Advisory: Workers to mark Duterte's 100 days with rally today

Workers on 100 days of Duterte: Killings overshadow social programs of the administration

It was a deadly 100 days.  To say otherwise is creative imagination.

 

This was the very brief description made by Partido Manggagawa (PM) when asked about its assessment of the first 100 days of the Duterte administration, noting that the number of killed in the war against drugs is obviously more graphic and chilling than the number of jobs created, number of endo lords neutralized, and number of landlords subjected to land reform.

 

“It cannot be denied that President Duterte’s deadly war on drugs overshadowed his social programs during his first 100 days in office.  His energy is there 100 per cent, leaving the social programs walk the business-as-usual course,” stated PM chair, Renato Magtubo.  

 

Magtubo said that as early as now, important social programs for workers such as contractualization and living wage were in danger of being completely compromised as powerful local and foreign business groups closed ranks to oppose such measures. 

 

“These powerful interests inside and outside the administration were behind the push for the win-win solution on endo and the removal of leftist officials in government,” said Magtubo.

 

The labor leader said, 100 days were clearly not enough to deliver on social programs, “But to be compromised is also recipe to a failure.”

 

Tomorrow marks the 100 days in office of the Duterte administration. It also coincides with the celebration of the World Day for Decent Work.

 

The Church-Labor Conference (CLC) where PM is a member is holding a rally tomorrow at the Mabuhay Rotonda to reiterate its call for a change in labor policies particularly on ending contractualization and the realization of living wage.

 

The group said that in the next five and a half years, it wanted the policy shifted to “Kabuhayan hindi Patayan”, in sharp disagreement with the recent pronouncement made by President Duterte that he will be happy to slaughter three million more in his relentless war against drugs.

 

In contrast Magtubo said:  “Mr. President, we have 100M Filipino lives to protect, 40M good jobs to create, and 26M people to lift out of poverty. If you will only consider the drug problem as both eco-social and public health issues, war against poverty is a better war to wage.”

 

The county has a population of over 100 million. Poverty incidence remains at 26%.  Most of the 40 million labor force is in non-standard employment affected by the chronic problems of contractualization, low wages, and the rising tide of informalization.

October 6, 2016

PM calls for inspection of existing labor subcontractors in the wake of suspension of registration of new ones

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to conduct an inspection of all existing labor contractors in the wake of a directive released last week ordering the suspension of registration of new subcontractors.

“We welcome the DOLE Department Order 162, Series of 2016 and Labor Advisory 10, Series of 2016 as the new administration’s cautious first step in ending endo. But we call on the DOLE to make the bold next move of reviewing all prevailing subcontractors to ensure compliance with laws and regulation,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “Should existing service contracts and subcontracting schemes be found in breach of labor laws and regulations, especially the so-called control test, then the contractual workers must be given justice and made regular employees.”

Dated July 25, 2016, DOLE Department Order 162, Series of 2016 and Labor Advisory 10, Series of 2016 suspended the registration of new contractors, reaffirmed the prohibition on labor-only contracting, and reiterated the visitorial and enforcement powers of the Labor Department.

Magtubo insisted that “We are 100% sure that a big number of present subcontracting arrangements are epic fails, that is they violate Department Order 18-A which regulates subcontracting arrangements. All it takes is the Duterte administration’s political will and the DOLE’s vigorous use of its inspection and enforcement powers to make this brave new step.”

PM had challenged the administration to wage a war on contractualization as intensely as the war on drugs. On the first working day of the Duterte administration and the new DOLE officials, PM and allied labor and church groups coalesced under the Church-Labor Conference (CLC) held a rally at Intramuros to present its proposals on eradicating contractualization.

“DO 18-A, issued in 2011 in the wake of the outsourcing dispute at Philippine Airlines which remains pending to this day, already outlaws the pernicious practice of the laying off contractual workers before six months but lax implementation by the DOLE has allowed the worst forms of contractualization to continue. But DO 18-A is itself worthy of review and must be superceded by stricter regulation should the Labor Code be amended once the Security of Tenure bill is enacted,” argued Magtubo.

Aside from the inspection of existing registered contractors, among the proposals submitted by PM and CLC are the certification by the president of the Security of Tenure bill, urgent resolution of all pending labor cases and disputes involving contractualization, deputization of labor unionists as labor inspectors, information drive among workers and employers on labor rights especially security of tenure, and consultation with labor groups to forge cooperation on ending endo.

August 1, 2016

Foreign agenda is bad cha-cha – labor group

NEWS RELEASE

10 June 2015

The House of Representatives (HOR) is on the verge of making the biggest historical mistake and disservice to the country today once its members vote for the removal of economic restrictions imposed upon foreign interests by the 1987 Constitution, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. indicated lately that the HOR is going to pass his pet Resolution, the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH1), once absolute majority of the House membership are present in today’s session. 

