“Uber drivers are workers”: Riders group welcomes British SC decision on gig workers

The riders’ group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) greeted with enthusiasm the British Supreme Court’s decision declaring Uber drivers as workers. The landmark decision has finally settled a legal battle between the giant ride hailing up and two of its workers who brought the issue before the courts in 2016 on whether they should be treated as workers of the company or self-employed. 

Uber is also facing similar complaints in many other countries.

The Court declared, as reported in British newspapers, that Uber drivers are workers “the moment they log-on until they log-off the Uber app.” Therefore, as workers, they are entitled to at least the minimum wage, holiday pay and other benefits due for regular workers. 

“Nakasisiya ang desisyon para sa aming mga manggagawang riders. Sa wakas ay mayroon nang jurisprudence sa isyung ito ng mga tinatawag na gig economy workers na maaring paghalawan ng mga korte ng iba’t-ibang bansa katulad ng Pilipinas,” stated Kagulong spokesman Robert Perillo.

Perillo, who is also the President of the Bulacan Motorcycle Riders Confederation (BMRF), said many of their members are working as riders/drivers in may app-based logistics services, thus, the legal resolution on their employment status is the first important step in promoting and protecting the gig economy workers’ basic rights and better working conditions.

According to BBC news, the court considered several elements in its judgement:

- Uber set the fare which meant that they dictated how much drivers could earn

- Uber set the contract terms and drivers had no say in them

- Request for rides is constrained by Uber who can penalise drivers if they reject too many rides

- Uber monitors a driver's service through the star rating and has the capacity to terminate the relationship if after repeated warnings this does not improve

As an organized rights-based riding community, Kagulong has been receiving complaints from fellow riders working in different companies. Common among these complaints, similar to what the Court has resolved, is their imposed status as “independent contractors,” and the way hailing app exercises control over the performance of their jobs. 

“Ngayong may batas na maari nang pagbasehan, wala nang dahilan ang ating mga ahensya tulad ng DOLE na sabihing hindi maaring harapin ang ilang isyu na nakahapag dito tulad ng reklamo ng mga manggagawa sa Food Panda na hindi pa hinaharap ng management sa dayalogo," explained Perillo.

Kagulong called on riders/drivers from different companies to welcome this decision and organize themselves into a union or workers’ association to be able to defend their rights and secure better working conditions in the gig economy. 

Kagulong

22 February 2021

Media Advisory: Unity ride for human rights tomorrow

 MEDIA ADVISORY

05 December 2020

Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (KAGULONG)

WHAT: HUNDREDS OF MOTORCYCLIST TO HOLD “RIDE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” IN COMMEMORATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK.

WHEN: DECEMBER 06, 2020

CONDUCT: 

7:00 AM – ASSEMBLY AND PROGRAM AT BANTAYOG NG MGA BAYANI, QUEZON AVENUE CORNER EDSA, QUEZON CITY

9:00 AM – MOTORCADE ALONG QUEZON AVENUE, ELIPTICAL ROAD, COMMONWEALTH AVENUE TO LITEX THEN BACK TO ELIPTICAL ROAD. 

For further details, contact Don Pangan at Mobile no. 09953862722. ###

Militant workers condemn arrest of Rappler’s Maria Ressa

Press Release

February 13, 2019

Partido Manggagawa partylist

Contact Judy Ann Miranda @ 09228677522

Partido Manggagawa condemns the relentless assault on the freedom of the press that has led to the arrest of Rappler’s CEO Maria Ressa. The recent arrest based on questionable legal assumptions is nothing but a blatant attempt by the Duterte administration to harass and silence its critics and clip the wings of the free press under the guise of legal authority. While Malacanang would like the people to believe that the arrest has a genuine legal basis, the people clearly see through the lies and misinformation characterized by the systematic demonization of independent media outlets critical of the incumbent regime. We view the incident as another case of the Duterte regime flexing its political muscle to muzzle the press which has tirelessly worked to keep the current administration accountable.

This recent episode is another of a long list of threats to our civil rights and liberties. The continued harassment of the media is also a grave a threat to the interests of the working class. The free press is an indispensable tool for the working class and their organizations in their struggle for dignified labor and the end of precarious work conditions.

Journalists from media outlets like Rappler have been responsible for uncovering and bringing to public attention countless cases of abuse and exploitation that workers have suffered at the hands of greedy capitalists. We remember Rappler’s extensive coverage of the union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association’s (PALEA) struggle against the unjust termination of workers and the disregard of their rights at the behest of corporate interests.

