Economic managers moonlighting as employers’ spokespersons—labor group

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno for “moonlighting as employers’ spokespersons” with their doomsday predictions about a P150 legislated wage hike is approved by Congress.

 

“Employers Confederation of the Philippines President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. also warned of job losses, price hikes and economic slowdown if wages are raised. Government’s economic managers and employers’ representatives are both painting the same apocalyptic scenarios without any substantiation,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM spokesperson and Marikina City councilor.

 

He added that “Our own economic modelling shows that salary increases will have an insignificant impact on both employment and inflation contrary to Balisacan and Diokno’s claims. Empirical studies for other countries also show similar results.”

 

PM cited that Indonesia, which is similarly situated as the Philippines as a middle-income country with a large informal economy, raised wages by some 50% in 2011 and 2012 without negative effects on prices, employment and GDP. In comparison, a P150 wage hike redounds to just a 25% boost in the minimum wage in Metro Manila.

 

“Raising wages improves living standards and has a secondary effect of increasing worker motivation and morale and thus labor productivity. Further, salary hikes in the formal sector also increases incomes in the informal economy through the so-called lighthouse effect. That is, the rise in formal sector wages signal to the rest of economic actors what a socially acceptable income should be. Finally, Balisacan’s own NEDA admits that GDP growth in the Philippines is primarily driven by household consumption and thus increasing the purchasing power of workers will have a positive effect on the economy,” Magtubo explained.

 

He furthered that “Balisacan and Diokno conveniently forget that government’s own data confirm that from 2001 to 2016, real wages were stagnant but labor productivity grew by 50% while GDP doubled. In other words, the economic pie expanded but the slice given to workers remained the same and employers monopolized all the growth. Why are they silent on this?”

 

PM contended that the P150 legislated wage hike seeks mainly to recover the lost value of workers’ wages and not yet to partake of the increased labor productivity. “Even a P150 will not raise workers’ wages to the level of a living wage, which today stands at around P1,300 per day and increasing due to unabated inflation,” Magtubo insisted.

Press Release

August 17, 2023

Lockdown order lack guarantees for workers’ welfare, civil liberties

Photo from autoindustriya.com

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asked that guarantees be put in place in the so-called ‘community quarantine’ imposed on Metro Manila in order to protect workers’ welfare and civil liberties.

“President Duterte’s order to lockdown Metro Manila for 30 days opens the way for workers’ rights and civil liberties to be violated. Freedom of assembly should not be sacrificed since community organizations and civil society groups should be able to meet and deliberate on urgent matters including a proper covid response,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “We wanted to hear President Duterte mobilize public and private resources, especially health personnel, to combat covid but instead all we heard is the mobilization of police and soldiers. Will checkpoints be manned by health workers with test kits or just police with guns?”

Magtubo explained that “Workers’ welfare is also bound to be sacrificed in the lockdown order that lacks clear guidelines and a labor-first perspective. Workers living outside NCR are supposed to allowed to enter and leave the capital as long as they have company ID’s. But informalization of labor—like the practice of endo—means there are numerous workers without proper ID’s and employment contracts. Many construction workers who are employed on an informal basis do not have proper documentation. Finally, informal workers like street vendors obviously do not have ID’s. The lockdown means they will not be able to travel to work and earn a living which will lead to health issues and vulnerability to covid.”

The group reiterated its call for the DOLE to issue an order mandating a worker-first policy on the employment impact of covid. “We do not accept management prerogative in implementing dismissals or flexible arrangements like forced leaves or work rotation. First of all, the DOLE must issue a determination that there is a real impact on the company. After which, any flexible work arrangement must be negotiated with duly-elected workers’ representatives or the union in case the company is organized,” Magtubo insisted.

 The group also proposed the following concrete measures:

1.      Paid leave for workers to be shouldered by employers and the government;

2.      Pay for workers put on forced quarantine to be shouldered by employers and the government;

3.      Implement work from home arrangements, in applicable jobs, without diminution of wages and benefits;

4.      Provision of personal protective equipment for all health and allied workers in the frontline of covid response;

5.      Living pension for senior citizens since the elderly are more prone to infection;

6.      Shift build-build-build budget to health in order to build more hospitals, provide testing and treatment facilities, hire more health workers;

7.      Health tax on the wealthy—as part of CITIRA—to fund universal health care.”

March 13, 2020

DOLE must issue order on covid embodying worker-first policy—labor group

Photo from Inquirer.net

In the face of reports of actual and potential mass layoffs due to covid, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to issue a department order on covid embodying a “worker-first” policy. “In view of DOLE’s own report of 300 employees jobless due to closure of tourism companies and more than 4,000 workers put on flexible work arrangements, a DOLE order is an urgent necessity. But order must put the interests of workers first. Manggagawa naman,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “We do not accept management prerogative in implementing dismissals or flexible arrangements like forced leaves or work rotation. First of all, the DOLE must issue a determination that there is a real impact on the company. After which, any flexible work arrangement must be negotiated with duly-elected workers’ representatives or the union in case the company is organized.”

