Press Release
March 6, 2009
Women leaders of the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa cautioned the government against vetoing the P50 billion fund added by Congress from the budget allocated for debt servicing. They warned of protests if the veto pushes through. Yesterday the group led women workers in a picket at the Labor Department to push for subsidy and jobs.
“It is truly ironic if Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during women’s month vetoes the supplemental budget for social services and education programs that will benefit women. We want the Marcos-era automatic debt appropriations law repealed for depriving women of social services,” argued Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
Miranda furthered that “A P50 billion cut in debt servicing to fund social programs is already too little in fact. But it is better than nothing. And it is better than the P330 billion government stimulus plan which does not involve any new money and is merely a repackaging of the old budget. Yet GMA threatens to bring it back to zero.”
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya had announced yesterday that the President might veto the provision appropriating P50 billion for the congressional aid package. Last year, the President restored interest payments for questionable loans such as the medical waste incinerators bought from an Austrian firm after Philippine environmental laws had rendered the equipment illegal.
“If indeed GMA vetoes the additional stimulus fund then she would consistent in her anti-poor, pro-banker stand. And she would be deserving of the condemnation of working women,” Miranda added.
PM is campaigning for a bailout package for working women since they are bearing the brunt of the impact of the layoffs and other flexibility schemes by employers. The group is calling for unemployment subsidy for workers, tax refund for all wage earners, PhilHealth coverage for displaced workers, a reformed public employment program, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
It is also calling for the reversal of the policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization which the group blames for the high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services. PM is further demanding the reallocation of the entire P700 billion debt servicing budget to fund a vastly expanded social program.
Showing posts with label feminization of labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feminization of labor. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Women workers demand state subsidy, job and reversal of economic policies
PRESS RELEASE
March 5, 2009
Some 100 women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), including displaced workers, staged a picket today at the Intramuros office of the Department of Labor and Employment to demand a six-point bailout for workers and the poor.
PM members brought a mock stretcher and a wheelchair to dramatize the dire plight of women, especially those who are displaced by the deepening global economic crisis. The mock stretcher and wheelchair, the group said, depict the urgent need of women for a life support system to cushion the impact of massive layoffs, high cost of living and tuition fee increases. The protesters also carried dextrose- and pill-shaped placards listing their 6-point call for a bailout.
“More than anybody else, it is the women workers who shoulder the heavy burden of the ongoing economic crisis due to lack of social protection from the state and the weak observance and implementation of core labor standards in the country,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM.
Job and security, Miranda said, is very important for a woman since having a regular job “is her first and major step in the long journey away from the dark world of domestication.” She also criticized the government’s theme in this month’s women day celebration that focuses more on entrepreneurship rather than job protection and job creation. “The theme ‘Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan’ highlights the women’s exceptional role in poverty alleviation, but this merely stresses the self-help economic activities that they have already been doing since time immemorial because of lack of employment,” she added.
In particular, the Partido ng Manggagawa is demanding unemployment subsidy for women workers, tax refund for wage earners, health care coverage for displace workers, a reformed public employment program for displaced and unemployed women, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions. It is also calling for the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies which women blame for the high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services.
According to Miranda, the immediate and harsh impact of the global crisis hit the women workers first since most of them work in electronics and garment industries, the country’s top export to the US and Europe.
Marites Manjares, a leader of the United Cavite Workers Association who joined the protest reported more layoffs in the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario. “The overwhelming majority of those laid off and about to be retrenched are women since they are workers in electronics factories,” she emphasized.
The country’s top export is electronics with revenues of $2.6 billion as of September last year. Manjares enumerated the recently affected electronics factories in the ecozone as:
Clarion: more than 200 to be retrenched this March
P. Imes: more than 100 laid off last February but the separation pay to be released only this month
Dyna Image: 400 jobs cut last January
N.T. Phils: 400 workers terminated last Dec
“With the crisis deepening, the double burden of women workers becomes heavier. The traditional coping mechanism of the workers and the poor is the safety net of family relations but this unduly relies on the unpaid work of women. The double burden means women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home,” argued Manjares.
