Service contracting is a great program but the LTFRB bungled it

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Department of Transportation (DoTr) for bungling the service contracting program. “Service contracting is a great idea but the LTFRB and DoTr bungled its implementation. Similar to the Department of Health (DOH), bad governance, if not massive corruption, attended its execution,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

Yesterday the LTFRB released a statement belying the Commission on Audit report that only 1% of the funds for service contracting was released to beneficiary drivers of public utility vehicles (PUVs). The LTFRB declared that P1.5 billion out of the P5.56 billion service contracting budget under Bayanihan 2 was disbursed.

 

“If that is true then only 25% of service contracting funds reached 50,000 drivers nationwide. There are already 120,000 transport workers in NCR alone, a conservative estimate based on one worker per PUV. The rest of the funds has been returned to the treasury without benefiting hundreds of thousands of needy and hungry transport workers. This is no different from hospital workers who decried the DOH for not granting hazard pay and benefits to deserving health care workers,” Magtubo added.

 

Ross Natividad, president of the Yellow Bus Line Employees Union (YBLEU), called on the LTFRB to shape up and respond to the demands of transport workers. YBL plies the South Cotabato to Davao route Mindanao. “It pains us to hear there are billions in funds that have not reached transport workers who are needy and hungry. YBL drivers, conductors, dispatchers and mechanics are becoming desperate since most of them had no regular income for more than a year already,” Natividad said.

 

He explained that the LTFRB contracted YBL for only two months of “libreng sakay” for APORs and HCWs from May to June 2021. “This was for only 14 buses then 48 buses but YBL has 190 units in total. Thus a majority of YBL workers did not benefit. Still, many of those who were lucky to be onboarded have not received their payouts,” Natividad explained.

 

He demanded that “We call on the LTFRB and DoTr to exercise tripartism and social dialogue so that it hears the concerns of workers. Only drivers were considered beneficiaries while conductors and other bus workers were not. The union had to negotiate with the company so that conductors can also work under service contracting and receive pay.”

 

Magtubo averred that “Service contracting must be rebooted. It should go beyond ayuda and libreng sakay as is being implemented now. Service contracting under the PUV Modernization program is a mechanism to formalize and improve the transport industry so that we have sustainable and livable cities. Through service contracting, government ensures the delivery of safe, comfortable and efficient public transport by engaging jeepney cooperatives and bus companies on long-term contracts and mandating regular employment with social protection for transport workers.” 

August 19, 2021

 

Groups call on government to heed demand for “just transition” after successful first day of jeepney strike

The first day of the two-day transport holiday was called a success by groups that launched the jeepney strike. They reiterated their demand on the government to stop the planned jeepney phase-out and instead implement a “just transition.”

Elmer Blancaflor, spokesperson for the Iloilo chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM) and also president of the United Panay Truck Drivers Association, said that “Jeepney transport was paralyzed in the whole of Panay island. We estimate that 97% of jeepney drivers participated in the strike in Iloilo City, 95% in Roxas City, 95% in Aklan and 100% in Antique and Guimaras.”

PM together with the National Confederation of Transportworkers Union-Sentro are supporting the strike by the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Owners and Drivers Associations (ICLAJODA) and Confederation of Iloilo Province Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations (CIPJODA).

“The unity of the jeepney drivers in Panay should be a wake up call on local governments and the Department of Transportation on the grave impact of their so-called modernization plan. The strike yesterday and today is just a preview of more militant protests if government remains deaf and blind to the demand for a just transition,” explained Blancaflor.

PM describes the just transition as consisting of four steps. First, a transition of five years before full implementation of the phase out. Second, assistance and subsidies to operators for the replacement of jeepneys. Third, a ban on the importation of old and surplus engines and second-hand vehicles. And last, conduct a study on the most appropriate alternative to jeepneys such as electric jeeps or hybrid, LPG or Euro4 engines.

“The livelihood of thousands of jeepney drivers should be benefited not endangered by the shift to environmentally-friendly public transportation. Social justice must accompany social progress,” Blancaflor emphasized.

PM criticized the draft Department of Transportation order mandating a minimum of PhP 7 million as capitalization for jeepney operators. “The capitalization requirement is discriminatory and anti-poor. It will lead to the gentrification of the jeepney sector and the dominance by big capitalists to the detriment of ordinary Filipinos who derive their livelihood as operators at present,” Blancaflor averred.

June 6, 2017

Labor group supports jeepney strike for “just transition”

The militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed solidarity with the jeepney drivers who are on strike today and tomorrow in the islands of Panay and Negros in protest at the phase-out scheme of the government.

