More Filipinos are back to work but in bad jobs—Partido Manggagawa

 

In reaction to news that unemployment has dipped to just 4.2% in November 2022, Rene Magtubo, chair of the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) stated that “Indeed, more Filipinos are back to work but in bad jobs.” Magtubo insisted that “Quality as much as quantity of jobs is a concern using the International Labour Organization’s decent work framework as a lens.”

 

PM referred to the fact that while unemployment decreased from 4.5% in October, underemployment increased to 14.4% in November from 14.2% in October. Also, the average weekly hours worked of an employed person in November 2022 went down to 39.3, from 40.2 in October 2022 and from 39.6 in November 2021.

 

Magtubo explained that “Government is boasting of the return of employment figures to pre-pandemic levels. Unfortunately, there is no comparable data for November 2019. But by October 2022, unemployment was at 4.5%, exactly the same rate as in October 2019 before COVID-19 struck. But while the quantity of jobs may have returned, the quality of jobs worsened.”

 

According to PM, more people were working part-time instead of full-time. Underemployment—or the people wanting more hours of work—jumped from 13.0% in October 2019 or 5.62 million Filipinos to 14.2% in October 2022 or 6.67 million. This translates to more than a million Filipinos working as casual, contractual or informal in 2022 or a rise of 19% compared to pre-pandemic levels of underemployment.

 

“As part-time employees working as casual, contractual or informal, they would be suffering from lower remuneration, not enough benefits, less job security, lack of social security and unsafe working conditions. In other words, these employed but vulnerable workers in the post-pandemic context are still harmed by decent work deficits,” Magtubo expounded.

 

PM pointed out that a reflection of this phenomenon is the plight of delivery riders. “No doubt, there were more of them as essential workers during the pandemic. But an upsurge of protests among delivery riders express the decent work deficits of Filipinos working as independent contractors rather than as full-time regular employees. Almost all of these protests originated from grievances over steep declines in incomes as apps arbitrarily cut their ‘commissions’ while the cost of fuel rose continuously,” Magtubo argued. He pointed to the protest last week of Shopee riders and to last year’s mass actions of Grab riders in General Santos, Cebu and Pampanga, together with Grab cyclists in Metro Manila. Iloilo Grab riders also formed a union last November 2022. 

January 7, 2023

Partido Manggagawa

Ayuda for workers facing layoffs—labor group

 

In the face of an outbreak of mass layoffs, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the government for ayuda for the affected workers. “By ayuda, we do not just mean immediate assistance to the thousands of workers who will become jobless in the coming months but institutionalized social protection for the entire labor force. Sa harap ng epidemya ng tanggalan, ayudang sapat para sa lahat ang sagot,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and Marikina city councilor.

 

This was the group’s reaction to the estimate by the garments industry association Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP) that some 9,450 to 10,800 workers may be laid off. CONWEP even forecasted a worst scenario of 27,000 retrenched workers or 10% of the total labor force in the apparel and wearable goods sector.

 

Just two weeks ago, the Sports City group of companies fired some 4,000 workers or one-fourth of its total workforce allegedly due to reduced orders from its clients. Sports City supplies to global garment brands Adidas, Under Armour, Saucony, New Balance and Lululemon.

 

“Aside from the mass layoffs at Sports City, workers also lost their jobs due to the temporary closure of Coca-Cola plants in Iloilo, Bohol, Davao, Cavite, Zamboanga, and Camarines Sur. Employees of Shopee were also fired revealing that retrenchments are along all sectors from manufacturing to services,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

He added that “The worsening economic crisis demands that the government set in place social protection systems that mitigate the impact on jobs, income, health and well-being of people. Social protection is one response to this challenge.”

 

PM is an affiliate of the labor coalition Nagkaisa which at the height of the pandemic demanded public employment, preferably in climate jobs, for unemployed workers over a period of 100 days to nine months at minimum wages or P10,000, whichever is higher. The coalition also called for wage subsidies equivalent to 75% of the prevailing minimum wage to save jobs of workers in micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs).

 

“If huge companies like Sports City and Coca-Cola are reeling from economic shocks, what more MSMEs, which comprise 90% of the total number of enterprises. By providing wage subsidies to workers in MSMEs, the government incentives them against shedding their employees. This also protects the purchasing power of workers which enables the economy to float instead of sink due to the crisis,” explained Magtubo.

 

In response to the demand for employment guarantees and wage subsidies by Nagkaisa, the DOLE undertook a study of a social protection floor which has remained unimplemented. “The DOLE should act now and not wait for another Sports City, another Coca-Cola or another Shopee,” Magtubo insisted.

October 14, 2022