She explained that “The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden.”
The labor party is also calling for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill now pending before the Congress.
“The RH bill answers the problem of high maternal mortality that is bound to escalate in times of crisis. Without the RH bill, reproductive health services are presently beyond the reach of poor working women,” Miranda concluded.
March 5, 2009
Some 100 women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), including displaced workers, staged a picket today at the Intramuros office of the Department of Labor and Employment to demand a six-point bailout for workers and the poor.
PM members brought a mock stretcher and a wheelchair to dramatize the dire plight of women, especially those who are displaced by the deepening global economic crisis. The mock stretcher and wheelchair, the group said, depict the urgent need of women for a life support system to cushion the impact of massive layoffs, high cost of living and tuition fee increases. The protesters also carried dextrose- and pill-shaped placards listing their 6-point call for a bailout.
“More than anybody else, it is the women workers who shoulder the heavy burden of the ongoing economic crisis due to lack of social protection from the state and the weak observance and implementation of core labor standards in the country,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM.
Job and security, Miranda said, is very important for a woman since having a regular job “is her first and major step in the long journey away from the dark world of domestication.” She also criticized the government’s theme in this month’s women day celebration that focuses more on entrepreneurship rather than job protection and job creation. “The theme ‘Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan’ highlights the women’s exceptional role in poverty alleviation, but this merely stresses the self-help economic activities that they have already been doing since time immemorial because of lack of employment,” she added.
In particular, the Partido ng Manggagawa is demanding unemployment subsidy for women workers, tax refund for wage earners, health care coverage for displace workers, a reformed public employment program for displaced and unemployed women, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions. It is also calling for the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies which women blame for the high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services.
According to Miranda, the immediate and harsh impact of the global crisis hit the women workers first since most of them work in electronics and garment industries, the country’s top export to the US and Europe.
Marites Manjares, a leader of the United Cavite Workers Association who joined the protest reported more layoffs in the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario. “The overwhelming majority of those laid off and about to be retrenched are women since they are workers in electronics factories,” she emphasized.
The country’s top export is electronics with revenues of $2.6 billion as of September last year. Manjares enumerated the recently affected electronics factories in the ecozone as:
Clarion: more than 200 to be retrenched this March
P. Imes: more than 100 laid off last February but the separation pay to be released only this month
Dyna Image: 400 jobs cut last January
N.T. Phils: 400 workers terminated last Dec
“With the crisis deepening, the double burden of women workers becomes heavier. The traditional coping mechanism of the workers and the poor is the safety net of family relations but this unduly relies on the unpaid work of women. The double burden means women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home,” argued Manjares.
She explained that “The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden.”
The labor party is also calling for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill now pending before the Congress.
“The RH bill answers the problem of high maternal mortality that is bound to escalate in times of crisis. Without the RH bill, reproductive health services are presently beyond the reach of poor working women,” Miranda concluded.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Women workers renew demand for bailout package
Press Release
March 2, 2009
With the advent of women’s month, women workers are renewing the call for a bailout package for workers and the poor. “In times of crisis, the usual coping mechanisms of the workers and the poor would be the safety net of family relations. This traditional safety net unduly relies on the unpaid work of women family members. Thus the double burden of women workers will be heavier as the crisis deepens,” argued Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
She added that “The grave impact of the crisis on women in general and women workers in particular is the urgent theme of women’s month for this year. The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden. In this double burden, women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home.”
PM is campaigning for a 5-point bailout package for workers and the poor that consist of (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) tax refund for wage earners; (2) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (3) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Many of the tens of thousands that have fallen victim to permanent layoffs, work rotations and other flexibility schemes are women workers. In the two industries that have been greatly affected by the global crisis—electronics and garments—women workers are the overwhelming majority.
