PALEA appeal for presidential action on 5-year endo dispute with PAL

Members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) went back to Malacanang Monday to seek presidential intervention to their 5-year old dispute with the Philippine Airlines on the issue of contractualization.

 

This is the second time PALEA is seeking the intervention of the President on the issue of PAL’s outsourcing program.  The first was in 2011 when PALEA asked former President Benigno S. Aquino III to reverse the decision made by his labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz allowing the implementation of PAL’s outsourcing program that affected some 2,600 workers.  Unfortunately, President Aquino took the side of Lucio Tan by denying the petition of PALEA twice. 

 

PALEA members stood their ground in opposing the outsourcing program by establishing an extensive protest camp at PAL’s In-Flight Services until a Settlement Agreement was reached with the management in 2013. The Settlement Agreement provided for the compensation for the remaining number of workers and their re-employment to PAL as regular employees.   

 

PALEA President Gerry Rivera said PAL has deliberately reneged on their commitment especially on re-employment which is the most important provision of the Settlement Agreement.

 

“Kaya po kami bumabalik sa Tanggapan ng Pangulo ay dahil baka po may tsansa pa na maituwid niya ang baluktot na nagawa ng nagdaang administrasyon at maitawid kami sa tulay ng hustisya na limang taon na naming inaasam,” appealed Rivera.

 

PALEA made this appeal in a march to Malacanang where a dialogue was supposed to happen between the President and labor groups on the issue of endo.  The meeting unfortunately was moved to another date later this month.

 

Nevertheless, PALEA members and their supporters decided to push through with their march to voice out their urgent concern to the President.  Rivera also hoped that the scheduled dialogue materializes the soonest time possible so that measures on how to effectively end endo is finally threshed out. 

 

“Kami po ang naging poster boy ng problemang endo dito sa bansa.  Kaya’t kung sakali, baka ang resolusyon sa aming kaso ay maging kaparehong paraan sa ganap na pagtigil sa kontraktwalisasyon na siyang pangako ng Pangulo.  Dahil pareho sa aming lahat ang problema – ito ang pagtatalaga ng aming mga buhay at kinabukasan sa  mga  kontraktor o middleman, ” said Rivera.

 

PALEA is a member of Nagkaisa, a labor coalition that is campaigning for the prohibition of all forms of contractualization and fixed-term employment.

Philippine Airlines Employees Association

February 13, 2017

 

Group calls on Malacanang to implement dismissal order on NPO officials

The militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on Malacanang to implement the dismissal order by the Ombudsman on six officials of the National Printing Office (NPO) who are currently overseeing the printing of ballots for the coming elections. Recently the Ombudsman released a decision dated September 15, 2015, denying the motion for reconsideration (MR) of the axed NPO officers.

“With the junking of the MR, there is no more alibi for Malacanang to refuse to execute the dismissal order. The six NPO officers must be dismissed immediately, in fact they should have been removed yesterday. Instead these corrupt officials are now administering the ballot printing thus casting doubt on the credibility of the elections,” argued Wilson Fortaleza, spokesperson of PM which is running in the elections as a partylist group.

In a decision dated July 24, 2015 and signed by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Jose Ronald Bersales and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, the court found the officials “guilty of grave misconduct” in connection with the anomalous printing of travel clearance certificates of the National Bureau of Investigation worth P1.9 million on Nov. 18, 2010.

Dismissed in the order were Emmanuel Andaya, NPO director; Sylvia Banda, chief administrative officer; Josefina Samson, printing operations chief; Antonio Sillona, printing operations chief; Bernadette Lagumen, supervising administrative officer; and Ma. Gracia Enriquez, printing operations assistant chief. 

NPO employees led by Mario Adarlo, former head of the labor union, started the call for the axing of the NPO officials. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo also supported the demand for the dismissal of the NPO officials to ensure clean and honest elections. There is also a change.org petition calling for the implementation of the dismissal order.

“We ask Malacanang: Daang matuwid or double standard? When political enemies are involved, Ombudsman decisions are immediately implemented by the administration. But when favored officials are implicated, dismissal orders are ignored despite black-and-white rules that say decisions are immediately executory despite the pendency of MR’s,” Fortaleza explained.

He added “Is there something being cooked at the NPO that corrupt and dismissed officials now oversee the much-delayed ballot printing and remain in their posts under the protection of Malacanang?”

