ang unipikasyon ng ating hanay sa batayan ng mga kahilingan ng mga manggagawa para sa masiglang paglahok sa mobilisasyon. Siguraduhing makadalo ang bagong mga lider at pwersa na naugnayan sa kampanyang elektoral upang masimulan ang kanilang pampulitikang pagkamulat. Bigyan ng pansin ang pagdalo ng mga kabataan at bigyan sila ng papel sa pagkilos. Maging daluyan ng pampulitikang konsolidasyon ng ating hanay ang pagkilos sa Labor Day bukod sa pampulitikang ahitasyon sa malawak na masa.

 

P200 dagdag sahod, sagot sa gutom at hirap!

Murang presyo, Regular na trabaho, Serbisyo publiko, ipaglaban!

Agenda ng manggagawa, ipanalo!

 

Partido Manggagawa

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

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

·       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 P200 wage hike, regular jobs, quality public services, and affordable prices for basic goods and services.

Partido Manggagawa

April 27, 2025

LIGTAS NA PABAHAY HILING SA NHA NG MGA NAKATIRA SA DANGER ZONES SA BULACAN

 

Lumusob ang may 100 pamilya sa tanggapan ng National Housing Authority sa San Jose Del Monte Bulacan upang hilingin sa ahensya na ipagkaloob na ang matagal na nilang hinihintay na pabahay sa mga katulad nilang naninirahan sa tinatawag na danger zone o mga lugar na hindi ligtas sa pinsala ng mga sakuna katulad ng pangpang ng ilog o mabababang lugar na madalas binabaha.

 

Nais ng mga ito na muling makipagdayologo sa mga opisyal ng NHA sa rehiyon upang alamin ang mga hakbang na gagawin matapos ang ilang taong pag-uusap tungkol sa kanilang kahilingan. Ang grupo ay kinabibilangan ng mga kasapi ng Partido Manggagawa (PM) at Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilino (AMP).

 

Ayon Kay Ver Estorosas, Pangulo ng PM at lider din ng AMP, 2017 pa umano nagkaroon ng mga dayologo sa kanilang kahilingan subalit hanggang ngayon ay wala pa umanong linaw mga hakbang para sa kanilang paglilipatan.

 

“Umabot na nga ang aming pakikipag-usap hindi lamang sa NHA kundi sa Kapitolyo at Senado. Sa katunayan ay may mga ilang nailatag nang resolusyon na napag-usapan kaharap si former Gov. Willy Alvardo ng Bulacan at noo’y Housing Committee Chair ng Senado na si Sen. JV Ejercito,” pahayag ni Estorosas, subalit wala umanong iniuusad sa antas ng NHA kung kaya’t idinadaan nila itong muli sa protesta.

 

Darating na naman aniya ang tag-ulan at panahon ng bagyo at mahaharap na naman sila sa panganib gayong may mga paraan nang natukoy noon para sa unti-unting relokasyon (by batches) ng nakalistang mga pamilya sa mga proyektong pabahay ng pamahalaan.

 

“Bukod sa panganib ay hindi rin kami makapirmi sa aming paghahanapbuhay dahil sa iregularidad ng aming kalagayan kaya’t doble namang titinitiis ang hirap ng buhay at kawalang katiyakan sa paninirahan,” dagdag pa ni Estorosas.

 

Nakisaup sa NHA, sa provincial government, at maging sa Kongreso na magtulung-tulong na para maihakbang at ganap nang masolusyonan ang kanilang kahilingan.

 

At bilang bahagi ng uring manggagawa, ang PM at AMP ay sasabay din sa selebrasyon ng Mayo Uno sa Maynila sa darating na Lunes upang makilahok sa panawagang dadag na sahod, regular na trabaho, at karapatan ng manggagawa at maralita. 

PRESS RELEASE

Partido Manggagawa

Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino

28 April 2023

Contact:

Ver Estorosas

PM/AMP – Bulacan

09423690337

Women workers decry high prices and low wages

 

Women members of the militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today called for a wage hike and government aid as they decried the high prices of goods. In a buildup activity for the coming Labor Day commemoration, women PM members bought daily necessities at the Pritil Market out of a budget of P570, which is the minimum wage in Metro Manila.

 

“Kakalog-kalog ang basket of goods na mabibili ng P570 minimum wage. The minimum wage is a libing not living wage,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

The group stated that the impending rice crisis is not just the looming shortage of the staple food but also price inflation. Miranda explained that the recent P2 to P3 per kilo increase in the prices of rice alone has eroded workers’ wages further by another P71 to P106 per month based on an average 8.9 kilo rice consumption per week for a family according to the government’s Family Income and Expenditure Survey.

 

“But things are yet to become worse as the price of rice is expected to increase by up to P6 due to the supply and demand imbalance. Anyare sa pangakong P20 na bigas? Dagdag P2 ang nangyari!” Miranda continued.