PM Chair Renato Magtubo stated that, “Although the mode that is being smuggled for approval today is an untested formula for charter change, the push for it appears to be so powerful it is able to marshal the big quorum and solid vote of both the smart and shabby politicians in Congress.”

Magtubo said powerful interest groups were behind the big push for economic cha-cha as disclosed by no less than the Speaker of the House himself.

Belmonte admitted last year that the biggest lobby groups behind the economic cha-cha were the foreign chambers of commerce led by the American Chamber of Commerce, Australian New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, European Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Korean Chamber of Commerce, and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc.

Magtubo said: “The primary mandate of Congress is to uphold the full protection of the country’s sovereignty, patrimony and social justice which exclusively pertain to our natural and human resources. Hence, a cha-cha with foreign agenda is a bad cha-cha.”

Full freedom for foreign capital 

According to PM, Belmonte’s economic cha-cha carries the same old agenda of giving foreign capital full ownership freedom and flexibility in doing business in the country. 

RBH 1 seeks to further ease restrictions on foreign capital by amending specific provisions of the Constitution particularly Articles XII (National Economy and Patrimony), XIV (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports) and XVI (General Provisions), by inserting the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law.”

This phrase, Magtubo said, “is comparable to an aircraft carrier loaded with all sorts of lethal weapons and with our Congress people assigned the new role of launching these warheads to annihilate the constitutional barriers for the complete rule of foreign capital in the country.”

The former partylist representative explained further that while the current provisions restricting foreign ownership of land, corporations and public utilities will remain in the Constitution, Congress, under the RBH1 insertion, can anytime pass a law removing these. 

100% ownership

PM said the country have had enough of free trade and investments with other countries and the global community since the Galleon trade – the free trade agreements with America, the IMF-WB/WTO regimes, and under the latest BOT and PPP programs, yet the country has remained in the state of underdevelopment.

The group believes that foreign capital wanted full control of their businesses in the country, including 100% ownership of land and corporations as they eye the country’s booming real estate business as well as the lucrative industries in power, water, infrastructure, telecommunications, transport, and even in education and healthcare. 

The group said a good exhibit to this foreign drive for cha-cha is the case of PLDT where ownership of a big chunk of its shareholdings were found to be under the control of an entity which is neither a registered corporation nor a citizen of the Philippine Republic, violating in effect the 60-40 rule Constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership.

Reports indicate that these shares are actually owned by the Indonesia-based Salim group whose entry into the country was facilitated by PLDT Chair Manuel Pangilinan known in the industry as MVP.

“Perhaps MVP does not want a ‘foundling’ tag attached to PLDT’s alien shares,” added Magtubo.  And the same is true for other businesses where foreign interests are concealed under the skirt of local dummies.

No guarantee to foreign investment

The claims that economic cha-cha would mean more foreign investments in the country remains highly speculative as there are major factors that hinder their entry into the country, according to PM. 

“During the last decades, China, Vietnam and Thailand received the bigger chunks of FDIs than us despite their more restrictive policies on foreign ownership. Aliens cannot own land in China yet it gets the biggest FDI in Asia.  In other words, there are other bigger factors such as corruption, poor infrastructure and high power rates that discourage the entry of FDIs into the country,” said Magtubo.

He added that in terms of employment, for 40 years jobs, in the most liberalized EPZAs, which now include the BPOs, hardly reach 4% of total employment.  Meanwhile employment benefits in mostly foreign firms can never offset the social costs of destructive mining operations in the country.

“If these were the only gains we got from more than a century of dancing with foreign agenda, then perhaps the country, on the contrary, does not need more of them,” concluded Magtubo.

Nagkaisa calls for thorough investigation on Valenzuela factory fire

Photo from Phil Daily Inquirer

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA

14 May 2015

A coalition of labor groups offered sympathies to the victims of a deadly fire in Valenzuela City as it called on concerned government agencies to conduct a fair, speedy but thorough investigation on this tragedy that caused death and injury to at least 60 workers.

“The high death toll from this inferno strongly indicates a complete breach of safety protocols required for industries.  Life certainly matters, but justice for this kind of catastrophe goes beyond legally required compensation.  Factory owners and industry regulators must be held criminally-liable for this tragedy,” said Renato Magtubo of Partido Manggagawa (PM), one of Nagkaisa! convenors.

Josua Mata of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (Sentro) suggested that investigations do not just determine the cause of fire but must dig deeper into why dozens of workers were fatally trapped in the second floor of the factory building.

“The country’s occupational safety and health standards (OSHS) do not only require workplaces to be safe from hazardous and flammable substances but also must be equipped with necessary infrastructures that address emergencies like contamination, fire or explosions,” said Mata.