“It is high time to appoint new NPO officials with clean records of public service. Further, the mandate of the NPO must be respected instead of its work outsourced to private printing contractors,” Fortaleza ended.

February 18, 2016

Abaya is incompetent and PNoy’s PPP is committing the same sin – Partido Manggagawa

Photo Credit: Politiko/Pinoy Movie Blogger

The Aquino administration cannot hide the incompetence of DOTC Sec. Joseph Emilio Abaya by conveniently referring to the original sins of the Ramos administration, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

 

The group said that while it completely agrees with the ‘original sin’ line of the Liberal Party (LP) in identifying the main problem besetting the MRT system, the administration is likewise guilty of repeating the same mistake by lining all the rehabilitation, maintenance, and expansion programs for MRT/LRT systems under PPP (Public-Private Partnership), which is but another name for the Ramos-era BOT (Build-Operate Transfer) scheme.

 

“LP should not point an accusing finger to other sinners when what it can only offer to our people is the same menu placed in separate tables,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

 

Fortaleza said LP stalwart Edgar Erice was right in describing the MRT-3 contract as ‘highway robbery’ yet he avoided to explain why the ‘tuwid na daan’ failed to apprehend the robbers.

 

“Erice is also correct in considering the option of expropriation to finally eliminate the resistance of the MRTC consortium, yet his DOTC secretary wasted six years on cherry-picking who among his choice concessionaires would replace the Sobrepenas and the former supply and maintenance provider,” said Fortaleza.

 

Fortaleza added that for the last six years, the Aquino administration pursued not the track of expropriation but of privatization, first by gradually removing the subsidy through fare increase, and second, by lining all MRT/LRT maintenance and expansion projects to PPP concessions. 

 

“This PPP scheme, which is no different from BOT, caused the delay of the much needed rehabilitation of the MRT system, the expansion of LRT 1 to Cavite and the construction of MRT 7 from North QC to Fairview and Bulacan.  Abaya even failed to connect LRT 1 and MRT 3 simply because the Ayala and Henry Sy fight over the common station,” lamented Fortaleza.

 

As to Abaya who faces other pressing problems in the transport and communications industry, the labor group said that with no action coming from PNoy, they can leave his fate to Heneral Luna since the problem with our current mass transport system is larger than the secretary’s head.

 

PM partylist is calling for quality public services in its electoral platform, and its components include the development of safe, clean and affordable mass transport system.  And to be able to do it, the program needs huge amount of public investment and subsidy, not the abdication of state responsibility.

08 January 2016

Group slams PNoy for prioritizing Korean investments over workers’ concerns

Picketline at Tae Sung factory in February 2015

The labor party-list group Partido Manggagawa (PM) denounced President Benigno Aquino III for neglecting to raise urgent concerns of Filipino workers of Korean-owned companies in the country to South Korean President Park Geun-Hye at the just concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Media had reported that Aquino vowed to protect some one million Koreans residing in the Philippines as requested by Park.

Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, stated that “As we expected, when President Aquino met President Park, they talked about promoting trade and investments. Aquino spoke not a word about protecting union rights and decent pay for workers despite many ongoing labor rows involve Korean-owned factories in the Philippines.”

“On the specific case of Korea’s state-owned KEPCO coal plant in Cebu, the Office of the President had intervened to impose an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) on the planned strike against illegal dismissals and union busting. These circumstances merit it being discussed between the two presidents if only to resolve the long-running dispute,” Magtubo added.

Workers from two Korean-owned companies now embroiled in labor disputes had challenged APEC on the issue of labor rights. Employees of power company KEPCO-Cebu and metal factory Tae Sung in Cavite have charged their managements with union busting and have pending labor disputes.

Lowell Sanchez, president of the KEPCO Cebu Supervisors Association (KCSA-WSN-Sentro), challenged the government to resolve the labor dispute. The KEPCO union filed a notice of strike last June for the unfair dismissal of Sanchez. The planned strike of the KEPCO workers was stopped by an AJ order so that it will not affect the APEC ministers meeting in Cebu last August. KEPCO operates coal plants in Cebu and Batangas.