 

A wage hike, along with demands for a stop to contractualization and respect for labor rights, will be the highlight of the Labor Day rally led by the All Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) next Monday. The APTU is a coalition of the major labor groups in the country and is spearheading the Labor Day march from Espana to Mendiola in Manila.

 

The Labor Day protest will be nationwide as counterpart workers’ mobilizations by PM and allied organizations will be held in the cities of Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Iligan, Tagum and General Santos.

 

PM affiliated groups in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Cebu and Iloilo have filed petitions for a P100 minimum wage hike. The wage boards have yet to hold any hearings on the petitions. The group estimates that P100 has been eroded from the purchasing power of wages as a result of inflation.

 

“The P100 wage increase is a demand for wage recovery. It is just a stepping stone for a call for a living wage or for a just share in labor productivity gains,” Miranda elaborated.

 

Tomorrow, PM and other women workers’ groups are holding an assembly at the University of the Philippines Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations for a whole-day of discussions, art workshops and a press conference to reiterate their demands for wage hikes and ayudang sapat together with specific women issues such as gender-based violence in the workplace.

April 27, 2023

Partido Manggagawa

Workers to march to Mendiola on Labor Day to demand wage increase, decent work, right to freely unionize

Organized labor, in a display of solidarity, will troop to Mendiola on Labor Day to demand an increase in wages, an end to contractualization and the full recognition of the right to freely unionize.

 

At a press conference today, the All Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) announced that it will gather more than 10,000 workers and march from España to Mendiola in the morning of May 1 to collectively air their demands.

 

The APTU, composed of the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and a host of other trade union centers and confederations, was established in January 2023 as workers submitted its report on the state of freedom of association in the Philippines to ILO High Level Tripartite Mission that looked into the killings of trade union leaders and other FOA violations since 2016.

 

“Wages should climb together with productivity because it is only right and just that workers, who create the wealth of our nation, get their fair share of our economic growth. Workers cannot wait anymore and workers definitely deserve better,” said Paul Gajes, Legislative Officer of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

 

There are petitions for wage increase in almost all regions, even as proposed measures for wage increase have been filed in both Houses of Congress, ranging from Php 150 to Php 750.

 

“Workers will march on May 1 to press for Malacañang’s position on our demands for an inclusive roadmap to achieve decent work, an immediate action to the popular clamor for immediate wage increase and an end to impunity among other matters. Titiyakin naming maririnig ang sigaw ng manggagawang Pilipino saanman sa mundo,” said Elmer Labog, chairperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

 

Protest actions have also been planned in different parts of the country.

 

“Depriving someone of the right to life diminishes us all. We are all part of the greater humanity. As trade unions, we are in solidarity with one another. Thus, we must defend, promote, and protect our individual rights to decent life, security of tenure in our work, as well as our rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining,” said Rene Magtubo of the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition.

 

Magtubo is referring to the joint workers report submitted by the APTU to the ILO-HLTM that that documented 68 trade union killings and hundreds of violations of the right to freedom of association, thus the need for whole of government approach to better guard labor rights.

 

"Milyong-milyon ang walang trabaho, at kung meron man, karamihan ay kontraktwal. Hamon natin sa gobyerno: ibasura ang Department Order 174, iwaksi ang kontraktwalisasyon, at igarantiya ang regular at ligtas na trabaho para sa lahat,” said Atty Luke Espiritu, president of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP).

 

Ending contractualization remains high in the priority list of organized labor.

 

"Low wages, rising prices, contractualization and workplace violence are hitting working women the hardest. Raising the minimum wage would considerably benefit women workers who are disproportionately concentrated in low-wage, precarious jobs and help close the gender wage gap. The current administration should pass the security of tenure bills in both the public and private sectors, and ratify ILO Convention 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work,” said Annie Geron of Women Workers United (WWU). The WWU was formed parallel to the APTU. 

PRESS RELEASE

All Philippine Trade Unions

26 April 2003

Contact Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

Nagkaisa Spokesperson

Labor group to government: Is cruelty becoming a new normal?

The rise in the number of cases involving cruel treatment by security forces against violators of quarantine protocols has alarmed the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) which sees this pattern as tolerated impunity that is becoming a new normal.

“Can’t our security forces in dreadful military uniforms act humanely before their fellow humans? Have they been instructed to apply brute force against anyone they perceive to be pasaway? There must be a new culture for a new normal being created here for these inhumane actions to be tolerated,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

The labor group reminded the government that human rights and labor rights guaranteed by the Constitution have never been demolished by President Duterte’s emergency powers under the Bayanihan Act.

