Press Release
January 30, 2011
The labor party Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today warned of unrest in the country similar to the uprisings in the Arab countries due to the rising prices of food and oil combined with worsening unemployment and poverty. “PNoy must act boldly to address the food crisis, escalating inflation and deepening hardship of Filipinos. Nobody was able to predict the explosion in the Arab region and nobody can discount unrest in the Philippines due to similar conditions of widespread desperation especially among the youth,” claimed Gerry Rivera, PM vice chair.
“The prices of rice, sugar, oil, gas and fare among others are rising thus squeezing the stagnant wages and incomes of workers and the poor. If the government will not institute price control then it must subsidize the costs of basic goods and services together with increasing wages and providing jobs,” insisted Rivera.
PM also expressed its solidarity with the unraveling uprisings in the Arab. “Filipino workers welcome the Arab world’s own version of people power. Filipino migrant workers in Egypt and other Arab countries should not fear but be inspired by these expressions of people power. If anything they must learn the lessons of these rousing risings so that the fierce winds of change blowing in the Arab world can reach the shores of the Philippines,” Rivera stated.
PM warned that while the popular uprisings in the Arab countries are directed at the corrupt dictatorships, the underlying causes are the pervasive dissatisfaction at the lack of jobs and opportunities primarily among the youth but also among workers and even the middle class. “Globalization has ravaged the Arab region as much as the Philippines. Unemployment, contractualization, retrenchment, rising prices and stagnant wages are also the norm in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and Yemen. Everywhere the mass of the people have become poorer while only the elite have become richer under globalization,” Rivera explained.
He added “Today the unrest is expressed in the resistance of PAL workers against layoff and outsourcing. Tomorrow who knows if the struggle becomes generalized with high prices and food crisis making the lack of jobs and stagnant incomes unbearable?”
Rivera is also president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) which is embroiled in a protracted fight with management over the planned termination of some 2,600 employees. “Like the PALEA dispute, PNoy should assume jurisdiction of the problem of prices, wages and jobs. And then his government must provide tactical solutions such as price control, government subsidies, public employment and regulation of contractualization together with strategic shifts in industrial, agricultural, economic and social policies,” Rivera insisted.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Labor group asks union officers to be deputized as labor inspectors
Press Release
January 29, 2011
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deputize union presidents and officers as labor inspectors in order to strengthen the enforcement of labor standards and safety rules. The recommendation came in response to preliminary reports that Eton and its contractors at the construction site in Greenbelt, Makati were guilty of numerous violations from underpayment of wages to non-remittance of SSS deductions aside from unsafe working conditions.
Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general, said that “From 240 labor inspectors, the DOLE now just has some 190 to cover around 800,000 establishments nationwide. This number can easily be increased several fold by deputizing union officers as labor inspectors. Even if just 10% of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, this is about 10 times the present number of inspectors.”
PM insists that by deputizing labor leaders, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved as a result.
The group is also critical of the DOLE’s “Labor Standards Enforcement Framework” which allows establishments with more than 200 workers to undergo voluntary self-assessment. PM reveals that under the self-assessment program, the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 26,000 when it started in 2004 to just 6,000 last year.
Miranda likened the situation to “The shepherd asked the wolf to tend the sheep and as a result the sheep are eaten alive.”
She reiterated the call that justice must be served the ten construction workers who died at the Eton site. “Aside from the responsibility of the principal employer Eton and its subcontractors to the laborers who were killed, the government must make policy changes regarding enforcement of labor standards and occupational health and safety so that the workers have not died in vain,” she stated.
The group explained that DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement. “All the DOLE has to do is train union president and officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,” Miranda added.
January 29, 2011
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deputize union presidents and officers as labor inspectors in order to strengthen the enforcement of labor standards and safety rules. The recommendation came in response to preliminary reports that Eton and its contractors at the construction site in Greenbelt, Makati were guilty of numerous violations from underpayment of wages to non-remittance of SSS deductions aside from unsafe working conditions.
Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general, said that “From 240 labor inspectors, the DOLE now just has some 190 to cover around 800,000 establishments nationwide. This number can easily be increased several fold by deputizing union officers as labor inspectors. Even if just 10% of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, this is about 10 times the present number of inspectors.”
PM insists that by deputizing labor leaders, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved as a result.