Meanwhile, according to Charlie Piamonte, union president of Tae Sung Employees Association (TEA), they filed a notice of strike last November 12 for union busting. He explained that Tae Sung illegally fired union officer Joven Niviar, among other incidents of harassment of union members. The union is planning to conduct a strike vote within the next few days. Under the law, a union may launch a strike seven days after a majority of union members authorize it through a vote. Tae Sung is based in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, Cavite and produces metal parts for the supply chain of multinational companies like American Power Conversion-Schneider Electric, Honda, Mitsubishi, Caterpillar and Siemens.

“KEPCO and Tae Sung are crystal clear examples of how APEC has facilitated growth and profit for multinational corporations that operates across borders. And they also fully illustrate how workers have born the sacrifices for the phenomenal economic benefits that corporations have reaped due to APEC. Workers across APEC countries contend with low pay, contractual work and union suppression even as their labor created the doubling of real GDP within APEC between 1989 and 2013,” Magtubo ended.

November 20, 2015

Workers of Korean-owned companies with labor disputes ask: Can APEC protect labor rights?

Workers from two Korean-owned companies based in the country who are now embroiled in labor disputes are asking the leaders of the countries attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit if its agenda includes protection for labor rights. Employees of power company KEPCO-Cebu and metal factory Tae Sung in Cavite have charged their managements with union busting and have pending labor disputes.

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed APEC for “double-speak” as repression of workers’ rights belies its “inclusive growth tagline.” “Inclusive growth in APEC countries is impossible without respect for basic labor rights, including the right to unionize and receive living wages.” insisted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye meet at this APEC summit, they surely talk about promoting trade and investments. But we doubt they will even speak about protecting union rights and decent pay for workers of Korean-owned companies in the Philippines. APEC is all about business and nothing about workers.”

According to Charlie Piamonte, union president of Tae Sung Employees Association (TEA), they filed a notice of strike last November 12 for union busting. He explained that Tae Sung illegally fired union officer Joven Niviar, among other incidents of harassment of union members. The union is planning to conduct a strike vote within the next few days. Under the law, a union may launch a strike seven days after a majority of union members authorize it through a vote. Tae Sung is based in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, Cavite and produces metal parts for the supply chain of multinational companies like American Power Conversion-Schneider Electric, Honda, Mitsubishi, Caterpillar and Siemens.

Meanwhile, Lowell Sanchez, president of the KEPCO Cebu Supervisors Association (KCSA-WSN-Sentro), challenged the government to resolve the long-running labor row that is now the subject of an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. The KEPCO union filed a notice of strike last June for the unfair dismissal of Sanchez. The planned strike of the KEPCO workers was stopped by an AJ order so that it will not affect the APEC ministers meeting in Cebu last August. KEPCO is South Korea’s state-owned power company and operates coal plants in Cebu and Batangas.

“KEPCO and Tae Sung are crystal clear examples of how APEC has facilitated growth and profit for multinational corporations that operates across borders. And they also fully illustrate how workers have born the sacrifices for the phenomenal economic benefits that corporations have reaped due to APEC. Workers across APEC countries contend with low pay, contractual work and union suppression even as their labor created the doubling of real GDP within APEC between 1989 and 2013,” Magtubo averred.

November 17, 2015

Labor group asks DOLE if PAL layoff is “tuwid na daan”

Photo from Rappler.com

Press Release
September 4, 2015

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) if the continuing hemorrhage of jobs at Philippine Airlines (PAL) is in line with the “tuwid na daan” advocacy of the government. PM made the dare as PAL announced yesterday that a mass layoff of 117 employees working at its outlying stations in the provincial airports is to be implemented in November.

“We want to know from the DOLE if job outsourcing and the replacement of regular by contractual workers as is happening in PAL is in line with the labor policy and ‘tuwid na daan’ mantra of the Aquino administration. On our part, we believe that contractualization is clearly a ‘baluktot na patakaran’ and contrary to the goal of inclusive growth,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

News reports quoted PAL sources as saying that the retrenchment is due to redundancy and a continuation of the controversial outsourcing program started in September 2011. In 2011, more than 2,000 PAL employees were laid off, setting off the biggest labor dispute in the country in recent years. The dispute was resolved when in November 2013 PAL and the ground crew union PALEA signed a settlement agreement that among others provides for the re-employment of some 600 workers who refused to accept the outsourcing program. However, PAL has yet to implement the re-employment provision of the agreement.