“Workers do not oppose modernization and the shift to environmentally-friendly public transportation but the transition must be just. Social justice must accompany social progress. The lives and livelihood of thousands of jeepney drivers cannot be sacrificed in the name of change,” declared Elmer Blancaflor, spokesperson for PM-Iloilo and also president of the United Panay Truck Drivers Association.

He added that “We understand and sympathize with the plight of our fellow workers. The temporary inconvenience of the transport holiday cannot compare with the permanent blow that the phase-out will inflict on jeepney drivers. We hope for the understanding of employees, students and commuters who are affected. The fight of jeepney drivers is our fight too.”

The group is supporting a just transition for the jeepney sector in the face of the government’s plan to immediately phase-out PUJ’s that are 15 years and older. PM, the labor center Sentro and its affiliate National Confederation of Transportworkers Union are supporting the strike being launched in Iloilo City and the whole of the Panay island by the groups Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Owners and Drivers Associations (ICLAJODA) and Confederation of Iloilo Province Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations (CIPJODA).

The groups are calling on the government to meet the demand for just transition. Specifically they are demanding a four-point agenda:

1.      Transition of five years before full implementation of the phase out;

2.      Assistance and subsidies to operators for the replacement of jeepneys;

3.      Ban on the importation of old and surplus engines and second-hand vehicles;

4.      Study on the most appropriate alternative to jeepneys such as electric jeeps or hybrid, LPG or Euro4 engines.

Blancaflor also slammed the draft Department of Transportation order requiring PhP 7 million as capitalization for jeepney operators. “The capitalization requirement is discriminatory and anti-poor. It will lead to the gentrification of the jeepney sector and the dominance by big capitalists to the detriment of ordinary Filipinos presently derive their livelihood as operators,” he explained.

PM said that the two-day strike is a just a preview of larger protests and a nationwide strike later if the jeepney drivers’ demands are not met.

June 5, 2017

TRUCK WORKERS LAUNCH PROTEST STRIKE AGAINST HARBOUR-LINK MANAGEMENT

PRESS RELEASE

6 June 2011

UNITED PANAY & ILOILO TRUCK DRIVERS ASSOCIATION

 

The truck drivers of Harbour-Link Transport, Inc. launched protest action today in front of its office and motor pool located at Brgy. Banoyao along coastal road in La Paz , Iloilo City .

The 15 drivers were joined by their families in the protest expressing disgust over Harbour-Link management’s continued to refusal to provide them of incentives, such as; 13th month pay, service incentive leave pay, and holiday pay since 2004.

According to Elmer Blancaflor, spokesperson of the drivers, “we have not been receiving these incentive pay since 2004 and we call on the management to settle its obligations to us especially in these times of desperate need with the opening of the classes.”

“These incentives are law mandated and consistent in upholding the labor standards in the workplace. We are only asking from the management what is due for us,” stressed Blancaflor.

Moreover, the drivers are likewise demanding that the management reinstate them back to work after they were unjustly relieved of driving duties by gathering from them the truck keys the day after they lodged a complaint at the regional office of National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).  

The filing of complaint is a necessary legal step that we took in order for the management to realize that they cannot abandon their obligations to their workers and to formalize our demand on the proper venue. The management however seem displeased by our actions thus relieved us from our work,” explained by Blancaflor.    

The truck drivers of Harbour-Link Transport are members of the United Panay and Iloilo Truck Drivers Association (UPTDA), a group of Class “A” licensed and skilled drivers from different companies in the container van and forwarding industry formed by Partido ng Manggagawa (PM Panay-Guimaras).

Cito Cordero, president of UPTDA explained that “if the management and legal counsel of Harbour-Link are guided by the labor standards set forth by our labor laws then they are aware that they deliberately committed “constructive dismissal” after they relieved the drivers of driving duties following their filing of a complaint.”

“This is a clear violation against the driver-workers. A management who is aware of its responsibilities yet has engaged itself in violating it is also committing abuse to its workers,” said Cordero.

The management must realize that we, the workers, are the lifeblood of our industries and of our economy and nation. What they are doing anti-workers and unacceptable to the working class,” criticized Cordero.

For his part, Ronald Payda, coordinator of PM Panay-Guimaras shared that the management of Harbour-Link cannot just exercise its “management prerogative” anytime they see fit.’

Payda averred, that there are parameters provided on how management can address the problems of its workers putting limitations to management prerogatives. I urge their lawyer, Atty. Jose Junio Jacela to refresh his memory regarding fair labor practices by reviewing his labor law.”

“We call on all our fellow workers to unite and support the cause of Harbour-Link drivers. Our unity is the only weapon that we have in our hands as we push for our collective demand for proper compensations and benefits, concluded Payda.