Initial reports said the fire came from the stock of chemicals in the first floor of the building where a welding work is also being done.

Alan Tanjusay of ALU-TUCP, on his part, said: “this tragedy could have been prevented had government agencies, which include the labor department and local government units, strictly enforced the OSHS requirements in workplaces.”

Leody De Guzman of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) advised the families of victims of Valenzuela fire to organize themselves and press charges against the owners of the footwear company.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) likewise called on concerned government agencies to extend the necessary financial and legal assistance to the victims. 

The National Confederation of Labor (NCL) believed a substantial number of establishments all over the country are not compliant with occupational health safety standards because of corruption in government agencies.

Meanwhile Annie Geron of PSLINK, a confederation of public sector unions, bewailed the fact that quality public service, which include ensuring the safety of all workers at all times, remains missing or stuck in a state of downgraded priority in the government bureaucracy.

Labor Day strike in Cebu? DOLE asked to respect KEPCO workers right to strike over low pay, union busting

Press Release

April 29, 2015

The labor party Partido Manggagawa (PM) today called on Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to “stay” its use of assumption of jurisdiction powers as requested by the management of KEPCO-Salcon Power Corp. in Naga, Cebu. “We call on Secretary Baldoz to give a reprieve to the KEPCO unions so that they can exercise their right to strike against low pay and union busting. We hope Sec. Baldoz will remain true to her word that government intervention in labor disputes is now a thing of the past,” asserted PM chair Rene Magtubo.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has said that a power outage may hit Mactan City and the island of Negros should a strike push through at the 200MW KEPCO power plant. However, PM avers that KEPCO is refusing to meet its workers demands as it expects that the planned strike will be stopped through an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order.

The rank-and-file and supervisory workers who are affiliated to WSN-Sentro can hold a strike as early as tomorrow but the unions will still attend a mediation hearing scheduled tomorrow morning. They are also meeting the Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III today.

“The rank-and-file and supervisory KEPCO unions have already offered to avert a strike by narrowing its main demand to the reinstatement of union leaders fired because of union activities. But we suspect management is still playing hardball as it expects an AJ order against the unions,” insisted Magtubo.

He added that “We ask KEPCO to moderate its greed. The power industry is the most profitable sector of the economy with the richest Filipinos and foreign investors like Korea’s KEPCO engaged in an industry that is structured in such a way that there is no possible way to lose money. Every cent of business expense is passed on to consumers, mainly the middle class and the working poor, thus we have one of the most expensive electricity rates in world.”

PM avers that productivity in the power sector is the highest of all industries yet the fruits of labor appear not as wages for workers but as profit for capitalists. “According to the Census of Philippine Business and Industry in 2012, the power industry’s labor productivity is at PhP 4 million annually per worker. In contrast, KEPCO rank-and-file workers receive an average of just PhP 13,000 per month or PhP 169,000 per year. Thus workers wages at KEPCO amounts to just 4% of the industry’s labor productivity,” Magtubo explained.

He asserted that “The meager wages of KEPCO workers was the motive for them to unionize and bargain as a means of enhancing their working and living standards. But rather than respect labor’s right to self-organization and collective negotiations, KEPCO is busting the supervisors union and harassing rank-and-file workers whose union has already been certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent.”

P15 wage hike is loose change that can’t cover MRT fare hike—labor group

Press Release

March 19, 2015

The militant Partido Manggagawa belittled the minimum wage hike for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) as “loose change that cannot even cover the fare hike for MRT and LRT.” The NCR Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board announced a P15 pay increase for some 600,000 minimum wage earners in NCR.

Renato Magtubo, PM national chair, asserted that “How can inclusive growth be true and of what use is the Philippine economy being the star performer in Asia, when all that workers can receive as their added share in the fruits of their labor is a measly P15? With MRT fares increased from P15 to P28, a minimum wage earner riding to and from work is worse off than before even with the wage hike. And electricity bills are due to balloon in the coming days.”

Magtubo cited a study which reveals that 70% of MRT and LRT riders are people who earn less than the minimum wage. He said that he expected labor groups attending a meeting tomorrow of the Tripartite Executive Committee of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to register their negative sentiments on the measly pay increase.

“With their sorry track record of propping up the cheap labor policy, the regional wage boards deserve to be abolished,” Magtubo declared. PM is advocating the abolition of the wage boards and its replacement by a National Wage Commission. The mandate of the Wage Commission will be to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living.

“Despite the huge gap between the present minimum wage and the current cost of living, the Wage Commission can achieve equalizing the two by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts at social security subsidies for workers,” Magtubo explained.