Magtubo added “Further, has the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) anything to say about the epidemic of labor contractualization, union busting and the degradation of wages and working conditions that is evidently illustrated at PAL? The latest mass layoff at PAL is to be done in November in time for the APEC summit.”

“In 2011, PAL argued that it was losing money and thus it was necessary to retrench a third of its total workforce that happened to be more than 2/3 of PALEA’s membership and leadership. But at present PAL has a P6.45 billion net income for the first half of the year and is expecting to end the year in the black as it proudly declared in its stockholders meeting last August 27. If it was immoral then to replace regular employees with contractual employees, it is even moreso now when PAL is wallowing in profit,” insisted Magtubo.

He also argued that “Just like in 2011, what will probably happen is that the 117 PAL employees will be laidoff but will then be rehired but as contractual workers in service providers since they possess the skills necessary for the job. In other words, the mass layoff is a contractualization scam.”

PM declared its commitment to support the fight of PAL employees for job security and against job contractualization. “Ang laban ng PALEA sa kontraktwalisasyon ay laban ng lahat ng manggagawa,” Magtubo reminded.

PNoy, past governments failed the youth in their transition to the world of work – PM-Kabataan

News Release

July 25, 2015

PM-Kabataan

High dropout rates due to high cost of education amid the prevailing poverty in the country; unemployment; the prevalence of precarious working conditions; and poor state of public services have condemned the youth to a life of uncertainty despite the promises of tuwid na daan under the Aquino administration.

This was the assertion of the youth wing of Partido Manggagawa, PM-Kabataan (PMK), ahead of its pre-SONA “art attack” protest to be held tomorrow at the Quezon Memorial Circle as it railed against the lack of tangible legacy the youth sector has gained under the Aquino as well as the past administrations, specifically, for their failure to eliminate established roadblocks that limit opportunities for young people to secure a better future.

Youth is defined by the UN and ILO as those under 25 years of age.  The Philippine law (RA8044), however, prescribed the 15-30 age group to cover the youth sector.  There are 18.93 million Filipinos under the age group 15-24 and 27.84 million in age group 15-30 based on the 2012 census. Combined this sector represents millions of young people who are in school, in actual work, the idle and the unemployed.

According to PM-Kabataan, the youth’s pathway or transition to better future - from schooling to actual work – remained impeded by age-old problems such as high cost of education, unemployment, and precarious working conditions.

Dropout rate, added the group, remained at 6-7% in elementary and high school and much higher at the college level during the last five years.  “Those who cannot survive this transition end up as unskilled laborers which now comprise 32% of employed persons in the country, or into the world of unemployment which is highest, 52%, in age group 18-24,” said PM-Kabataan spokesperson Ryan Bocacao.

He added that this kind of situation produces the countless Mary Jane Velosos, full time and part time laborers in sweatshop enterprises, and the phenomenal rise in the number of batang ina and young parents in the country.

To address this problem the youth group said the government should have been decisive in formulating policies that would establish free education at all levels, bring down the cost of other social services, and in stopping the plague of contractualization in the workplace.

“Unfortunately we haven’t seen progress in policy levels both in education and in the world of work. Lilipas na naman ang isang administrasyon, nadagdagan na naman ang aming edad ng anim na taon, pero narito pa rin kami sa dating sitwasyon na kinalalagyan namin noon,” lamented Bocacao.

PM-Kabataan members come from the ranks of students, out-of-school youth and those who are at work.  The “art attack” protest was their form of expressing their sentiment against the prevailing system in the country and a buildup activity before joining other groups for Monday’s Sona protests.

Advisory: Pre-SONA youth event

MEDIA ADVISORY

Partido Manggagawa - Kabataan

                           

YOUTH in SORRY STATE

                                        (A Pre-SONA Protest)

·    High dropout rate in school               6-7% elementary and high school, higher rate in college

·    Unemployment                                  52%  in age group 18-24

·    Precarious working condition            outsourcing/contractualization, informalization

·    Teenage pregnancy/young parents    14% of Filipino girls aged 15-19

                                                                 Date: July 26, 2015

                                   Place: Gazebo 2, Quezon Memorial Circle

                                   Time:  7AM - 6PM 

Activities done through art protest by members of PM-Kabataan

        AM Activities:

o   mural and face painting

o   mask/poster making

o   Flash Mob Dance

o   Boodle Fight

        PM Activities

o   workshops on issues

o   candle lighting for victims of injustice like Mary Jane Veloso and Kentex workers

                                             THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For inquiries please contact Ms. Judy Ann Miranda @ 09228677522 or Yuen Abana @ 09162811934

P700/plate for SONA merienda highlights persisting inequality in the country

News Release
July 23, 2015

The menu for merienda and the cost per plate is out in the news.  It’s P700 per plate for 2,750 guests. So perhaps the last State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino is best graded according to this practical subject, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

PM is one of the many groups joining the anti-Sona protests on Monday.

