Fight against inequality is continuation of Bonifacio’s struggle—Partido Manggagawa

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on workers to fight inequality as the continuation of the struggle of Andres Bonifacio. On the occasion of this year’s commemoration of Bonifacio Day, thousands of workers from different labor groups are coming together to a big rally at Mendiola.

Members of PM are joining the major mobilizations in the cities of Manila, Cebu, Bacolod and Davao. Chapters of PM and groups Aguila, National Federation of Labor, Pwersa and Kilos Maralita from Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon are gathering at Blumentritt along Espana at 9 am. The groups will then link up with the Nagkaisa labor coalition march from Welcome Rotonda to Mendiola where they will hold a program up to noon.

Yesterday PM unveiled what it called “Panalo ang Pinas” and “Laban ng Pinoys” medals to express its message of fighting social inequality amidst economic growth. Scores of PM members trooped to Liwasang Bonifacio yesterday wearing symbolic medals that parodied the issues facing workers such as rampant contractualization and low wages, and the people such as government corruption and rice importation.

“For the last decade, the economy has doubled but real wages have remained stagnant. This means workers have not shared in the wealth that labor has produced and instead capitalists have monopolized it. If Bonifacio were alive today, he will be leading a new revolution against worsening inequality,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, PM Secretary General.

She added that “Endo and regional wages are among the key instruments by which government in collaboration with capitalists have kept workers from partaking in the fruits of their labor. Thus the campaign of workers to end endo and abolish regional wages are major struggles of the labor movement at present.”

PM is also condemning the repression of labor strikes that are breaking out as contractual workers demand regularization. The group also denounced the government for the slow action in resolving the killing of union organizer Dennis Sequena last June. The group reiterated its demand that the government allow the International Labor Organization to conduct a High Level Mission to probe the killings of labor activists and the suppression of freedom of association and collective bargaining. ###

Photos of the activity yesterday can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157637737124323?__xts__[0]=68.ARAn6-GMxwARR7qpY1oScEC3ekZbxGpX5IrLSegz0XHYB2CyraT4YSP0hKOdWPClp--TcQdtTe9raovNypx2qx7grv30G_34JfRBD7g1ITPn3sid-1Of2C9XtjX4j7NPaka9Q1sNY0K2IevrDpR52FOSp_KSmyXD6vyUAmc8sj5Ln9VNgKBwAPrfJTsUlaZQxNQXj0iRfmLveuLuSldbgAnCbdxLPZtAGI3p7zuxbNAootVv7Xh2haUKlXTcX61sB8NHDZyMll5x_PjUMnczvMSsTKUyNy40AG4rhJ6RD36eZFwD_qIgTEhDHEK1GWrK-qRaoeappLTVtV7fK7Wq&__tn__=-R   

November 30, 2019

Labor group demands ‘medalya para sa manggagawa’ on the eve of Bonifacio Day

 

While organizers prepare for tomorrow’s the grandiose welcome and opening ceremonies of the South East Asian Games (SEA Games) at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, members of the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) holds a symbolic unveiling of medals that reflect Philippine realities at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila, Friday morning.

Andres Bonifacio’s 156^th Day celebration on November 30 coincides with the opening of the 30^th SEA Games. The working class hero’s day is by tradition celebrated through street marches by organized workers who make use of the occasion to raise age old and present day issues. Tomorrow, PM and labor groups under the banner of Nagkaisa! labor coalition will be marching from the Mabuhay Rotonda to Mendiola.

“Hindi lang ang ating mga atleta ang may laban sa SEA Games. Ang mga manggagawa ay patuloy ding nakikipaglaban sa noon ay pangarap na nina Bonifacio na kalayaan at kaginhawahan. Kaya’t ang tanong namin ngayon: May medalya ba para sa manggagawang Pinoy sa harap ng pagiging fastest growing economy ng Pilipinas dito sa ASEAN?,” stated PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.

Six symbolic medals for “Panalo ang Pinas” and “Laban ng Pinoy” were unveiled by PM members at Liwasang Bonifacio.  Printed for the “Laban ng Pinoy” medals are demands for wage hike, end to endo and respect for labor and human rights, while for “Panalo ang Pinas” are medals for shooting, rice importation, and weight lifting.