Akbayan disqualification is hypocritical, says labor party

Press Release

October 5, 2012

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today decried as “hypocritical” the move by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and its allied organizations to disqualify Akbayan as a party-list group. “Our political differences with Akbayan do not detract from the fact that they are as genuine a party-list as adobo is an original Pinoy dish,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

“KMU claims that Akbayan is not anymore a party of the marginalized since it is in coalition with the Aquino administration and its leaders are already in government. But the same was the political objective of KMU’s allied party-list groups when it forged an alliance with a different presidential candidate who just so happened lost in the last elections,” Magtubo explained.

Meanwhile PM called on the Comelec to make good on its declaration that it will rid the party-list system of “jokes, fakes and frauds.” “It is high time that the party-list system is cleansed and loopholes are plugged so that it does not become a backdoor entry for trapos who could not compete at the congressional district level. Despite its flaws, the party-list remains an opening for progressive groups to gain a foothold in Congress so as to advance the struggle for social reforms and social change,” Magtubo insisted.

Magtubo is a nominee of the PM Coalition whose petition for accreditation as a party-list organization is pending at the Comelec. PM Coalition is comprised of labor organizations like PM, the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), United Cavite Workers Association, Solidarity of Cebu Workers and the Yellow Bus Labor Union in Mindanao.

“We commend KMU for exposing bogus party-list organizations like Mikey Arroyo’s Ang Galing Pinoy. But we cannot support their claim against Akbayan is which simply based on partisan and sectarian politics. Even as KMU and Akbayan are in partnership with rival factions of the ruling class, open or otherwise, their constituencies and programs nonetheless both remain representative of the so-called marginalized sectors,” Magtubo added.

“I remember that Akbayan is one of a few and brave progressive parties that pioneered participation in the party-list elections at a time when others criticized it as reformism and equated revolutionism with waging guerilla war in the mountains. Of course these erstwhile extremist groups later made a 180 degree turn without explanation and then pioneered unprincipled alliances with class enemies,” Magtubo elaborated.

Together with Etta Rosales of Akbayan, Magtubo was one of the original party-list representatives who won in the first party-list elections in 1998. In their first term, Magtubo and Rosales exposed the payola attending the passage of the EPIRA Law that groups now lambast as the root cause of the high electricity costs in the country, which is the most expensive in the world.

Labor party calls for strict regulation of labor standards in BPO industry

Press Release

August 2, 2012

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today called on the government to strictly monitor and enforce labor standards in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the wake of the abrupt closure of a call center in Cebu City which left more than 600 workers without jobs and with unpaid wages, benefits and unremitted social security contributions.

“In the SONA of President Benigno Aquino III he applauded the BPO industry but behind this so-called sunrise industry lurks storm clouds that batter workers’ working conditions. Within an industry which prides itself with above-standard systems are substandard practices that are common in other businesses. The Labor Department and other agencies cannot be complacent that all is well for workers in the BPO industry. But the best regulator of labor standards are empowered workers and so we call for representatives to be elected by workers with the mandate to talk with management regarding working conditions, terms of employment, employee benefits and work load including setting of quotas, metrics and performance indexes,” said Renato Magtubo, PM national chairperson.

PM is assisting the employees of Direct Access Corporation, a locator in the Asiatown IT Park in Cebu City, which shutdown without due notice last July 30 to the surprise of its workforce. In arguably the first such protest among BPO workers, hundreds of Direct Access employees spontaneously held a rally last Monday in the prestigious ecozone.

Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson, announced that the scheduled teleconference today between leaders of the Direct Access workers and the US-based owner was postponed for tomorrow. He also explained that no agreement was reached yesterday at mediation called by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, and a meeting with the Cebu tripartite industrial peace council. “Direct Access workers welcome the offer of employment at other BPO companies even as they press for their demands with the different institutions that are intervening. They demand justice for workers, the payment of some PhP 6.4 million in wages and other emoluments, and the company’s culpability for violations of labor laws,” Derige insisted.

Magtubo recognized that numerous studies have called attention to health and safety concerns specific to the BPO industry, especially due to the graveyard working shift prevalent in call centers. “BPO companies must provide health insurance that is on top of the mandatory Philhealth membership and guarantees wider coverage and better benefits that especially address call center-specific health issues and afflictions.”

“Further, government must push for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits and entitlements that is well above the minimum set by law and commensurate to the dollar-earning nature of the BPO sector.” Magtubo argued. In the SONA, President Aquino mentioned that the BPO industry already employs more than 600,000 workers and earns revenues of some PhP 11 billion, equivalent to 5% of the country’s GDP.

We call on GMA to do a Zubiri

Press Statement

August 4, 2011

Renato Magtubo

Many were happy with the resignation of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri in the face of the widening expose on electoral fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections. Still even more are sad that Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo still has not resigned yet.