According to PM, food is a good benchmark in measuring poverty and inequality and therefore is a solid indicator on whether inclusive growth had been achieved by the Aquino administration.  Food makes up more than 50% of household expenditure.  And many Filipinos are considered as “food poor.”

In the first semester of 2014, the monthly average food threshold for a family of five is estimated at PhP6,125 and a total of PhP8,778 to cover the non-food requirements.   In other words, a poor family needs at least PhP204 per day or PhP41 per capita to meet their food requirements alone.  Poverty incidence (the measure of population who cannot meet their food and non-food requirements) among Filipinos during this period was estimated at 25.8%, according to the Philippine Statistics authority.

“For lawmakers and VIP guests, the SONA menu for merienda may look ordinary or even cheap. But for a jobless person and for the many families living in subsistence level, a P700/plate merienda made of black angus and shrimp rolls, among others, is lavishly alienating and, of course, insulting,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

This is just for the government side alone, said the group.  The country's Richest 50 got the biggest and juiciest slice of our GDP.

Magtubo, who is a former partylist representative, said workers in sweatshops who earn P200 a day, like in the case of Kentex, can squeeze that PhP700 for a week’s survival.  It can also cover a life liner’s monthly electricity bill of 70 kWh, or at least 25 day of crushing MRT ride.

He added that there are many other issues that can be raised against the failure of the Aquino administration to address the fundamental problems that really block the road towards inclusiveness.  But there is no more time to argue these things in the remaining last two minutes of his term.

“At least here in the P700/plate merienda, the persisting inequality in Philippine society is best understood.  And it will be good for the people to know that for those who will be inside the Batasan Complex on Monday, fine dining is most memorable than listening to PNoy’s last SONA,” concluded Magtubo. ###

Labor group dares PNoy to certify bill criminalizing OSH violations

Press Release

May 29, 2015

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today challenged President Benigno Aquino III to certify as priority legislation of his administration the bill providing for criminalization of violation of occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. “PNoy’s declaration that there needs to be an ‘integrated multi-disciplinary approach’ in response to the Kentex factory fire are highfalutin words good for bureaucrats but abstract to workers who want to see concrete action and political will from the government,” averred Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

It was reported that last Wednesday that President Aquino met officials from the Labor Department and other agencies regarding the government’s response to the Kentex fire. Even earlier Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz pushed for the enactment of pending bills that mandate stiffer fines and jail terms for employer breach of workplace safety standards.

“We welcome Secretary Baldoz’s support for bills criminalizing OSH violations but until her boss PNoy certifies as urgent such pending legislation, they remain so much noise signifying nothing,” Magtubo insisted.

PM had been vocal in calling not just for justice for workers killed and injured in the Kentex fire but for labor inspection and enforcement reforms. As an immediate reform, Magtubo called for deputizing labor leaders as additional labor inspectors. PM is also pushing for criminalization of  OSH violations as a potent deterrent.

Magtubo said that “Workers can forget PNoy’s slight of not even visiting the Kentex factory after the fire or the wake of workers killed, but we cannot forgive if in the coming State of the Nation address he will not certify as urgent the bills providing for criminalization of OSH breach and for protection of security of tenure.”

Labor groups have been campaigning for passage of security of tenure bill that will regulate the rampant practice of replacing regular workers with contractual laborers. In the wake of the Kentex fire, it was found out that Kentex not only violated OSH standards but also labor laws, including using an illegal contractor to hire agency workers in the factory.

No dialogue with PNoy on May 1 – labor coalition

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA!

27 April 2015

President Aquino has failed the workers during the last five years and nothing more can be expected from the remaining 14 months in office for this administration.  For this reason, Nagkaisa, the country’s largest coalition of trade union federations and labor organizations, is terminating its regular dialogue with the President being done every Labor Day since 2012.