The group explained further that the “Laban ng Pinoy” medals represent the workers’ lingering demands for the free exercise of labor rights and having a fair share from decades of economic growth.

The “Panalo ang Pinas” medals, on the other hand, is a scorn to the prevailing environment of extrajudicial killings in the country, the rice tariffication law that burdens our local farmers, and the kind of leadership the country has at present, represented by the “three brightest stars” (Duterte, Go, and Cayetano) in Philippine politics.

“Hangad namin ang matagumpay na pagdaraos ng SEA Games dito sa ating bansa. Pero ang mga medalyang ginto ay higit pang kikinang kung may sariling medalya na kumikilala at magpapasaya sa buhay ng uring manggagawa,” concluded Miranda.

Photos of the activity can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157637737124323?__xts__[0]=68.ARAn6-GMxwARR7qpY1oScEC3ekZbxGpX5IrLSegz0XHYB2CyraT4YSP0hKOdWPClp--TcQdtTe9raovNypx2qx7grv30G_34JfRBD7g1ITPn3sid-1Of2C9XtjX4j7NPaka9Q1sNY0K2IevrDpR52FOSp_KSmyXD6vyUAmc8sj5Ln9VNgKBwAPrfJTsUlaZQxNQXj0iRfmLveuLuSldbgAnCbdxLPZtAGI3p7zuxbNAootVv7Xh2haUKlXTcX61sB8NHDZyMll5x_PjUMnczvMSsTKUyNy40AG4rhJ6RD36eZFwD_qIgTEhDHEK1GWrK-qRaoeappLTVtV7fK7Wq&__tn__=-R

29 November 2019

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

Workers ask DOLE to include labor reps in Boracay inspection

Photo from Philstar.com

The partylist group Partido Manggagawa welcomed the inspection by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) of Boracay establishments even as it asked for the inclusion of labor representatives in the plan.

“We request the DOLE to include duly deputized representatives of labor groups in the planned inspection in Boracay to ensure compliance by Chinese-owned shops and stores of our labor laws and regulations. Under DO 183 released in 2017, reps of workers and employers can be deputized as labor inspectors to strengthen the labor law compliance system. Dozens of deputized inspectors from workers organizations have been trained since then and should now be deployed by the DOLE in Boracay,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “Some 30,000 workers were displaced by President Rodrigo Duterte’s closure of Boracay last year and most of them have not found employment again in the island. So we are concerned about reports that the Chinese-owned establishments have been exclusively hiring Chinese nationals as cashiers, cooks, waitresses, laborers and drivers. This is a violation of our labor regulations as these are jobs that can be done by Filipinos.”

“However, we do not call for the expulsion or deportation of Chinese workers. The Chinese migrant workers should be treated justly just as we would like our overseas Filipino workers to be treated with dignity abroad. Once there is a formal determination that their jobs can be done by Filipinos and can be filled up, the Chinese workers can then be repatriated back to China at the expense of their Chinese employers who violated our laws. The Chinese workers must be paid by their Chinese employers for their wages for the duration of their contract even though it was not served because of the repatriation. This is our pro-migrant worker resolution of these problem of influx of Chinese workers in our country,” Magtubo explained.

He averred that “Finally, we ask the DOLE to priotize the re-employment of Filipino workers displaced by the Boracay shutdown last year. The government has a master list of these displaced workers. Now that Boracay is back in business, these workers should be re-employed as promised.”

April 21, 2019

Labor partylist calls on DOLE to censure ECOP on EML

The labor partylist Partido Manggagawa asked Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to reprimand the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) for its statement that companies will discriminate against women workers because of the added costs of expanded maternity leave benefit. “ECOP’s statement is not just a grave threat but an expression of criminal intent. The Expanded Maternity Leave Law explicit prohibits employers from discriminating against female workers,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM partylist secretary-general.

The group reminded employers that violation of the EML Law under section 18 carries a penalty of 20,000 pesos to 200,000 pesos; or imprisonment from six years to 12 years; or both.