The country’s top two exports are electronics and, apparel and clothing accessories accounting for $2.6 billion and $181 million in revenues as of the September 2008 data of the National Statistics Office. About 18% of exports are sent to the US and then 14% to Japan, both of which are in recession.
March 2, 2009
With the advent of women’s month, women workers are renewing the call for a bailout package for workers and the poor. “In times of crisis, the usual coping mechanisms of the workers and the poor would be the safety net of family relations. This traditional safety net unduly relies on the unpaid work of women family members. Thus the double burden of women workers will be heavier as the crisis deepens,” argued Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
She added that “The grave impact of the crisis on women in general and women workers in particular is the urgent theme of women’s month for this year. The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden. In this double burden, women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home.”
PM is campaigning for a 5-point bailout package for workers and the poor that consist of (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) tax refund for wage earners; (2) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (3) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Many of the tens of thousands that have fallen victim to permanent layoffs, work rotations and other flexibility schemes are women workers. In the two industries that have been greatly affected by the global crisis—electronics and garments—women workers are the overwhelming majority.
The country’s top two exports are electronics and, apparel and clothing accessories accounting for $2.6 billion and $181 million in revenues as of the September 2008 data of the National Statistics Office. About 18% of exports are sent to the US and then 14% to Japan, both of which are in recession.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Women workers protest commodification of migrant women at Global Forum
Press Release
October 28, 2008
After the big rally led by workers yesterday on the first day of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), today it was the turn of women to be at the frontlines of protest against the “commodification of migrant women.”
Women workers and poor from the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) joined the thousand-strong rally today organized by the People’s Global Action. A hundred members of PM wore nurses’ uniforms while other rallyists dressed up as domestic workers, caregivers at entertainers in a dramatization of the travails of women migrants.
“The trend is towards feminization of labor migration. In the Philippines last year, half of the new hires were women. The feminization of labor migration and the lack of protection for migrant workers results in rising cases of abuse, harassment and rape,” explained Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM.
She added that “The worsening poverty in the home countries and the bigger female unemployment rate forces women to leave their families just to earn their daily bread. Filipina mothers take care of other people’s children while their own grow up without their physical presence.”
PM is critical of the GFMD since its goal is to promote migration so that remittances can be utilized by governments and exploited by corporations. PM is pushing for an end to the policy of promoting overseas employment; a stop to the deregulation of the labor export industry; and the enforcement of decent work and pay, and the right to organize and bargain for all migrant workers.
“Decades of promoting overseas employment reveal that the social costs and the brain drain offset whatever economic benefits accrue from labor migration. The policy of labor export promotion must be reversed and instead governments must ensure full employment and a living wage for the people, especially women,” insisted Miranda.
October 28, 2008
After the big rally led by workers yesterday on the first day of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), today it was the turn of women to be at the frontlines of protest against the “commodification of migrant women.”
Women workers and poor from the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) joined the thousand-strong rally today organized by the People’s Global Action. A hundred members of PM wore nurses’ uniforms while other rallyists dressed up as domestic workers, caregivers at entertainers in a dramatization of the travails of women migrants.
“The trend is towards feminization of labor migration. In the Philippines last year, half of the new hires were women. The feminization of labor migration and the lack of protection for migrant workers results in rising cases of abuse, harassment and rape,” explained Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM.
She added that “The worsening poverty in the home countries and the bigger female unemployment rate forces women to leave their families just to earn their daily bread. Filipina mothers take care of other people’s children while their own grow up without their physical presence.”
PM is critical of the GFMD since its goal is to promote migration so that remittances can be utilized by governments and exploited by corporations. PM is pushing for an end to the policy of promoting overseas employment; a stop to the deregulation of the labor export industry; and the enforcement of decent work and pay, and the right to organize and bargain for all migrant workers.
“Decades of promoting overseas employment reveal that the social costs and the brain drain offset whatever economic benefits accrue from labor migration. The policy of labor export promotion must be reversed and instead governments must ensure full employment and a living wage for the people, especially women,” insisted Miranda.
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