“No more breakfast or luncheon meeting with the President this coming May 1. The last three years of engagement satisfied the form but produced no substance,” declared Nagkaisa in a press conference held Monday in Manila. 

On Labor Day the group will rather concentrate all its forces for the big March to Malacanang to seek justice for the 40 million workers whose fight for jobs and job security, living wage, trade union rights and decent working and living conditions remain unheeded.  A cry for justice, which they say, will extend until the next regimes.

Women leaders who composed Nagkaisa’s main panel for the press conference shared the group’s general assessment of the Aquino administration that was held the other day and declared “walang naituwid at walang naitawid” during PNoy’s five years in office.

Open doors but close minds

Nagkaisa said that since 2012, the group has sincerely pursued dialogues with the Palace, hoping that issues brought directly to the President might speed up the resolution of age-old problems besetting labor. 

“We have proven otherwise that while the Palace doors are open for dialogue, the people in power inside maintains a close mind with regard to proposed changes on policies being pursued by labor,” explained the group.

These include Nagkaisa’s demand for the President to certify as urgent the Security of Tenure bill to address the plague of contractualization that destroys job security and union rights. 

The Palace played deaf on this demand while maintaining a ‘kid gloves’ policy in dealing with big companies as well as the proliferation of manpower agencies and cooperatives involved in outsourcing and labor-only contracting activities.

Starvation wages

The government has also failed to raise workers’ wages from the barest minimum despite record growth in the economy.

“The combined wealth of the country’s richest businessmen has grown by ten-fold yet workers’ wages remained at starvation levels,” said Nagkaisa.

The real value of the NCR minimum wage of P466 is P354 only while a family of five need more than a thousand pesos living wage to enjoy a decent life.

Nagkaisa likewise demanded a reduction in power rates with concrete proposals on how to do it.  But Malacanang stood powerless in the face of private power. Had the Supreme Court not issued a TRO for the P4/kWh spike in prices last year, the Philippines could have stolen the record of having the highest electricity rates in the world.

City lands for developers

The Aquino government has adopted a program for socialized housing that entertains housing projects through a “people’s proposal”.  But Nagkaisa said the program is very selective and limited while most of city lands were appropriated not for socialized housing but for the real estate business of giant land developers.

Urban development are not for the urban poor but virtually a fight between the Ayalas, Henry Sy, Lucio Tan, Gokongwei, Andrew Tan, Consunji, George Ty and Manny Villar.

Mary Jane

According to Nagkaisa, the sad fate of Mary Jane Veloso represents an individual tragedy resulting from the country’s chronic unemployment problem. 

“Her story is an added statistics to the long list of OFWs who braved the challenges of foreign lands in search for jobs but suffered tragic ends either from the cruel hands of employers or from the treacherous hands of organized syndicates or get caught in between wars of conflict,” said Nagkaisa.

There is no dramatic change in the unemployment rate under PNoy, said Nagkaisa. In fact, the unemployment rate of 7.5% in 2014 is higher than the unemployment rates of 5.2% in 1976, 6.7% in 1986, and 7.3% when PNoy assumed office in 2010.

Unemployment is also highest among youth (52% in SWS survey) while participation rate of women in the labor force remained flat for half of its population of 15 years and above.

Poor state, high prices of goods and services

Besides problems of unemployment and precarious working conditions, the poor state and high prices of basic goods and services such as power and water, transportation, healthcare and education weigh heavily on the lives of millions of workers.

And in the face of this generalized condition of the toiling masses, Nagkaisa said the only thing the Aquino administration can do for the workers is to mobilize its powers in organizing nationwide job fairs on Labor Day.

We won’t get justice by counting more dead; war is not the answer

PRESS STATEMENT

30 January 2015

Partido Manggagawa (PM) joins the nation in mourning the death of SAF 44.  As breadwinners, husbands, and brothers to their families, their death is certainly a big loss, a pain that is hard and long to overcome.

And as soldiers who were trained how to survive under the most difficult situations, their undeserved deaths cry for justice.  Who were the officers in charge? Who were the people accountable for the Mamasapano debacle? Was there a foreign hand behind that operation?

We continue to ask the same questions as we join the people in demanding justice and accountability from both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).  Their separate investigations must be done in good faith and in soonest possible time.  An independent fact finding body can also be organized to ensure fairness and objectivity in the conduct of investigations.