Miranda added that ECOP’s release of the survey is a calculated move to influence the drafting of the implementing rules and regulations of the EML law. “ECOP will no doubt lobby for exemptions and deferments similar to that in the wage orders of regional wage boards,” she predicted.

Miranda insisted that “Granting for the sake of argument that EML will entail additional costs for employers, still women workers have earned a right to this benefit as companies have been monopolizing the productivity gains for almost two decades. From 2001 to 2016, labor productivity has increased by 50% but real wages have stagnated.”

She averred that “But in truth, added maternity benefits will hardly make a dent in employers’ profits as it is the SSS that pays women workers for the bulk of the maternity pay. In 2016, just around only 250,000 or less than one percent of all women of reproductive age claimed maternity benefits with the SSS. There was a slight increase in 2017 with approximately 290,000 women applying for maternity benefits. The total costs of maternity leave paid by the SSS in 2016 and 2017 is less than 6 billion pesos annually.”

“PM partylist and other labor and women groups remain vigilant in ensuring that the victory of EML will not be watered down by greedy employers,” Miranda ended.

March 20, 2019

Kababaihang manggagawa ikinatuwa ang pagkakasabatas ng Expanded Maternity Leave

Ikinatuwa ng mga manggagawa ang pagiging batas ng Expanded Maternity Leave na nagtatakda ng 105 araw ng paid maternity leave benefits mula sa dating 60 o katumbas ng karagdagang 45 na araw. 

“Pinaghirapan itong itulak ng kababaihan, lalo ng kababaihang manggagawa kaya’t nararapat lamang angkinin ng kababaihan, kasama ang mga champions nito sa Kongreso at Senado, ang tagumpay ng labang ito,” pahayag ni Judy Ann Miranda ng Partido Manggagawa partylist (PM) na kasapi ng koalisyong Workers4EML. 

She added that "The lapse into law of the Expanded Maternity Leave is a hard-won victory for women workers. President Duterte could not muster the courage to sign it into law and it took fast and furious action from women workers and their champions in Congress to thwart the determined lobby of ECOP and the SSS for a veto. Now that the 105-day maternity leave benefit is a law, opportunists may want to claim it for themselves but it was the years-long advocacy and campaign of organized women and labor groups that gave birth to EML."  

Naging batas ang nasabing panukala matapos hindi i-veto ng Pangulo at mag-lapse into law kagabi sa kabila ng malakas na lobby laban dito ng mga employer at mismong ng SSS. 

“Kung hindi sa walang tigil na pagkilos, presyur at paglalamay ng kababaihang manggagawa at maralita sa pagtutulak ng batas na ito ay malamang nag-dalawang isip ang Palasyo na hayaang ito ay maging batas,” paliwanag pa ni Miranda. 

Bagamat naging batas na ay sinabi pa rin ng PM na maari pa itong paunlarin ng husto sa mga susunod na yugto ng laban at nang makahabol pa sa mas mataas na standard ng maternity benefits na umiiral na sa maraming bansa. ###

Photos of vigil last night at https://www.facebook.com/judy.chanmiranda/posts/10219174819950136?__xts__[0]=68.ARBtPdHXRsBRlsLcpzDGU_MBrLZ8wt3_vheskV62BelCFXWafpvAD81OpSs9Crc08nUC8qG99Gr6Ji7nssj-6qXhTqkfxijSFfRQFiJc2eziNe3F6js0PhY9kOVpcqoBIjHEwcdPgsNoXDCpjdgCjWDzSl0gHBo_iDK9ABCRqeZbJ5vhkCcK54tJoOz4WjAQemscKyC4mqLxEpSBxUSM21yoi9QNoeXAY_lfdTabYWnmyxBFgZLN9iFolaopL5grQ6O6BZmW45oYJ2K31614eK9qO-PGKDj0iWcaWAHfaaP_YGoJ5YoJFQRLFsftaK1FLmXiot7WcIxA6puHTyWD&__tn__=C-R