The group stated thousands of workers are affected by actual and threatened mass layoffs, starting with the high profile dismissal of 300 employees at Philippine Airlines allegedly due to the impact of the covid epidemic. PM’s chapter in Cebu has reported that workers are being laid off or put on forced leaves in the Mactan Cebu ecozone. Likewise, hotels and restaurants in Region 7 are reeling from reduction in tourism.

Magtubo insisted that the DOLE’s existing advisory on flexible work arrangement must be replaced with a department order. “An order has the force of regulation that companies are mandated to follow while an advisory has no teeth and practically useless. Violation of the order should be subject to penalty.” he explained.

The group also proposed the following concrete measures:

1.      Paid leave for workers to be shouldered by employers and the government;

2.      Pay for workers put on forced quarantine to be shouldered by employers and the government;

3.      Implement work from home arrangements, in applicable jobs, without diminution of wages and benefits;

4.      Provision of personal protective equipment for all health and allied workers in the frontline of covid response;

5.      Living pension for senior citizens since the elderly are more prone to infection;

6.      Shift build-build-build budget to health in order to build more hospitals, provide testing and treatment facilities, hire more health workers;

7.      Health tax on the wealthy—as part of CITIRA—to fund universal health care.

March 11, 2020

DOLE asked to issue order on covid embodying worker-first policy

Photo from Philstar.com

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to issue a department order on covid embodying a “worker-first” policy. “In the face of an increasing number of mass layoffs by companies due allegedly to covid, a DOLE order is an urgent necessity. But order must put the interests of workers first. Manggagawa naman,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “We do not accept management prerogative in implementing dismissals or flexible arrangements like forced leaves or work rotation. First of all, the DOLE must issue a determination that there is a real impact on the company. After which, any flexible work arrangement must be negotiated with duly-elected workers’ representatives or the union in case the company is organized.”

The group stated thousands of workers are affected by actual and threatened mass layoffs, starting with the high profile dismissal of 300 employees at Philippine Airlines allegedly due to the impact of the covid epidemic. PM’s chapter in Cebu has reported that workers are being laid off or put on forced leaves in the Mactan Cebu ecozone. Likewise, hotels and restaurants in Region 7 are reeling from reduction in tourism.

Magtubo insisted that the DOLE’s existing advisory on flexible work arrangement must be replaced with a department order. “An order has the force of regulation that companies are mandated to follow while an advisory has no teeth and practically useless. Violation of the order should be subject to penalty.” he explained.

The group also proposed the following concrete measures:

1.      Paid leave for workers to be shouldered by employers and the government;

2.      Pay for workers put on forced quarantine to be shouldered by employers and the government;

3.      Implement work from home arrangements, in applicable jobs, without diminution of wages and benefits;

4.      Provision of personal protective equipment for all health and allied workers in the frontline of covid response;

5.      Living pension for senior citizens since the elderly are more prone to infection;

6.      Shift build-build-build budget to health in order to build more hospitals, provide testing and treatment facilities, hire more health workers;

7.      Health tax on the wealthy—as part of CITIRA—to fund universal health care.”

March 10, 2020

Employers asked to bear losses due to covid instead of passing costs to workers

Photo from esquiremag.ph

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on employers to shoulder temporary losses instead of laying off workers, implementing forced leaves or putting them on work rotation since these all result in income losses. This was their call in time for a tripartite meeting this afternoon convened by the Department of Labor and Employment on the employment impact of the covid outbreak.

“Employers have benefited from recent economic growth without sharing the bounty with their workers. This was revealed in a Department of Finance study showing labor productivity grew by at least 50 percent, yet real wages were stagnant from 2001 to 2016. Moreover, companies are about to benefit from less taxes with the CITIRA proposal. Now that there is a crisis, employers are morally obliged not to pass on the burden to their hapless workers,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM Secretary-general.

She insisted that “We cannot accept that workers are the last to benefit from economic progress but the first to sacrifice in time of crisis. Women workers are also disproportionately impacted by permanent or temporary loss of employment and income.” This was also the demands of the International Women’s Day commemoration yesterday.

The group is also proposing the following mitigation measures to lessen the impact of covid on workers and the people:

1.      Release of a DOLE order—not just labor advisory—to mandate prior negotiation with workers before any flexible work arrangement is implemented;

2.      Paid leave for workers to be shouldered by employers and the government;

3.      Pay for workers put on forced quarantine to be shouldered by employers and the government;

4.      Implement work from home arrangements, in applicable jobs, without diminution of wages and benefits;

5.      Provision of personal protective equipment for all health and allied workers in the frontline of covid response;

6.      Living pension for senior citizens since the elderly are more prone to infection;

7.      Shift build-build-build budget to health in order to build more hospitals, provide testing and treatment facilities, hire more health workers;

8.      Health tax on the wealthy—as part of CITIRA—to fund universal health care.

Miranda also reported increasing number of workers are being put on forced leaves in the Mactan Cebu ecozone due to the global supply chain connection to China. Likewise, hotels and restaurants in Region 7 are reeling from reduced tourism and thus the threat of layoffs is looming.

March 9, 2020