Demands for a salary
hike and ayuda for the poor instead of changing the Constitution is among the
workers’ issues to be highlighted in the nationwide protests tomorrow. “We will
endure the heat of marching under the sun because the burning issue of low
wages and high prices is a priority concern. Chi-cha not cha-cha,” declared
Rene Magtubo, national chair of the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) and
a city councilor in Marikina, in reference to an urgent response to the
economic crisis instead of politicians tinkering with charter change.
PM members will
assemble at 7:00 am at the Petron Blumentritt along Espana in Manila before
marching towards Mendiola. The main Labor Day mobilization in Manila is led by
the coalition All Philippine Trade Unions which brings together the groups Nagkaisa,
Trade Union Center of the Philippines, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Bukluran ng
Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP). Similar rallies are expected in the cities of
Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Iligan, General Santos, Cotabato and Tagum.
“Sahod, Trabaho,
Karapatan” is the theme of the nationwide protests. “We call for a P100 minimum
wage hike to recover the lost purchasing power of workers. Also, we demand an
end to endo and the return of regular employment as the norm. Finally, we ask
the government to heed the recommendations of the International Labour
Organization high-level tripartite mission on respecting labor rights,” Magtubo
explained.
In Metro Cebu, PM will
assemble at the Plaza Independencia at 8:00 am before marching to Metro Gaisano
in Colon for the joint rally of the coalition Sugbuanong Mamumuo Nagkahiusa
Alang sa Living Wage (SANA AL). Some 1,000 workers are expected to march for
the demand for wage hike and regular jobs. The highlight of the protest will be
the hammering of a makeshift statue of Sen. Robin Padilla by a giant hammer
(maso) to symbolize the workers’ fight against cha-cha.
In Iloilo City, the
coalition United Labor leads the march of some 1,500 workers at 2:30 pm to the
Capitol grounds. The unions at Pepsi, Coke, URC and Iloilo Doctors are among
the participants together with a contingent from the Iloilo Grab Riders Union
(IGRU). The IGRU is the first union established among Grab riders in the
country.
In Bacolod, some 3,000
workers are joining the United Labor of Negros rally at the city Public Plaza.
Sugar workers will troop to Bacolod City for the Labor Day protest of the
groups PM, KMU, NACUSIP, BMP, CAILO, BUNYOG and BACOD. Unrest is brewing among
sugar workers due to the early onset of tiempo muerto (dead season) as a result
of the sugar crisis.
In Iligan, the Federation of Democratic Labor Organizations (FDLO) will lead the Labor Day march to the city plaza. PM and other civil society organizations will join the FDLO rally.
April 30, 2023
Partido Manggagawa