and 

Photos of Workers4EML action the other day at https://www.facebook.com/judy.chanmiranda/posts/10219162472841466?__xts__[0]=68.ARBXOd_Ezg_YUpZYLu7tWgpeRU2fuhPNAU8-OBAVI8iEEm8tY86kz4iyUJYj0WRi9v_mL0u_wBk6zf7cLuuXD_U33DLlDhd5pW8_MVLoz9EWIE5RBDjIDmRKHRnXGOfgva1FbWP1TpLt6M2vvobtbg5Bym0j6RCeUsF1ygtEqDK0utlqUDWEdP-GumAC_HfgVBYhat7a560zsbPU7SeoqqwEz7g9uh88pt2Ee3-SVoQQ7T8nRxMlrX8AseUtaeDbk9wzr_4wfBmgG3qivouPZkDp1Wep7ktfbwU-jZLKkdFE3M9M3fDhAchei3oti5x1dlZ2nDlyrUEradmUvXZl&__tn__=C-R

21 February 2019
Partido Manggagawa partylist

Women workers slam Sara Duterte for proposing watered down EML

Women workers led by the labor partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Davao City mayor Sara Duterte for proposing a watered down version of the Expanded Maternity Leave (EML) Law. Tonight—the eve of EML lapsing into law—the coalition Workers4EML is holding a candlelight vigil at Mendiola.

“We are lighting 105 candles so that President Rodrigo Duterte will be enlightened into signing the law that will benefit tremendously women workers and ensure the health of newborn babies. If he cannot muster the courage to sign it into law, the very least he could do is let it lapse into law. We warn the President against vetoing the law as demanded by the employers group ECOP,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

She added that “Sara should be advised of the basics of law making. EML cannot be watered down anymore since it has been passed by Congress. The President can only sign it in toto, veto it or let it lapse into law. So Sara’s call for halving the salary of pregnant workers on leave, or worse giving them only a quarter of their pay, is not only detrimental to women but downright prohibited.”

Workers4EML which includes the labor groups PM, PSLINK, Sentro, TUCP and IndustriAll have been crucial in advocating and lobbying for the expanded maternity law. Yesterday women under the banner of Workers4EML held a noisy but colorful action at Welcome Rotonda.

“Push na natin ito mga kabaro at ka-manggagawa. Do not let the enemies of labor steal the victory that women workers have fought for,” Miranda averred.

She added that “Sara’s argument that it is necessary to water down EML in consideration of small businesses is nonsense. It is the Social Security System (SSS) which will pay the salary of pregnant workers on leave as long as it is not above the salary credit of P16,000. Sara conveniently remembers that the bulk of businesses are small but hypocritically forgets that majority of workers are minimum wage earners with salaries below P16,000. With the signing by Duterte of the law mandating an increase in SSS contributions, the workers’ pensions system is in no danger of going under.”

February 20, 2019

Partido Manggagawa partylist

Press Release: Partylist opens electoral bid with grassroots campaign

Press Release

February 12, 2019

Partido Manggagawa partylist

Contact Dhel Pulanco (PUP) @ 09179402632

Ver Estorosas (Bulacan) @ 09339680449

Dennis Sequena (Cavite) @ 09301803071

The partylist group PM opened its electoral bid for “genuine representation for the marginalized” with a grassroots campaign involving workers, urban and youth. A group of idealistic youth campaigned early morning today by train hopping for their favored opposition senatorial bets and the partylist group PM.

“It is an uphill fight against the deluge of fake partylist groups, many supported by the administration and all promoting the candidacy of trapos. But the only way to gain representation for the truly marginalized is by fighting and winning,” declared Manny Manato, nominee of PM and chair of the informal settler network Kilos Maralita.

Around 15 student leaders from the PUP Central Student Council and the student party SPEAK leafleted the MRT and LRT train stations at North EDSA, Cubao, Recto and Pureza today as the opening salvo of a youth campaign for principled politics. The youth leaders say that they are campaigning early to jump the gun on trapos who have the money and influence to dominate the election period. 

