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
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