A wage subsidy and a 4-day work week should complement not
replace a wage hike. A complete package of responses includes an
across-the-board wage hike for all workers, wage subsidy for MSMEs which cannot
afford the pay increase, P10,000 ayuda for informal workers and an expansion of
the 4Ps in terms of coverage and benefits for indigents.
The P100 that we are proposing is not even a wage hike. It
is just wage recovery. Wages have lost their value due to runaway inflation for
the past three years! The P100 wage recovery must be across-the-board since all
workers have been affected by high food and fuel prices. It must be legislated
by Congress when it convenes for a special session to tackle the economic
crisis.
Why is it that workers are always first to sacrifice during
an economic crisis and last (if at all) to benefit during a business boom?
A 4-day work week or compresed work week (CWW) without overtime
pay is abuse of workers. CWW would be acceptable to workers if overtime pay is
provided. More money in the hands of workers means more money to be spent for
goods and services (unlike the rich, the working poor consume all their income)
and thus would be good for economic recovery.
The multiple and intersecting covariate shocks of runaway
inflation, supertyphoons and the pandemic is a wake-up call for long-term and
transformative solutions. We must fund universal health care. We must shift to
renewable energy and create climate jobs. We must support farmers for food
sovereignty. We must promote an industrial policy that generates full
employment.
Press Statement
March 17, 2022
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