Yesterday, the same groups crowdsourced from fellow PUP students to finance the printing of the leaflets that they distributed today. Dubbed "Piso mo para sa Pagbabago," they successfully solicited donations for national candidates that they assert embody the advocacy and fight for real social change.

The youth leaders are challenging candidates to support the demand to increase the education share of the national budget to 6%. They believe that the protracted fight over the pork barrel of solons that led to the delayed enactment of the General Appropriations Act is a case of the teapot calling the kettle black. The real issues are greater budget for social services like public education, universal health care, extended maternity and guaranteed public employment for the jobless.

Also today, Partido Manggagawa worker and urban poor leaders are launching their official partylist campaign by going to the grassroots. In Bulacan, urban poor leaders are hopping from one relocation area and depressed community to another across the towns of Marilao to Malolos to propagate the demand for affordable housing for the poor. It was in Pandi, Bulacan where a government housing project was occupied by informal settlers.

Meanwhile, in Cavite, union leaders are going to leaflet fellow workers in the giant Cavite Economic Zone to highlight the call for a national minimum wage and regular jobs for all. The demand for regular jobs, a national minimum wage, affordable housing, increased education budget and other social services are the key planks of the electoral platform of PM partylist. ###

Idealistic youth campaign early for principled bets

Press Release

February 11, 2019

Partido Manggagawa partylist

Contact Dhel Pulanco (PUP) @ 09179402632

Ver Estorosas (Bulacan) @ 09339680449

Dennis Sequena (Cavite) @ 09301803071

A group of idealistic youth will campaign early morning tomorrow by train hopping for their favored opposition senatorial bets and the partylist group PM. Around 15 student leaders from the PUP Central Student Council and the student party SPEAK will leaflet the MRT and LRT train stations at North EDSA, Cubao, Recto and Pureza as the opening salvo of a youth campaign for principled politics. The youth leaders say that they are campaigning early to jump the gun on trapos who have the money and influence to dominate the election period. 

Today, the same groups crowdsourced from fellow PUP students to finance the printing of the leaflets that they will distribute tomorrow. Dubbed "Piso mo para sa Pagbabago," they successfully solicited donations for national candidates that they assert embody the advocacy and fight for real social change.

The youth leaders are challenging candidates to support the demand to increase the education share of the national budget to 6%. They believe that the protracted fight over the pork barrel of solons that led to the delayed enactment of the General Appropriations Act is a case of the teapot calling the kettle black. The real issues are greater budget for social services like public education, universal health care, extended maternity benefit and guaranteed public employment for the jobless.

Also tomorrow, Partido Manggagawa worker and urban poor leaders are launching their official partylist campaign by going to the grassroots. In Bulacan, urban poor leaders are hopping from one relocation area and depressed community to another across the towns of Marilao to Malolos to propagate the demand for affordable housing for the poor. It was in Pandi, Bulacan where a government housing project was occupied by informal settlers.

Meanwhile, in Cavite, union leaders are going to leaflet tomorrow afternoon fellow workers in the giant Cavite Economic Zone to highlight the call for a national minimum wage and regular jobs for all. The demand for regular jobs, a national minimum wage, affordable housing, increased education budget and other social services are the key planks of the electoral platform of PM partylist. ###

Workers slam Bello for ECOP deal, call on Senate to act on endo bill

Members of Partido Manggagawa (PM) partylist and workers from different labor groups trooped to the Senate this morning for a last-minute appeal for the passage of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill. 

Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, said that “With the senatorial campaign starting in a few days, labor will judge who its friends and enemies are by their action on the SOT bill. We remind the members of the Senate of their promise to the workers to do their part in the fight to end the injustice of contractualization by passing the SOT bill. We remind the senators of their professed commitment to the working class as well as for the general public and will hold them accountable to their promise to provide the legal framework to help end the practice of endo.”

He likewise slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello for a deal with employers that will propagate not eradicate contractualization. “Rather than ensuring workers become regular, Bello is instead making regular meetings with the Employers Confederation of the Philippines on their demand that regularization commence only after three years of employment and that labor inspections be suspended,” Magtubo declared.

