Thousands of workers still have not received
assistance from either their employers, the government or both according to
labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM).
“The no work, no pay policy is a recipe
for hunger. We call on employers to grant quarantine subsidy to their workers
and for the government to mandate companies to provide such assistance,” argued
Rene Magtubo, PM national chair. PM and other group are calling for P10,000
quarantine subsidy for formal workers affected by the covid pandemic.
Based in the groups monitoring of
several factories in the ecozones of Cavite, majority have received not a
single centavo of support since firms shuttered. A few received some assistance
from their employers. However, all of the workers surveyed have not received the
P5,000 CAMP subsidy from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The Cavite
Economic Zone (CEZ) 1 and 1 in Rosario, Tanza and General Trias Cavite shutdown
on the night of March 19.
“The Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in
Lapu-Lapu shutdown last Sunday, throwing out of work some 100,000 workers which
will add to the conservative figure of 500,000 DOLE Sec. Bello reported as
affected by covid lockdown. Unfortunately, except for one electronics company
in MEZ, we know that foreign locators let go of workers without substantial
assistance,” Magtubo explained.
According to PM, a giant garments company in MEZ
that supplies to global brands is refusing to grant quarantine subsidy to some 17,000 employees and instead
only gave a token 5 kilos of rice with some canned goods. A large car parts
supplier in Cavite employing some 9,000 workers gave pro-rated 13th
month pay to their workers. Both these companies in Mactan and Cavite applied
for the CAMP from DOLE assistance but workers have not received the P5,000 subsidy.
Magtubo averred that “Foreign investors should shoulder temporary
losses due to the covid pandemic. Employers have benefited from recent economic
growth without sharing the bounty with their workers. This was revealed in a
Department of Finance study showing labor
productivity grew by at least 50 percent, yet real wages were stagnant from
2001 to 2016. Moreover, foreign investors in the ecozones enjoyed tax breaks
and other privileges for years. Now that there is a crisis, employers are
morally obliged not to pass on the burden to their hapless workers.”
He added that “A survey of five
factories in the Cavite ecozone revealed that all did not grant any assistance
to their workers and also none have received any support from the DOLE. Four of
these are garments factories while the last is a metal firm. In total, the five
factories employs at least 2,000 workers. Eleven days into the lockdown, they all
face increasing difficulties due to the lack of support.”
Magtubo insisted that “We also know of
three companies, two in Silang, Cavite and one in Dasmarinas, which applied for
the DOLE CAMP but again none of the workers have received the P5,000
assistance. The Dasmarinas firm and one of the Silang companies did not grant
any support to their workers while the last one gave seven days paid
quarantine.”
March 30, 2020
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