But in seeking justice, we express our strong disagreement to those who call for all-out war to exact retribution.   War is not the solution.  Justice, we believe, should not come as a consequence of another war.  We don’t get justice by counting more dead as what we have seen over many decades of war in Mindanao.  We don’t get the truth from hatred and established social and religious prejudices.

Lastly, despite this major setback, we remain supportive of the peace process between the government and the MILF.   Working for peace, however tough and tricky it is, remains to be the most effective and viable alternative in addressing the historic and new issues that created the conditions of war in Mindanao.

BPO workers decry MRT rate hike for negating tax exemption

PRESS RELEASE

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

January 7, 2015

A BPO workers association added its voice to groups opposing the MRT and LRT fare hikes and avers that the rate increase will negate the expected benefit coming from tax exemption of de minimis benefits.

According to the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW), ordinary workers, BPO employees included, who make up the bulk of regular train riders in the MRT and LRT systems in Metro Manila will bear the brunt of the onerous rate.

“The new tax exemption on de minimis is welcome news to millions of low-waged workers.  But the impending MRT rate hike is definitely a spoiler,” said ICCAW-NCR spokesman Bryan Nadua.

He also lamented the fact that Malacanang has yet to sign the measure although it has already been announced. “The government is fast in imposing burdens on the workers but slow to act on benefits for the employees,” Nadua added.

An additional exemption of up to P10,000 can be availed by workers who enjoy extra economic benefits coming from collective bargaining agreements and productivity schemes.  The de minimis tax exemption has been a demand of labor groups grouped under Nagkaisa in dialogues with Malacanang.

Nadua said the amount of exemption is almost equivalent to the fare hike that will be imposed by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) upon train riders beginning January 4.

A two-way adjusted rate of P28 per day in the MRT is equivalent to more or less P10,000 in one year, ICCAW stated, lamenting that the fare hike is cancelling out the benefits of the new tax exemption.

“Kung ano ang ibibigay ni Kim Henares sa kabilang bulsa, kukunin ni Joseph Abaya sa kabila,” insisted Nadua.

Labor groups like Nagkaisa are opposed to the planned rate increases in MRT and LRT, saying the railway system which is being enjoyed by millions of low-waged workers should remain subsidized by the State.

ICCAW, which was first organized in Cebu City in 2012, is calling for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits, and entitlements that must be well above the minimum mandated by law and commensurate to the profitable dollar-earning nature of the call center industry.

Cancel MRT contract if you have real political will, Palace urged

Press Release

January 6, 2015

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) lambasted Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya for bragging about ‘political will’ in justifying the MRT and LRT rate hike, saying political will is best understood when imposed against a mighty force and not on the hapless poor.

Abaya claimed over media interview the other day that political will defined the major difference between the past and the present administration in dealing with the MRT and LRT fare hike.

“Political will do not differentiate the past and present regimes over this issue as they all bear the same class bias and more or less, the same failures.  PNoy is bolder to tread on the unpopular but that doesn’t mean a triumph of tuwid na daan.  If the President and the entire government cannot go after corporations and powerful people behind this railway scam, that political will assumes no effective meaning other than imposing the burden to the poor,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

PM and other labor groups under Nagkaisa! participated in yesterdays protest actions held at select MRT stations.  They called on the government to run after private contractors who messed up with the metro rail system rather than shifting the burden to the poor.

“Everybody knows that this crashing railway system, the MRT3 in particular, was a product of an onerous contract.  The test of political will, therefore, is in the cancellation of this contract and the prosecution of people and corporations behind the scam, not penalizing the people who are the rightful beneficiary of this social good,” argued Fortaleza.

Fortaleza argued further that the Palace is making gross misrepresentation in labelling government appropriations made for the maintenance and operations of the MRT as ‘subsidy’ to commuters when in fact it is a guaranteed payment to that onerous take-or-pay contract. 

“The government bleeds heavily from this and congressmen from Visayas and Mindanao complain about inequalities created by this subsidy. We never see them complain, however, against powerful forces behind this mess whom they certainly know and perhaps worked hand in hand with,” concluded Fortaleza. ###

Workers to PNoy on MRT, LRT fare hike: ‘Penalize private contractors not us’

NEWS RELEASE

05 January 2015

The government must penalize the private contractors who messed up the operation of the MRT system instead of running after the meager income of workers who use the metro rail system regularly. 

 Labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa! made this call as they kicked off the first working day of the year with protest actions against the MRT and LRT fare hike implemented by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) last Sunday. 

 Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) President and Partido Manggagawa (PM) Vice Chair Gerry Rivera, who led the protest action today at the MRT-Pasay Taft station said, “Liabilities borne out of an onerous contract should not be passed on to consumers penalizing them in effect as in the case of the Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) contract with the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) that built the MRT3 in 1997.”

He added that an ordinary worker who use the MRT will have to shell out at least P8,000 to cover the rate increase in one year. 

Rivera lamented further that instead of penalizing the private concessionaires for messing up with its contract to efficiently operate and maintain the system, “the government is rewarding them with steady flow of income from the fare hike shouldered by lowly-paid workers.”

On his part, Josua Mata, Secretary General of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (SENTRO) who led the protest action together with Public Services Labor Conferederation (PSLINK), PM and other members of Nagkaisa! at MRT’s North Avenue station, said the government should finally rescind the contract and take over the operation of the entire system so that the concept of ‘subsidy’ does not become a misnomer anymore for the take-or-pay contract. 

Mata argued, “When the government takes money from commuters through a fare hike and transfers that money to fraudulent hands of private companies, that is not subsidy. That’s malady.”

He noted that the fare hike is not meant for service upgrade but for debt payments to a private concessionaire.

The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) which led the protest action at MRT-Cubao station likewise believes that the fare hike is the bitter fruit of a failed privatization program of the country’s mass transport system.

Nagkaisa! vowed to conduct more protest actions this month against the fare hike.

Workers up against ‘assault on labor’ on first working day of 2015

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA!

04 January 2015

 

Labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa! are set to welcome the first working day of 2015 with a protest against what they consider as government’s assault on workers’ living condition – the implementation of fare hikes in the MRT and LRT system.

 

The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) proceeded with the implementation of the rate hike yesterday, amid oppositions from labor, commuter groups and legislators. 

 

Based on surveys, lowly-paid workers and students make up the bulk of regular train riders.

 

Members of Partido Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) will be leading the protest at the MRT Pasay-Taft station while the Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (SENTRO), Public Sevices Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), PM and other members of Nagkaisa are taking the MRT North Avenue station. The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) is taking the Cubao station.

 

Aside from the mass action, Nagkaisa! will be distributing leaflets explaining why commuters should reject the fire hike and how they can express their protest.

 

In opposing the fare hike Nagkaisa! contends that:

 

·      Fare hike is not meant for service upgrade but for debt payments to a private concessionaire;

·      Most of train riders belong to lowly-paid workers;

·      Government cutting MRT/LRT subsidy but hiking travel budget of public officials;

·      Fare hike is a move towards privatization

 

The group said commuters can express their opposition in various forms  including:

 

·      Making selfies or group pics holding mini posters and posting it on their social media accounts accompanied by #MRTprotest hashtag;

·      Joining online petitions addressed to the DOTC, Malacanang and Congress;

·      Seeking remedy from the courts; and

·      Joining scheduled mass actions

 

“The fare hike is the first oppressive policy of the year, the first assault by government on workers’ living condition.  Workers were first to pay their taxes but they were also the first to carry the burden of budget cuts and other unjust policies by government,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

 

He added: “Sa daang matuwid, manggagawa ang tinitipid.”

 

On his part PALEA President Gerry Rivera, lamented that while fares in other modes of transportation, including airlines, are dropping significantly because of the sharp drop in oil prices, but fares in the MRT and LRT are rising by as much as 87%.

 

SENTRO Secretary General and Nagkaisa! convenor Josua Mata said, “The true logic of removing the MRT subsidy is the government shifting to the role of shameless facilitator to the transfer of public money to private hands. In this particular a case, the commuters subsidizing the guaranteed returns of private investors.”

 

The Nagkaisa in a series of dialogues with the President has called for a cost-effective and efficient mass transport system since the heavy traffic has been eating up a lot of productive hours of workers. 

 

“The PNoy administration has not only failed to address the traffic mess, it is shamelessly adding a three-fold burden to workers who will have to shell out more for their own train fare and that of their children who go to school,” said Julius Cainglet of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW).