by Beatrice P. Puente
Photo by Jaycen Aligway
More than a thousand individuals from sectoral groups braved the fiery heat yesterday noon as they trooped to Mendiola to assert for workers’ rights in the annual Labor Day protest.
One of the calls forwarded in the protest is to increase the daily wage of workers nationwide, which remains remarkably low in every region, with Metro Manila’s P537 being the highest base pay. Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao suffers with the lowest minimum wage rate of P280, set by their regional wage board.
Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) asserts for a P750 national minimum wage to aid the workers amid rising inflation, as stipulated in House Bill (HB) 7787 or the National Minimum Wage Bill. This remains pending at the labor and employment committee for nearly a year now.
“Our salary is lower than what regular employees receive. We only get a base pay of P396, while regular workers receive P537, same as the wage rate in Metro Manila,” said contractual employee Angelo Cañete who works at a factory in Canlubang, Laguna.
Minimum wage rate for Region IV-A is pegged at P400.
“We would like to assert for even pay for all workers so that those who live in provinces would no longer need to go to Metro Manila to seek for employment with higher wages,” he added.
On top of the call to increase workers’ salary, the groups also denounced the unjust labor practices such as contractualization and proposed compressed work week.
“For workers like me who are employed through an agency, we do not get any insurance and other benefits. Also, if the management thinks we can no longer work, they can easily remove us from our positions and take away our jobs,” Cañete said.
The proposed compressed work week, on the other hand, is also detrimental for laborers. HB 5068 seeks to reduce the usual number of working days but keep the number of designated working hours intact.
“This will negatively affect all workers, especially mothers like me, for this lessens the time we spend with our family,” said Luisa Fabella, a factory worker in Marikina.
All these harsh conditions drove laborers and sectoral groups to join yesterday’s mobilization, with the hope that the government will heed the people’s calls promptly.
“This movement is an avenue to expose the government’s shortcomings in the labor sector, and a way to advance workers’ rights. If we will not launch rallies, the government will do nothing,” Fabella explained.
After all, only through the united action of the people can there be significant changes and victories in the society, said KMU Secretary-General Jerome Adonis in a speech during the mobilization at Mendiola.
“Under the Duterte administration, the Filipino people face a gruesome condition: there is famine, many people lack secured jobs, and a lot are being killed while others are considered criminals,” Adonis said in Filipino.
“But we believe that through strengthening the unity of farmers, workers, and other sectors, it is possible to change these negative conditions,” Adonis said.
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