Groups ask assurance that MEPZ workers get preferential hiring

 

Labor groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) are calling on Sports City to guarantee the preferential hiring of the 4,000 workers recently laid off. “We ask that Sports City commit to rehire the workers they had laid off when business picks up once more. Relatedly, we call on the Lapu-Lapu city council to exert moral suasion on Sports City for this commitment,” asserted Denni Derige, PM-Cabu spokesperson.

 

He added that “We welcome the request by the Lapu-Lapu city council for aid to the retrenched workers from the Department of Social Work and Development. Nonetheless, this is just a temporary or band-aid measure. We call on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to fast track the discussions towards the enactment of employment guarantees and wage subsidies as permanent social protection mechanisms.”

 

“Aside from the mass layoffs at Sports City, probably another several thousand workers also lost their jobs due to the temporary closure of Coca-Cola plants in Iloilo, Bohol, Davao, Cavite, Zamboanga, and Camarines Sur. The worsening economic crisis and other such covariate shocks—man-made disasters that affect whole communities—demand that the government set in place social protection systems that mitigate the impact on jobs, income, health and well-being of people. Mass layoffs and strong typhoons are all covariate shocks and the new normal in our lives. Social protection is one response to this challenge,” Derige explained.

 

PM and SENTRO are both members of the labor coalition Nagkaisa which at the height of the pandemic demanded for public employment, preferably in climate jobs, for unemployed workers over a period of 100 days to nine months at minimum wages or P10,000, whichever is higher. The coalition also called for wage subsidies equivalent to 75% of the prevailing minimum wage to save jobs of workers in micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs).

 

“If huge companies like Sports City and Coca-Cola are reeling from economic shocks, what more MSMEs, which comprise 90% of the total number of enterprises. By providing wage subsidies to workers in MSMEs, the government incentives them against shedding their employees. This also protects the purchasing power of workers which enables the economy to float instead of sink due to the crisis,” explained Derige.

 

In response to the demand for employment guarantees and wage subsidies by Nagkaisa, the DOLE undertook a study of a social protection floor which has remained unimplemented. “The DOLE should act now and not wait for another Sports City or another Coca-Cola,” Derige insisted. 

October 3, 2022