The group is also critical of the DOLE’s “Labor Standards Enforcement Framework” which allows establishments with more than 200 workers to undergo voluntary self-assessment. PM reveals that under the self-assessment program, the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 26,000 when it started in 2004 to just 6,000 last year.
Miranda likened the situation to “The shepherd asked the wolf to tend the sheep and as a result the sheep are eaten alive.”
She reiterated the call that justice must be served the ten construction workers who died at the Eton site. “Aside from the responsibility of the principal employer Eton and its subcontractors to the laborers who were killed, the government must make policy changes regarding enforcement of labor standards and occupational health and safety so that the workers have not died in vain,” she stated.
The group explained that DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement. “All the DOLE has to do is train union president and officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,” Miranda added.
Friday, January 28, 2011
In wake of Eton construction accident: Labor group calls for labor enforcement reforms
Press Release
January 28, 2011
The militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection reforms in response to the accident at the Eton construction yesterday that claimed the lives of 10 workers and injured one. “This is a workplace massacre that is worse than the Makati terrorist bus bombing. Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths of 10 workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.
PM lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards. “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” Magtubo elaborated.
He claimed that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”
“Under the regime of the DOLE’s self-assessment program, the number of labor inspectors have shrunk from around 240 to less than 200 and the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 60,000 in 2003 to just 6,000 last year. Self-assessment means that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep get slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.
He recommended that “We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increase several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved.”
Magtubo added that “DOLE must review Eton and its contractors for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Construction workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are generally unorganized.”
“The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job as in the case of the nurses charged by exorbitant on-the-job fees. This abusive practice could have been deterred if the DOLE had inspected hospitals and fined them appropriately,” Magtubo said.
January 28, 2011
The militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection reforms in response to the accident at the Eton construction yesterday that claimed the lives of 10 workers and injured one. “This is a workplace massacre that is worse than the Makati terrorist bus bombing. Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths of 10 workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.
PM lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards. “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” Magtubo elaborated.
He claimed that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”
“Under the regime of the DOLE’s self-assessment program, the number of labor inspectors have shrunk from around 240 to less than 200 and the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 60,000 in 2003 to just 6,000 last year. Self-assessment means that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep get slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.
He recommended that “We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increase several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved.”
Magtubo added that “DOLE must review Eton and its contractors for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Construction workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are generally unorganized.”
“The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job as in the case of the nurses charged by exorbitant on-the-job fees. This abusive practice could have been deterred if the DOLE had inspected hospitals and fined them appropriately,” Magtubo said.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
PALEA calls PAL’s regrets letter to Magsaysay regrettable
Press Release
January 19, 2011
PALEA
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) criticized the management of Philippine Airlines for sending a regrets letter to Rep. Eulogio Magsaysay. “PAL's regrets letter is regrettable for it conveys the wrong message that it is company policy to ignore the abusive behavior and sexist remarks of Magsaysay,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa vice chair.
PALEA is demanding from PAL the drafting of a manual of operations for handling customer relations that safeguards the rights of its workers together with specifying the responsibilities of employees to customers. “The saying ‘the customer is not always right’ is wrong. When customers purchase goods or services, they did not buy the dignity of employees serving them. There must be protection for frontline service employees of PAL. The global union International Transport Workers Federation recommends such a manual of operations,” explained Rivera.
“If the regrets letter were a pro forma response from PAL from an unsatisfied customer then it is understandable. But that is not the case here. The regrets letter turns a blind eye to the facts of the case. First, the incident report filed by Sarah Bonnin-Ocampo’s supervisor corroborating her allegations against Magsaysay. And second, Magsaysay’s own admission of guilt and offer of apology,” Rivera argued.
He added that “The regrets letter reveals that PAL is concerned only with its profits and not the welfare of its employees. Workers are treated as disposable rags that are without dignity and can be outsourced. If Ocampo was not a union member protected by a collective bargaining agreement and instead were a contractual employee in a service provider, she would have been laid off by now as Magsaysay had threatened her.”
Meanwhile the labor group PM is appealing to the House and Senate Labor Committees to conduct hearings in aid of legislation to protect service workers from abuse and indignities at the workplace. Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general declared that “Sarah’s fight for justice is a struggle for workers dignity. In the so-called new economy dominated by service workers such as call center agents, there must be policies to safeguard employees from ill-treatment and humiliation by customers.”