We call on GMA to do a Zubiri. We urge her to follow his good example. Like Zubiri, GMA does not have to admit that she did cheat. But her resignation nonetheless will give a bigger berth for the investigation of cheating in the presidential polls of 2004. But GMA doing a Zubiri may of course be wishful thinking given that resignation will wipe out any residual immunity and power that she still enjoys as a congresswoman.

By resigning, Zubiri wanted to take the heat away from him since he apparently is not Teflon-coated like GMA. Or to say the same thing, that Zubiri is not made of the same thick hide as GMA.

We hope that GMA makes a speedy recovery from her spine surgery so that she can face in the soonest possible time the probe not just on electoral fraud but on other anomalies during her administration.

Labor party, nurse group join hands for RH on Nurses Day

Press Release

May 15, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and a national group of nurses, the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders & Advocates International Inc. (AYNLA), joined hands in pushing for the controversial RH bill on the observance of International Nurses Day last Thursday. “We link arms with our fellow workers in the nursing profession to advance their rights and welfare. Further workers and nurses add our voices to the growing chorus of support for the RH bill,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

In commemoration of Nurses Day, AYNLA national president Alvin Cloyd Dakis stressed the importance of a national comprehensive reproductive health law in the country to address the alarming maternal deaths, huge number of clandestine abortions and rising cases of HIV in the country and the vital role of nurses addressing these issues.

AYNLA is so far the most vocal nursing organization to have supported the passage of the RH Bill in Congress. For Dakis, it is essential for nurses to provide what their patients need and give them all the options they have for their health. “By educating them through appropriate information, we can make our patients the ‘Managers of their own health’ and be empowered in their choices” he said.

The International Nurses Day is celebrated annually every May 12 in commemoration of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. AYNLA celebrated with the rest of the world in this year’s International Nurses Day by making an online awareness campaign of the event through Facebook and Twitter.

Aside from jointly pushing for the RH bill, PM and AYNLA had cooperated in exposing the problem of on the job training fees for new nurses. Magtubo attended a Senate inquiry last January on the alleged exploitation of nurses where they have to pay fees in exchange of their volunteer work in the hospitals. Together with other nurses groups, AYNLA testified to the truth of allegations that hospitals have been levying OJT fees on many unemployed nurses in the country.

“We have a lot of nurses who are unemployed in the country but we have a lot of health concerns to address, which we believe we can contribute a lot – like the much talked about reproductive health” said Reigner Jireh Antiquera, AYNLA vice chair. Antiquera saw the importance of mobilizing our vast health human resources to help in providing services for reproductive health such as health education, counseling, HIV treatment care & support, and various RH services.

P22 COLA is bad not good news

Press Release

May 10, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) criticized the P22 cost of living allowance (COLA) approved by the NRC wage board as “bad news instead of the good news promised by PNoy.” Renato Magtubo, PM national chair said that “Like in the Philippine Airlines dispute, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is again the bearer of bad news. Nonetheless PNoy is to squarely blame. Instead of appealing to employers, he should have told the three government representatives in the wage board to push for a wage hike not a COLA. This will set a trend for the rest of the wage boards which will probably also grant a COLA instead of a wage hike”

This morning PM picketed the Department of Labor and Employment in protest at the wage board decision. The group called for the abolition of the regional wage boards and their replacement by a National Wage Commission.

“The government representatives in the wage board heard not PNoy’s call for a wage hike but the employers’ plea for cheap labor. Once more the wage boards have betrayed the workers. The P22 COLA is symbolic of the wage boards’ 22-years of service to the capitalists rather than the workers,” Magtubo insisted.

“The COLA is a misnomer since it is supposed to bridge the gap between the take home pay and the cost of living. But the cost of living in the NCR is already P1,010 as of March for a family of six and yet the minimum wage plus COLA adds up to only P426, which is will not even buy half of the basket of goods and services,” Magtubo explained.

He added that “PNoy should have put teeth to his talk. All PNoy had to do was declare an amount for the wage hike and order the three government representatives in the wage board to push for it. But instead of marching orders to the government representatives in the wage boards, he was content with a futile appeal to the capitalists.”

He explained that in every wage board, the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment chairs while two more government representatives come from the Department of Trade and Industry and the National Economic Development Authority. Two representatives each from the workers and employers complete the seven-person wage board.

Magtubo argued that the wage boards have outlived their usefulness and should be replaced by a Wage Commission. He stated that “The mandate of the National Wage Commission will be to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. This is different from the wage boards which are bogged down by convoluted and contradictory 10-point criteria in fixing wages. The Wage Commission should raise the minimum wage to the level of the living wage by a mix of mechanisms such as direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers.”