According to police reports, there are more than a hundred thousand ECQ violators who have been apprehended or arrested since the lockdown has been imposed.  The most recent among them were the Makati (Parras) and Quezon City (Ragos and a fish vendor) incidents that have gone viral in the social media. There was also a PUP student leader among them, Rexlon Aumentado, who was illegally detained for 3 days.

The group also cited the police dispersal of a workers’ picketline in Cavite during Black Friday night. Dasmarinas police who refused to give their names threatened two strikers—at the Sejung Apparel Inc. factory in the First Cavite Industrial Estate—with arrest for allegedly violating the quarantine rules. “Labor rights are not suspended during the ECQ and this incident breaks all the rules of engagement, especially the guidelines on the conduct of security personnel during labor disputes,” Magtubo insisted.

PM is concerned that had there been no anonymous people posting their videos of those incidents, these human rights violations in thousands of unreported circumstances will just go unnoticed and perpetrators go unpunished.

“Bakit ba naging habit na ang pananakit? Bakit ba mayroon nang nalikhang malaki at maliit, malupit at mahina dito sa paglaban sa Covid-19,” lamented Magtubo.

“Makataong Tugon Hindi Militarisasyon” is one of PM’s “Apat na Dapat” Labor Day demands. The other demands include “Ayudang Sapat Para sa Lahat”, “Balik Trabahong Ligtas”, and “Ayudang Lagpas sa Panahon ng Lockdown.”

The group is with Nagkaisa! labor coalition which, together with Kilusang Mayo Uno, will be holding home and community protest online on Labor Day.

#MakataongTugonHindiMilitarisasyon

#MayDay2020

29 April 2020

Car dealer workers to hold simultaneous pickets today over wage, voice issues

Media Advisory

May 3, 2019

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Ver Duray @ 09333103462

Car dealer workers to hold simultaneous pickets over wage, voice issues

What: Simultaneous pickets in car dealer offices

When: Today, May 3, 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.

Where: Union Motors, Paco, Manila (main picket)

             Peak Motors, Pasay, EDSA cor Roxas Blvd, Pasay

             DCT Motors, EDSA Balintawak

Details:

Just after the commemoration of Labor Day, an alliance of labor unions in three Mitsubishi car dealers is holding simultaneous lunch break protests today to flex it muscles. The main picket is at that Paco office of Union Motors where a company board meeting is also happening today. 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 is 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 grievances and demands of the union alliance reflect the issues of wage and voice that were the highlights of the Labor Day marches yesterday.

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.

Workers vow to fight endo until the endgame

As thousands of workers march today in Labor Day rallies across the country, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) vowed to “fight endo until the endgame.” The demand to abolish contractualization and provincial wage was at the top of the issues raised in the Labor Day commemoration.

Last night women members of PM and PUP students under the group SPEAK held a candlelight protest at Mendiola to call for regular jobs and a living wage.

“The Senate should heed the cry of the thousands of workers and to pass the Security of Tenure bill in its last session this month before Congress ends its term,” explained Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

She also clarified that “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.”

Today PM and allied organizations National Federation of Labor, Agila, Umalab Ka, Pwersa and Kilos Maralita assembled at the Petron gas station along the eastbound side of Blumentritt in Espana at 7 a.m. The group then linked up with other groups for a short program at Welcome Rotonda. Then the Labor Day march led by the Nagkaisa labor coalition started at 9 a.m. towards Mendiola. Some 10,000 workers are expected to participate in the march to Mendiola.

PM also held Labor Day mobilizations at Cebu, Bacolod and Iligan. The rally in Cebu was a joint Nagkaisa-KMU rally at downtown Colon in the morning. The Bacolod mass action was a march by sugar workers and factory laborers through the Fountain of Justice in the afternoon. The Iligan march was led by the Federation of Democratic Labor Organizations.

“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.

May 1, 2019

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

Labor Yearender: Endo, TRAIN spur labor disputes, workers’ unity

The unfulfilled promise to end contractualization and the runaway inflation due to the imposition of TRAIN led to an outbreak of labor disputes in 2018 and the forging of a historic unity among workers’ groups in the country. According to the latest data from the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), there were 21% more notices of strikes from January to August this year compared to the same period last year. Of the nine actual strikes recorded, five of them involved issues of regularization of workers.

Spurred by the resurgence in workers’ militancy, the country’s rival labor groups finally came together in a joint mass action in the Labor Day commemoration this year. The coalition Nagkaisa, which comprise some 40 labor groups and institutions, joined forces with the Kilusang Mayo Uno in a massive May 1 march from Espana to Mendiola. The disparate labor groups once more came together, along with other social movements and civil society organizations, in the United People’s Action during the State of the Nation address of President Duterte. Formally coming together as Manggagawa Ayaw sa Diktadura, the rival labor organizations marched again as one to slam the threat of a new dictatorship during the commemoration of the declaration of martial law last September 21.