PALEA also warned PAL against any form of workplace discrimination on Ocampo arising from her pursuit of the case. “It is bad enough that PAL fails to protect its employees from abuse but it is worse if management were to harass Ocampo due to what it perceives a bad press on the company,” Rivera cautioned.
January 19, 2011
PALEA
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) criticized the management of Philippine Airlines for sending a regrets letter to Rep. Eulogio Magsaysay. “PAL's regrets letter is regrettable for it conveys the wrong message that it is company policy to ignore the abusive behavior and sexist remarks of Magsaysay,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa vice chair.
PALEA is demanding from PAL the drafting of a manual of operations for handling customer relations that safeguards the rights of its workers together with specifying the responsibilities of employees to customers. “The saying ‘the customer is not always right’ is wrong. When customers purchase goods or services, they did not buy the dignity of employees serving them. There must be protection for frontline service employees of PAL. The global union International Transport Workers Federation recommends such a manual of operations,” explained Rivera.
“If the regrets letter were a pro forma response from PAL from an unsatisfied customer then it is understandable. But that is not the case here. The regrets letter turns a blind eye to the facts of the case. First, the incident report filed by Sarah Bonnin-Ocampo’s supervisor corroborating her allegations against Magsaysay. And second, Magsaysay’s own admission of guilt and offer of apology,” Rivera argued.
He added that “The regrets letter reveals that PAL is concerned only with its profits and not the welfare of its employees. Workers are treated as disposable rags that are without dignity and can be outsourced. If Ocampo was not a union member protected by a collective bargaining agreement and instead were a contractual employee in a service provider, she would have been laid off by now as Magsaysay had threatened her.”
Meanwhile the labor group PM is appealing to the House and Senate Labor Committees to conduct hearings in aid of legislation to protect service workers from abuse and indignities at the workplace. Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general declared that “Sarah’s fight for justice is a struggle for workers dignity. In the so-called new economy dominated by service workers such as call center agents, there must be policies to safeguard employees from ill-treatment and humiliation by customers.”
PALEA also warned PAL against any form of workplace discrimination on Ocampo arising from her pursuit of the case. “It is bad enough that PAL fails to protect its employees from abuse but it is worse if management were to harass Ocampo due to what it perceives a bad press on the company,” Rivera cautioned.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Labor party calls for reform of employment program for nurses
January 18, 2011
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) welcomed but called for the reform of the employment program for nurses as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday started receiving applications for RN HEALS. The group also demanded that DOLE inspect hospitals for violations of labor standards including the charging of so-called on-the-job-training fees on registered nurses.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said that “Public employment programs are always a step in the right direction. Creating jobs for unemployed nurses and providing health care to rural areas is great. But RN HEALS leaves much to be desired because it fosters cheap white collar labor among less than 10% of the estimated number of unemployed registered nurses.”
PM is supporting the campaign of nursing groups for a stop to the practice of charging fees to trainee nurses. Magtubo added that “The exploitation of hundreds of thousands of young registered nurses must stop. Part of the DOLE’s mandate is the enforcement of labor laws and it must do its job in this respect. Instead of hospital owners challenging young nurses to file complaints, we demand that the DOLE make inspections of the health care facilities.”
He insists that paying nurses to be deployed in rural areas P8,000 in allowance is well below the Salary Grade 15 stipulated by law for entry-level public sector nurses. “Hazard pay, night differential and other allowances are also mandated for public sector nurses but DOLE is silent whether RN HEALS provides for such mandatory benefits,” Magtubo asserted.
“In Tunisia, a popular uprising was sparked by the desperate suicide of a 26-year old unemployed university graduate. That same hopelessness haunts the lives of more than a hundred thousand registered nurses who are unemployed and some 20,000 to 40,000 more that will be added when the next batch of nurses graduates in April. The problem of nurses who are unemployed, underemployed & abused is reaching crisis proportions and resulting in abuses like OJT fees. Meanwhile nurses who are employed are overworked but utterly underpaid,” Magtubo explained.
PM is pushing for nurses to be treated as probationary employees who are guaranteed minimum wages and other benefits plus the opportunity to become regular after the maximum of six months temporary status. “It is a triple whammy on young nurses to pay tuition fees while studying, then be denied a wage while working as a trainee and further be charged an exorbitant fee,” Magtubo declared.
“Young workers are in dire straits. Hotel and restaurant management students are being employed as trainees in the industry for no wages or below minimum labor standards. Dual tech student-workers are replacing regular workers in factories as another form of contractualization,” he clarified.
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