Labor group supports call for protection and just compensation for media workers

PRESS RELEASE
03 May 2011

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) added its voice to the growing clamor for ensuring the safety of journalists amid the continuing assault against them even under the Aquino administration and for their just compensation in the face of the rising cost of living.

“While journalists are trained to be placed where the line of fire is, putting their lives in constant threat of violence however makes them suffer the unnecessary consequence of inexcusable state neglect.  On the other hand the nature of their job requires strong job security and just compensation as they perform both mental and manual labor,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo in a statement sent to media.

A representative from the labor party attended the press freedom, democracy and empowerment forum held in Quezon City this morning sponsored by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

Partido ng Manggagawa believes that media organizations in the country can afford to give their workers just compensation while the State can institute more stringent measures in neutralizing threats to media persons.

“It is public knowledge that commercial media in the Philippines is a profitable business.  As an organization, each of them maintains core values on service, truth, freedom.  Yet majority of their workforce work as less paid contractuals, have no job security, have no unions and CBA’s and therefore not empowered compared to their counterparts abroad,” added Magtubo.

Meanwhile PM attributes the unabated media killings in the country to the culture of impunity developed under repressive regimes.  “In the case of P-Noy, however, the problem might be on the perceived weaknesses of his regime,” said Magtubo.

Magtubo pointed out that when dark forces see no strong signal of P-Noy leading this country to a new direction, then everything is business as usual, including the culture of violence and the policy of cheap labor.

“To end violence, P-Noy should decisively do away with horse-trading and political alliances which hinder the campaign against warlordism and organized crimes.  And to promote the well-being of journalists and the workers in general, he should change course by renouncing the policy of contractualization and cheap labor,” concluded Magtubo.

PM calls on wage board to grant wage petition as cost of living already above P1,000/day

Press Release

May 2, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Metro Manila regional wage board to grant the P75 wage hike petition as it convened for its first public hearing today. “We ask the wage board to break expectations and approve the P75 petition since our study reveals that the cost of living for a family of six in Metro Manila as of March this year is already P1,010 a day,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

Magtubo meanwhile criticized President Benigno Aquino III for Labor Day announcement yesterday. “Private sector workers got nada from PNoy. PNoy did not really break bread with labor but he broke tradition by giving nothing to workers, not even a consuelo de bobo of non-wage benefits,” he stated.

“Even if NCR wage board approves the P75 petition, it will not be enough to bridge the huge gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living. The disparity between the P404 minimum wage and the cost of living is P606 or 150% of the ordinary wage. Even if two members work—which is the buy one, take one policy of the government—then their combined income will not be enough to feed the entire family,” stated Magtubo.

PM arrived at its cost of living figure using its April 2010 survey of the daily cost of living and the National Statistics Office’s 2.6% estimate of the inflation rate from April 2010 to March 2011. “Our estimate is already an understatement since the rise in prices has been accelerating since March,” Magtubo clarified.

Beyond the immediate wage hike issue, the group is however pushing for an overhaul of the wage fixing system in the country. PM is advocating for the establishment of a National Wage Commission to replace the regional wage boards.

“The National Wage Commission will be different from the wage boards in that its mandate is to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. And despite the huge difference between the minimum wage and the cost of living, the National Wage Commission can bridge the gap by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers,” Magtubo explained.

He added that “This is a reform that is addressed to Congress. The regional wage system is a 22-year old structure that badly needs fixing. It has disadvantaged workers and fostered cheap labor in the country.”

PM slams PNoy’s contractual job policy, belittles non-wage benefits as “consuelo de bobo”

Press Release

May 1, 2011

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed the non-wage benefits to be announced by President Benigno Aquino III on Labor Day and also the job fairs to be held by the Department of Labor and Employment. “On his first Labor Day, PNoy brings no good news for the workers, just a consuelo de bobo. Non-wage benefits should complement not supplant a wage hike,” declared Renato Magtbuo, PM national chair.

Magtubo also lambasted the “contractual job fairs” to be sponsored by the Department of Labor and Employment. “While 100,000 contractual positions are being offered in the job fairs the government is allowing the termination of 3,000 regular workers at Philippine Airlines. So is the employment policy of PNoy to foster contractualization?” he asked.

In Manila, PM together with the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), United Cavite Workers Association (UCWA) and Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) assembled at Mehan Garden by 8:00 am then marched to Mendiola for a labor unity rally and mass officiated by Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. PM also had Labor Day protests in Cebu City, Davao City, Bacolod City, General Santos City and Iligan City.

Meanwhile Gerry Rivera, PALEA president said that “The good news that PALEA wish to hear on Labor Day is PNoy declaring that he is against outsourcing. With PALEA’s motion for reconsideration pending at the Office of the President, it is high time that PNoy reveals if he favors the straight road of regular jobs or the crooked path of contractualization.”