While statistics from the NCMB show that actual strikes were down from 15 to just 9 (January to August this year compared to last year), the government’s data is inaccurate. To cite just one example, it does not include the strike last May at the Dong Seung garments factory in the Cavite ecozone. The Dong Seung strike is the latest in a string of disputes and struggles at the country’s biggest ecozone in the last four years. As a result, a dialogue finally started this year between labor groups, the DOLE and the Philippine Ecozone Authority to guarantee respect for freedom of association.

As the latest NCMB data covered only August, it does not list the biggest strike this year. On September 28, workers of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco in Marikina and Vigan went on strike for more than one month against mass layoff and job outsourcing.  Undoubtedly many of the disputes and majority of the actual strikes involve contractualization.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced in its yearend report that some 400,000 workers were regularized this year. If it were true, it is most welcome. Unfortunately the data is suspect as it has not been independently verified. The DOLE based its figures from reports by companies which obviously have an interest in bloating the numbers. It was also not reported if the workers were made regular in the principal companies or just in the manpower agencies.

What is undeniable is that the DOLE’s own compliance orders to regularize workers in the country’s biggest companies have not been implemented. Worse, it has led to mass termination of workers. Last October the DOLE NCR regional office released an order to regularize some 2,600 contractual workers in dozens of agencies used by Philippine Airlines and PAL Express. The order has been appealed by management and has not been complied with. A similar order early this year on the telco giant PLDT to regularize 7,300 endo employees was defied through the termination of service contracts with 39 contractors and thus the retrenchment of the workers.

In the face of a spike in prices, a wave of wage hikes were ordered by different regional wage boards in the country. The increases however were below the amount needed to recover the lost purchasing power of workers’ wages. To cite an example, the P25 hike in Metro Manila is short by 30% to make up for the P35.84 erosion in wages due to the average 7% inflation in the NCR. Partido Manggagawa’s own cost of living estimate for a family of five in Metro Manila is around P1,300 a day, more than double the new minimum wage of P537. This continues the pattern of worsening inequality—real wages are stagnating despite the 50% productivity growth from 2001 to 2016.

The coming new year under the neoliberal and bloody policies of the Duterte administration does not augur well for the working class. On the heap of the broken promises of ending endo and abolishing regional wages, the workers should develop their own power through unity and action. The challenge for the workers movement in 2019 is to build upon the resurgence of militancy and the forging of labor unity to make the popular clamor for change a reality.

December 29, 2018

Workers are more concerned with chicha, not chacha

It’s chicha, hindi chacha. For three consecutive years now, working class issues such as wage hike, controlling inflation, reducing poverty and job creation remained as Filipinos top concerns while charter change or chacha just hang around to be the least. 

In reaction to this news, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) said: “The pervasiveness of poverty as a result of low wages, high prices of goods and services, unemployment and lack of quality jobs cannot be swept under the rug by a more sensational war on drugs, the ambitious plan to build-build-build, or by shifting our form of government into federalism.” 

Yesterday dozens of PM members among workers, women and youth led a picket at the Department of Trade and Industry office in Makati to assail government's inaction on inflation and its pro-endo policy. The protest was a buildup to the massive labor unity mobilization planned on May 1 to push for workers' demands such as regular jobs and a living wage.

According to PM chair Renato Magtubo, poverty concerns had always been in need of immediate action and unless addressed in a holistic manner, these issues will continue to hound any administration. 

“Ang mas kailangan ng mga Pilipino ay chicha, hindi chacha,” said Magtubo, adding that the failure of President Duterte and his Congress to stop contractualization, abolish the regional wage boards, and to control the rising prices of goods and services due to the imposition of new taxes will always’s be viewed by the working class as a regression rather than an improvement in their quality of life. 

Chicha is a Filipino slang for food, but for the labor group, its meaning expands to other rights and entitlements that enable workers to raise their standard of living. 

The most recent Ulat sa Bayan report by Pulse Asia revealed that the first three concerns remained to be the issues that most Filipinos want the Duterte administration to address. The survey conducted between March 23-28, 2018 showed that wage hike, controlling inflation and reducing poverty were the top three concerns while charter change landed last in the list with only 3% of Filipinos demanding immediate action for it from the President. 

Survey respondents were asked by Pulse Asia the following questions: 

“Sa mga sumusunod na isyung pambansa, pakisabi ang tatlong isyung dapat aksyunan agad ng administrasyon ni Presidente Rodrigo R. Duterte. Maari kayong magbanggit ng iba pa na wala sa listahan. Alin po ang unang isyung dapat aksyunan agad ng kasalukuyang administrasyon? Ano ang pangalawa? Ano ang Pangatlo?” 

Magtubo said the same sentiments will surely be expressed by workers who will be mobilizing themselves nationwide in the coming Labor Day celebration. 

April 24, 2018