With November inflation escalating to 8.0%, the
Partido Manggagawa (PM), on Tuesday, reiterated its demand for an immediate
wage hike to restore lost purchasing power of workers.
A P100 “wage increase for wage recovery” petition
was filed yesterday by the Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa
(Kapatiran) and PM before the NCR Wage Board.
A wage hike, together with reforms in the country’s
wage rationalization law, were part of the 5-Point Labor Agenda being pushed by
Nagkaisa, a coalition to which PM is affiliated. Other agenda include, public
employment program, an end to endo and trade union repression both in the
private and public sector, and mechanisms for continuing dialogue to discuss
industry and structural reforms.
“Without an immediate pay hike, workers are left to
shoulder the impacts of rising cost of living while Congress and economic
managers spend their time pooling funds, including pension funds of workers, to
invest in the Maharlika Investment Fund,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.
Further, added Magtubo, “without reforms in the
wage fixing mechanisms, poverty wages shall be confined to where they are
during the last three decades – at starvation levels.”
PM supports the Kapatiran petition for a wage hike
and argued firmly that even without runaway inflation, workers deserve a fair
share from economic growth and rising productivity.
“GDP and labor productivity were on the rise during
the last three decades, yet real wages remained flat. So, we really don’t
understand why proponents of Maharlika in Congress never thought of providing
workers wealth transfers (i.e., wealth tax) and rather trained their guns at
how employee pension funds can be converted into capital,” lamented Magtubo.
PM likewise dismisses the Employers Confederation
of the Philippines (ECOP) main argument against the wage hike petition.
“ECOP says only 10% of workers will benefit from a
wage hike as registered enterprises are 90% MSMEs. Yet the truth is, big
companies also benefit from low minimum wage by way of endo or
contractualization,” asserted Magtubo.
The labor group said thousands of agency workers
deployed in medium and large companies are paid the basic minimum wage and that
is the main reason why ECOP vehemently rejects any attempt to end endo.
Partido Manggagawa
6 December 2022
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