Rivera criticized employers for threatening layoffs and closures in the response to the demand for a wage hike. “This is just the usual capitalist black propaganda and blackmail. Employers will not go bankrupt with a wage hike but they will lose some of their profit,” he explained.

In Cebu, some 5,000 workers attended the labor unity rally of 12 groups including PM, ALU-TUCP, APL, Makabayan, Super, IBM, NUBE, NFL, MKP and NUWHRAIN at the DOLE office by 3:00 pm. At 5:00 pm Cebu Bishop Palma led a mass with the workers.

In Bacolod City, PM mobilized around 1,000 farm and factory workers together with the urban poor in a morning rally. In the afternoon the marchers attended the provincial congress of PM.

In Davao, workers and urban poor assembled at Orcullo Park by 1:00 pm and then marched at 3:00 pm around the main city streets. In General Santos City, the anti-contractualization alliance KONTRA sponsored the rally at the downtown area from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Finally in Iligan, PM joined the labor group FDLO in a mass in the early morning then a rally at the city plaza until noon.

PM estimates that the cost of living for a family of six in is around P1000 a day. PM based its estimate on its own cost of living study last year and the inflation rate over the past year.

The group is pushing for the establishment of a National Wage Commission. “The National Wage Commission will be different from the wage boards in that its mandate is to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. And despite the huge difference between the minimum wage and the cost of living, the Wage Commission can bridge the gap by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers,”  Magtubo explained.

PAL union, labor party press for inclusion of Baldoz in plunder case

PRESS RELEASE

29 April 2011

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) find it utterly necessary to include Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and other officials in the plunder case filed by former Solicitor General Frank Chavez against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“The use of OWWA money to buy votes in 2004 had long been discussed in many fora.  Now is the time to make the guilty parties accountable for squandering millions of OFW funds,” said PM chair Renato Magtubo.

Meanwhile, PALEA President Gerry Rivera called anew on Secretary Baldoz to resign from her post immediately amid the raging controversy.

According to Magtubo, Baldoz together with other members of the OWWA Board cannot dissociate themselves from this crime of Gloria since they facilitated the conversion of OFW funds into election dole outs in 2004. 

“In fact workers here and abroad have very strong doubt that Malacanang and labor and officials are only interested in the funds rather than in protecting the welfare of OFWs,” added Magtubo.

Some P530 million of OWWA funds were transferred to Philhealth in 2003.  These were allegedly used to finance the distribution of Philhealth cards during the 2004 election campaigns. Chavez said the fund transfer is illegal.

“During her time, all that’s coming out of the labor department are bad news,” said Rivera, stating as an example the ruling she made on the PAL-PALEA case where she abused her discretion in allowing Lucio Tan to layoff and contract out 2,600 regular jobs in violation of the existing collective bargaining agreement, the Constitution, the Labor Code and International Labor Organization’s conventions.

“And now that she is being associated to Gloria’s misuse of OWWA funds, all the more we suspect that her recent decisions on labor cases do not come from a clean hand,” concluded Rivera.

Mass layoff, contractualization threatens 2,380 workers of another Lucio Tan company

PRESS RELEASE
10 November 2010

Aside from the Philippine Airlines (PAL), workers of another flagship company of business tycoon Lucio Tan, the Fortune Tobacco Corporation (FTC), are getting restive as the company embarks on major reorganization which threatens the job security of its more than 2,000 workers, according to the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

Partido ng Manggagawa Chair and former Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (FTLU) president Renato Magtubo added that FTLU members see the threat real and forthcoming but not without resistance from one of the country’ strongest unions. A torch parade around the FTC plants and a march to Concepcion Church in Marikina City will be held at 6:00 p.m. today as a show of resistance to the threat of mass layoff and contractualization.

Magtubo said the threat on job security of FTC workers took shape February this year when FTC and Philip Morris Philippines, Inc. (PMPI) announced the formation of a joint venture company called Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation (PMFTC). Details of the merger agreement, however, remain unclear especially on the employment status of FTC workers as the management feeds the union merger information by piecemeal.

The merger, according to industry reports, created a virtual monopoly of the tobacco industry in the country. FTC controls 60% share of the market while PMPI has 30%.

But corporate mergers, acquisitions and other forms of restructuring around the world as a result of globalization were always accompanied by job losses and regression in labor standards on the part of the workers. Magtubo said bank mergers in recent past and now the outsourcing in PAL are fresh examples of how labor is forcibly made flexible to the whims of capital.