He added that “The struggle for safe, dignified and regular jobs has and will continue to be waged through the active action and participation of the workers within and outside the formal halls of power. The SOT bill currently up for deliberation is the product of a broad and united labor coalition that has crossed organizational and political lines in the firm conviction to fight for the right of working people to enjoy dignified and protected labor.”

“To this end, we call for the passing of the pro-worker SOT bill, one not watered down by compromises and loopholes that would negate the efforts of organized labor that has participated in lobbying, dialogue and social action to get the bill to where it is today. The failure to pass the SOT bill is a betrayal of the workers that so far have been engaging the legislative branch of government and has campaigned for the end of endo even before 2016 where it was first identified as one of the key priorities of the incumbent administration,” Magtubo elaborated.

He affirmed that “We reiterate that the SOT bill represents the best and only opportunity to decisively end the practice of endo. Without a strong law to protect the interests of workers, millions will remain vulnerable to precarious working conditions and abusive labor practices. The supposed regularization agreement between DOLE and ECOP does not tackle the root cause of endo. The complete lack of worker participation notwithstanding, failing to pass a SOT law means that workers will continue to be susceptible to the scourge of contractualization. Only a holistic approach that involves legislative protection to regular and dignified work will guarantee the security of workers. We thus call for the passage of the SOT law, as it recognizes the invaluable service of millions of Filipino workers as the backbone of the economy.”

January 8, 2019

Labor groups give final push to 'End ENDO Bill'

The End ENDO Bill is at the final stretch. Labor groups are eager to take it home.

"We have taken the fight this far. We expect no less than the passage of the End ENDO Bill," Atty. Sonny Matula, Chairperson of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said.

More than 500 workers from Nagkaisa members Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Sentro, Partido Manggagawa, Federation of Free Workers, AGILA, PALEA, UFSW and PSLink gathered at the doorsteps of the Senate Monday morning voicing out: "End ENDO now!"

“We would like to see that Malacañang actively engages the legislators through its Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) as it shepherds the bill to its passage, as it usually does in all certified measures,” Matula said.

In September last year, after continuous pressure from Nagkaisa, President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent the End ENDO Bill.

"We call on President Duterte to ensure that his decision to certify as urgent the passage of Senate Bill 1826 is carried to the letter by all his allies in the Senate by passing the bill as it is," Matula said.

“We urge our Senators to follow the lead of Senate President Tito Sotto who said that the End ENDO Bill is the upper chamber's priority at the beginning of the year," said Matula.

Nagkaisa's rally happened hours before Senate Bill 1826 was subjected to the long overdue deliberations at the Committee on Labor.

“It is now up to the Senate, under your leadership, Mr. Senate President, to realize this long-standing aspiration of the workers and the people.”

The Lower House has approved its version of the End ENDO Bill as early as January last year.

"The abuses on contractual and agency workers get worse each day that passes without an End ENDO Law to protect them,” Matula said.

"With only a few session days to go, the Senate is running out of time to deliver on a presidential promise—to end ENDO,” Matula said.

“The President has certified to the Senate for urgent legislation the End ENDO Bill in September. But to our great disappointment, the workers' priority bill was left to the back burner by the foot-dragging of the senators on second reading, who appear to be disinterested in addressing the continuing exploitation of labor,” Matula said.

“Workers are becoming anxious. The rising cost of basic commodities stemming from the inflation caused by the TRAIN Law, will worsen the situation of millions of poor workers who up to now have no security of tenure,” Matula said.

The Senate will be suspending its session to give way to the elections.

“While your legislative work will come to a halt, workers will continue the hard toil.  Ending ENDO will no doubt be a major election issue for us. We will remember those who stood up for workers and forget those who sat idly by the side,” Matula said.

Feb. 4, 2019
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

PM partylist to hold protest today at Senate in response to House passing MACR bill

In response to House passing MACR bill:

Groups form “MACR Watch,” hold protest today at Senate

In response to the passing last night by the House of Representatives on third and final reading of the proposed bill lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years, student and youth groups are forming a “MACR Watch” and holding a protest today at the Senate.