We remember the media’s role in exposing this injustice, and now that the freedom of the press is at the crosshairs of the increasingly authoritarian Duterte regime, the workers now lend their support and solidarity with the beleaguered media outlets that continue to stand for truth and justice in a climate of increasing fear and impunity. We stand together with our allies in the press and join the call for justice against the creeping shadow of tyranny. ###

Tomorrow morning from 10 am to 12 noon, student supporters of PM partylist will distribute flowers in the PUP campus and in the university belt area as a creative way of calling for defense of press freedom and ensuring voter's education (Contact Dhel Pulanco @ 09179402632)

PM sides with riders and commuters in opposing double big plate and ban on Angkas

Workers are both riders and commuters, thus, imposing rigid and prohibitive rules in the streets adds more burden to the working people and reinforces class discrimination in the guise of road safety and anti-crime campaign.

According to Partido Manggagawa (PM), the ban on Angkas operations, a popular motorcycle taxi denies thousands of working people a faster and safer mobility in NCR while the recently enacted law requiring double big plates for motorcycles is an added cost and poses safety concerns for riders whose vehicles were not designed for such anti-crime innovations.

"Banning Angkas and requiring double big plates on motorcycles will neither improve traffic conditions and road safety nor contain criminal activities of organized crime groups. Only organized communities, a disciplined police force, and a modern mass transport system can solve these age old public services deficit," said PM in a statement issued during the indignation activities conducted by thousands of motorcycle riders in Quezon City this morning.

The group said workers utilize motorcycles as the most economical and faster mode of bringing themselves to their workplaces or as the means of livelihood themselves as in the case of app-abled Angkas and other courier services.

"The government must adopt a flexible policy on this issue as rigid and discriminatory rules impacts heavily on workers," added PM.

At the same time it urges the riding community to help the government in ensuring road safety by raising the level of training and professionalism among riders in particular and by actively involving themselves in anti-crime, environment, emergency response and other social mobilizations at the community levels.

16 December 2018

Workers slam RevGov in Bonifacio Day rallies

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for a stop to the RevGov proposal in nationwide rallies commemorating Bonifacio Day. “Bonifaco led a real revolution to gain democracy for the Filipino masses. Duterte’s RevGov is instead a coup d’etat to install a dictatorship over the people,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

PM joined the group Kalipunan ng Kilusang Masa in a several-thousand strong march from Espana to Mendiola this morning. PM and allied organizations also mobilized in Cebu, Davao and Bacolod.

Bonifacio Day was a litmus test for RevGov as anti and pro groups had separate for rallies today.

“We call on workers not to join any RevGov events. The first to be sacrificed in a RevGov-cum-dictatorship are the freedoms and rights of workers. Workers need political and civil liberties to advance their fight against capitalist exploitation and state abuses,” explained Magtubo.

Kalipunan assembled at Ramon Magsaysay High School along Espana by 8:00 am before marching by 9:00 am to Mendiola. In Cebu, the broad coalition Cebu Citizens Assembly marched at downtown Colon St. in the morning. Workers and urban poor led by PM and Sentro assembled at Orcullo Park in Davao, marched around the city and then returned to the park for a program. In Bacolod, sugar workers converged on the city for a rally at downtown.

Magtubo added that “RevGov seeks to capitalize on people’s discontent on the brutal failings of the EDSA democracy. But the alternative to the democracy of the trapos is not a return to a dictatorship of one man but forward to a democracy of the masses that was the agenda of Bonifacio’s revolution. A revolution from the top by a dictator is a fake. The real revolution is a the result of a movement of the masses.”

He added that the Bonifacio Day rallies against RevGov is just the opening salvo and the campaign will escalate towards the commemoration of International Human Rights Day on December 10. More events and mobilizations are slated in the run-up to the remembrance of human rights day. ###

November 30, 2017

FOA issue at Tesco supplier in Philippines

Photo from Sein Together website

Workers of a garments factory in the biggest export zone in the Philippines are calling on apparel brands to uphold their code of conduct as they face harassment and interference in the exercise of the freedom of association. Among the major customers of the factory is Tesco of UK.

A union has been formed by workers of Sein Together International Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of the Korean garments firm Sein Together (http://www.seintogether.com/eng/main/main.php). However, they now face the challenge of management interference in their right to organize.

Union leaders have all been transferred to one production line about a month ago to separate them from the rest of the workers. The company also called for a meeting of its workers where an employee was allowed to speak against forming a union. The factory has been shutdown for more than a week now and will reopen later this month except for the line where the union leaders are located. Management has not announced when that line will be back in production.

The union demands a stop to the harassment, the transfer of union officers to their former production lines, the reopening of the factory as soon as possible and the immediate reemployment of unionists once it operates again.

The union has filed a complaint about unfair labor practice (a labor law term meaning violations of freedom of association) at the Labor Department and a hearing was held yesterday. In the mediation meeting yesterday, the company denied the charge of unfair labor practice but was called to task by the government mediator for convening an anti-union meeting.

The company said that the temporary shutdown was due to lack of orders. Management requested and the union agreed that negotiations be held on April 21 at the plant-level (without government mediation) to address the issue of reopening. The factory will partially reopen on April 20 according to management.