“By closely watching the recent developments in PAL, FTLU members are getting restless over the ‘general pattern’ created with PAL’s journey into the world of contractualization,” said Magtubo referring to the planned outsourcing and contractualization of the flag carrier’s non-core function recently upheld by the Labor Department.

Magtubo said the management should make a full disclosure of joint venture agreement and warns it not to resort to any kind of action that would undermine workers’ right to security of tenure, their collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and the defense of their union.

Mga manggagawa binatikos ang paghirang sa manikurista ni GMA sa Pag-IBIG board

Press Release
April 21, 2010

Binatikos ng party-list na Partido ng Manggagawa ang paghirang kay Anita Carpon, ang personal na manikurista ni Pangulong Gloria Arroyo, bilang government employees representative sa Board of Trustees ng Pag-IBIG Fund. “Isa na naman itong kontrobersyal na midnight appointment at ehemplo ng pagtatanim ni GMA ng kanyang mga tao sa susing posisyon sa pamahalaan bago niya lisanin ang Malacanang,” ani Renato Magtubo, ang tagapangulo ng Partido ng Manggagawa.

Paliwanag ni Magtubo, “Hindi kami tutol kay Carpon dahil siya ay abang manikurista. Kahit isang simpleng tao ay may kakayahang umupo sa importanteng posisyon sa gobyerno gaya ng pamamahala sa housing fund ng mga manggagawa. Pero duda kaming kakatawanin ni Carpon ang interes ng mga manggagawa sa gobyerno dahil sa utang na loob at personal na relasyon niya kay GMA.” Si Magtubo ay naging 12 taon na kongresista habang siya ay isang manggagawa sa pabrika ng Fortune Tobacco sa Marikina.

“Sa humigit-kumulang isang milyong empleyado ng gobyerno, wala na bang may kakayahang kumatawan sa kanilang kapakanan sa board ng Pag-IBIG nang walang personal na relasyon kay GMA? Hindi mahirap isipin na gagamitin lang ni GMA si Carpon para pakialaman ang halos P200 bilyong pondo ng mga manggagawang pampribado at pampubliko,” giit ni Magtubo.

Sa pananaw ng Partido ng Manggagawa, mas tamang magmula ang government employees representative sa Pag-IBIG board mula sa mga rekomendado ng mga organisasyon ng manggagawa sa pamahalaan. “Kung paanong may prosesong inirerekomenda ng JBC ang bagong Chief Justice, dapat may kahalintulad na nominasyon mula sa mga samahan ng government workers,” pahayag ni Magtubo. Bilang isang organisasyon ng mga manggagawa na miyembro ng Pag-IBIG, bukas ang Partido ng Manggagawa na lumahok sa ganitong proseso.

Workers contest rosy “GRIM” report

Press Release
April 15, 2009

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) disputed the “rosy GRIM report” released by Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto. “In the export zones of Calabarzon and Cebu, ground zero of the impact of the perfect economic storm, what we see are continuous retrenchments not a tapering of layoffs. Roque and Recto are modern-day brothers GRIM with a fairy tale of 14,000 displaced workers rehired by their former employers,” argued Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

“If Roque is able to show a capitalist who has rehired their retrenched workers, we will present a hundred workers who remain jobless and penniless,” Magtubo insisted as he revealed the recently retrenchments the group has uncovered.

He said that Danam Phils., an electronics firm in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, terminated more than 300 workers last March. Meanwhile Lear, a locator in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) which makes electronic components for cars, retrenched some 400 workers early this month and employees fear another batch of layoffs soon. Last Saturday, Sauna World (Sawo), a factory producing sauna and spa heaters also in MEPZ, terminated 84 workers, about half its workforce.

“Even assuming that job losses are indeed tapering off, government has not even made good on its promised aid to displaced workers. Two weeks ago officials were announcing that electronics firms will not retrench workers and instead pay employees half of their wages while undergoing training. They also promised that laid off electronics workers should receive benefits on top of their separation pay. Finally, Recto was dangling the prospect of unemployment insurance. These are unfulfilled promises as shown by the experience of Cavite and Cebu workers,” Magtubo declared.

Danam Phils. laid off workers on the basis of serious losses due to the economic crisis. The retrenched workers were just given 13 days per year of service in separation pay and the much delayed payment of their 13th month salary. Among the 400 terminated Lear workers were those who availed of a retirement offer but others were simply retrenched without the required 30 days notice. Sawo declared in its termination letters to its workers that it is suffering from losses due to the economic crisis and offered to pay only 15 days per year of service in separation pay.

For the coming commemoration of Labor Day, PM is demanding a bailout package for workers in the light of continuous hemorrhage in jobs in export firms. The bailout includes subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.

“Bailing out the workers is just the first step. Reversing the policies that brought about the crisis itself is the next. The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be rolled back,” insisted Magtubo. ###