The opposition to the lowering of the minimum wage of criminal responsibility continues to escalate with more groups holding protests. Today some two hundred youthful protesters from the student council of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the student party PUP Speak, Pwersa Youth and Partido Manggagawa-Kabataan will march from the Film Center to the Senate complex to call on senators to reject the proposed bill that seeks to criminalize children aged 12 years old and above. The planned protest follows on the heels of a similar protest yesterday along Katipunan Ave. by scores of Ateneo students led by the student council.

The young protesters will carry a streamer with the call “Paaralan hindi kulungan para sa mga batang Pilipino! Not 9! Not 12! No to the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility!” The groups announce that they are forming a “MACR Watch” that will monitor the deliberations by Senate on the proposed bill.

The various youth groups are all part of the Partido Manggagawa (PM) partylist coalition. Dhel Pulanco, the groups’ spokesperson, declared that “The opposition to making children criminals, along with the bloody war on drugs by the Duterte administration, is part of the election platform of PM.” Pulanco is third nominee of PM which is among the 134 partylist organizations that the Comelec recently announced is accredited.

“We challenge the Senate to engage in evidence-based policy-making instead of impressionistic law-making. In last Friday’s hearing at the Senate, numerous experts spoke against the proposed bill based on tons of scientific research and case studies of children in conflict with the law. Yet committee chair Sen. Gordon abruptly ended the hearing and declared that he stands by his unsubstantiated opinion that children aged 12 years old should be arrested and imprisoned. This same modus operandi of unscientific legislative work animated the House when it passed the MACR bill,” Pulanco elaborated.

He added that “The present Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law has enough provisions to address the concerns of some about incidents of children in conflict with the law. It must be said that these incidents are decreasing according to the PNP. Address the root causes not the symptoms of the problem of children in conflict with the law. For example, the prevalence of child labor is a much bigger issue but it is not being addressed by the administration and Congress.”

The groups vowed that the action today will not be the end of the protests against the proposed bill. Pulanco averred that “Along with other student, youth, human rights and civil society organizations, we will campaign until the proposed bill is killed.”

January 29, 2019

Duterte asked to endorse national minimum wage

 

Amidst the controversy over the wage hike for Metro Manila workers, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on President Rodrigo Duterte to endorse a national minimum wage instead of the present system of regional salaries.

“In a dialogue with labor groups in 2017, the President denounced what he called ‘provincial wages’ and expressed preference for a nationwide minimum wage. Given the delay in the NCR wage order and further with inflation untamed, now is the time for President Duterte to turn mere words into decisive action,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

There is yet no wage order for workers in the NCR as the P25 hike was called unofficial by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines said last Tuesday that the NCR wage board had agreed on a P25 salary increase for minimum wage earners.

The alleged P25 wage increase has already been slammed by labor groups as too small to compensate for the erosion in workers’ wages due to inflation. PM’s cost of living estimate for a family of five in Metro Manila is around P1,300 a day.

“We urge President Duterte to abolish regional wages as he had promised and endorse a national minimum wage based on a living wage. Since the President expressed disgust at provincial wages, he apparently knows that the policy of wage regionalization started in 1989 has led to the cheapening of labor. An evaluation of the policy performance of wage regionalization will show that it has consistently resulted in measly salary hikes that are below inflation rates and disregards economic growth” Fortaleza insisted.

He explained that “There are about a hundred minimum wages in the country that are different not just across regions but even across cities and municipalities in industrial areas as Calabarzon and Central Luzon. Wage differentials vary greatly. For example, the difference between the NCR rate of P512 and the ARMM rate of P280 is a whopping 45%. Yet the cost of living is not significantly different across regions, cities and municipalities. What kind of system is this!”

“A national minimum wage should not just be indexed to inflation but also to productivity. Real wages have not risen from 2001 to 2016 even as labor productivity has grown by 50% in that period. In other words, the pie has become bigger but workers have not received crumbs even. Instead employers have greedily taken all the increase in size of the pie. Workers have been denied their fair share in the fruits of production,” Fortaleza ended.

November 3, 2018