Tesco is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative which commits to uphold freedom of association in its supply chain. Aside from Tesco, Sein Together Phils. also supplies to Home Plus of Korea (which was formerly owned by Tesco) and Korean apparel brands Jisoo, Hue to Go, Daiz and Jaju.

Labor rights undermined under tuwid na daan

There is systemic continuity in labor rights violations under different administrations and under the ‘tuwid na daan’, these violations have simply gone worse.

 

In a statement, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemned the unabated problem of extrajudicial killings in the country but at the same time it underlined the need to recognize forms of human rights violations that are more systemic and pervading in nature. 

PM joined the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) in celebrating the International Human Rights Day in a march of several hundred rights defenders and advocates from Espana UST to Mendiola. Some of the rallyists were dressed in bloodied shirts and dresses to symbolize the persistence of human rights violations in the country.

 

The group said the country’s compliance to the UN clusters of economic and socio-cultural rights (ESCR) is very dismal as most of its policies dealt with trade and investments rather than with raising the Filipinos’ quality of life.

 

“Labor rights, which include the rights to enjoy freedom and quality standard of living are undermined by economic policies that provide utmost partiality to business and the free market, said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

 

According to Fortaleza, labor conractualization as one form, is an epidemic that kills the freedom of workers to associate and to get fair share of economic benefits from their bosses such as the living wage provided under the Constitution.

 

He explained further that the harsh picture of inequality in the country, with a handful of families in control of more than half of our GDP, is the logical outcome of this systemic failure to uphold human rights.

 

“Precarious employment is not as controversial as the 700 or 1,700 souls that suffered under Rodrigo Duterte’s hand but it is as lethal as other policies that deny millions of people the meaning of good life,” said Fortaleza.

 

More than half of the country’s  41 million labor force work under precarious working conditions characterized by low paying, irregular, and informal work arrangements.  They also are burdened by high prices and the poor state of social services in the country.

10 December 2015

Advisory: PALEA to mobilize for trial of mulcting DOJ fiscal

MEDIA ADVISORY

PALEA

November 8, 2015

Contact Gerry Rivera @ 09165047751

  

PALEA to mobilize for trial of mulcting DOJ fiscal Solidum

WHAT: PALEA members to mobilize for the first hearing in the trial of Diosdado Solidum, DOJ assistant fiscal charged by the union for mulcting

WHEN:  Tomorrow, November 9 (Monday), 8:30 a.m.

WHERE: Sandiganbayan, QC

DETAILS: Solidum was previously suspended on the basis of a complaint by 241 PALEA members for extorting P2.5 million in exchange for the dismissal of a criminal case filed by Philippine Airlines. Former DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima had also cited the entrapment of Solidum as among the accomplishments of her office.

PALEA holds protest as 234 members threatened with arrest

Press Release

July 27, 2012

PALEA

Some 100 members of the Philippine Airlines Employee Association (PALEA) picketed the Pasay Hall of Justice this morning as union lawyers filed a petition for the Municipal Trial Court to review the finding of “probable cause” by a fiscal. In a resolution dated June 20, 2012, the city prosecutor recommended the filing of information against 234 respondents to the case.

“Ex-President Gloria Arroyo is freed on bail by a Pasay fiscal despite arguably strong evidence of electoral sabotage while a colleague threatens 234 workers with arrest for alleged ‘economic sabotage’ on dubious grounds. PALEA’s protest at the airport last September 27, 2011 was an exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed right of workers to concerted action and thus not illegal nor criminal,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

Warrants of arrest may be issued against the accused even as the resolution provides for bail of Php 6,000 each or a total of Php 1,404,000. Philippine Airlines (PAL) filed the case for alleged violation of RA 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Law, specifically Section 81 (b) (5) which sanctions “any person who destroys or seriously damages the facilities of an airport or disrupts the services of an airport”. PAL initially announced that some 300 PALEA members joined the protest action thus the respondents have been called the PALEA 300.

Rivera added that the decision has a chilling effect on labor relations and is a clear and present danger to workers rights. “Labor protests will then be banned in the aviation industry with workers penalized by both imprisonment and fine in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights. This will be a grave precedent and new special laws can then be enacted to deny workers the freedoms of assembly, expression, self-organization and strike. But PALEA will not be cowed as our fight enters it 10^th month,” he explained.

“Early next week, we will also file a similar petition to the Department of Justice, which has jurisdiction over prosecutors, for a review of the resolution. We expect that these motions would stay the issuance of warrants of arrest,” Rivera added.

He explained that “The decision is void of any legal basis as no damages were committed to airport facilities. Moreover the case is a labor issue and thus prior authority from the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Justice should have been secured prior to the filing of the complaint. The CAAP Law is also explicit in providing that ‘only the Director General’ can file the appropriate charges and not the PAL Vice-President of the Airport Services as in this case.”

Rivera further asserted that PAL services deteriorated sharply after September not because of damaged equipments but due to lack of skilled and experienced manpower after PALEA members, in opposition to outsourcing, refused to transfer to assigned service providers. PALEA insists that PAL can only “fly the flag proud” by getting its regular workers back. Supporters of PALEA are calling for a boycott of PAL and its sister company Air Philippines until the laid off workers are reinstated to their regular jobs.

ADVISORY: PALEA 300 under threat of arrest as Pasay fiscal finds probable cause in case

MEDIA ADVISORY

PALEA

WHAT: PALEA to hold picket as petition to review is filed

WHEN:  Today, July 27, 11:00 am

WHERE: Pasay Hall of Justice (near City Hall)

DETAILS: Some 100 PALEA members to join the picket as the union’s lawyers file a petition for the Municipal Trial Court to review the finding of “probable cause” by a fiscal. In a resolution dated June 20, 2012, the city prosecutor has recommended the filing of information against 234 respondents to the case.

“GMA is freed on bail by a Pasay fiscal despite arguably strong evidence of electoral sabotage while a colleague threatens 234 workers with arrest for exercising the constitutionally guaranteed right to concerted action,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

Philippine Airlines filed the case against PALEA members for alleged violation of RA 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Law, specifically Section 81 (b) (5) which sanctions “any person who destroys or seriously damages the facilities of an airport or disrupts the services of an airport”. PAL initially announced that some 300 PALEA members joined the protest action last September 27, 2011 at the airport thus the respondents have been called the PALEA 300.

Rivera added that the decision has a chilling effect on labor relations and imperils workers rights. “Any labor protest and action will then be banned in the aviation industry with workers to be penalized by both imprisonment and fine in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights. But PALEA will not be cowed as our fight enters it 10^th month,” he explained. ###

Workers Digest 47--SONA 2012

PM welcomes Malacanang concern for Jojo Malinao case

Press Release

May 14, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa welcomed Malacanang’s order for the speedy resolution of the case of slain Mt. Makiling forest guard Elpidio “Jojo” Malinao. “We appreciate President Benigno Aquino III’s order for the authorities to go after the perpetrators of Jojo Malinao’s killing. Jojo was that rare combination of being an advocate for both Mother Nature and Father Labor and justly deserves to be honored by the government as a Filipino hero,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

Malinao was an active union leader being vice president of the UPLB chapter of the Organization of Non-Academic Personnel of UP (ONAPUP), a national council member of ONAPUP and a PM leader in Laguna.

Magtubo added that “We do not have any information yet that Jojo’s killing is linked to his union activities. Although in the Philippines, unionism is a deadly vocation.” According to international human rights groups, the country has the second most number of trade union leaders killed after Colombia. The group said that Malinao is the third PM leader killed in Calabarzon since its founding in 2001.

Meanwhile Gloria almariego, ONAPUP national president stated that “The death of Jojo Malinao left a vacancy in the leadership of ONAPUP that will be hard to fill. We are praying that the perpetrators will be caught. UP must do its part to give justice to the death of Jojo.”

PM together with the union ONAPUP stated that it will closely monitor the results of the investigation and prosecution of Malinao’s case.

PM pays respects to slain forest guard

Press Release

May 13, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) expressed its condolences to the family of slain Mt. Makiling forest guard Elpidio “Jojo” Malinao and paid its respects to a “fallen comrade.” Renato Magtubo, PM national chair, stated that “Jojo Malinao was not only an advocate for environmental protection, he was also an activist for workers rights. In Jojo’s case, in the line of fire is the place of honor. The University of the Philippines has loss a loyal employee and the working class movement, an able leader.”

Magtubo revealed that Malinao was the vice president of the UPLB chapter of the Organization of Non-Academic Personnel of UP (ONAPUP) and also a national council member of the union aside from being a leader of PM in Laguna.

He called on the authorities to investigate the motive behind Malinao’s killing and find the mastermind. “We demand justice for Jojo. The government must exhaust all means to find the perpetrators of thee crime. Jojo is not the first but hopefully the last trade union leader to be killed in Calabarzon,” Magtubo declared.

The group said that Malinao is the third PM leader killed in Calabarzon since its founding in 2001. Andrew “Bok Inoza, union president of Alaska Milk in San Pedro Laguna and chairperson of PM-Laguna, was shot to death in November 2006. Earlier Emmanuel Cosme Ibe, union president of Liwayway Manufacturing Corp. in Imus Cavite and a founding member of PM-Cavite was also shot to death in April 2001 at the height of the party-list election campaign.

Ibe’s killing came just three months after the assassination of Felimon “Popoy” Lagman, whose brainchild was the formation of PM. According to international human rights groups, the Philippines is second only to Colombia in the number of trade union leaders killed.