Five thousand people took the streets of Davao City today on Labor Day pressing the Aquino government for higher wages and rejected his proposed palliative non-wage benefits.
The marchers represent organized workers in both public and private industries in the region, the plantation workers, miners, factory laborers, and those from the service sector like construction, transportation, hotel and restaurant, as well as workers from government utility offices.
Joining them are the organized victims of urban poor demolitions, out of school youths, women victims of prostitution, families of overseas workers who have been victims of various forms of exploitations, and organizations representing other sectors.
“The march is a testament that the unrest in the country’s labor front remains no matter how much this government tries hard to placate the outrage,” Franchie Buhayan, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Southern Mindanao Region said.
“President Aquino has offered non-wage benefits, palliatives in the form of subsidies and other dole-outs but it refuses to resolutely stem the people’s hardship by confronting outstanding issues on wage and prices,” Buhayan said in reaction to the President’s declarations at a breakfast forum with some labor groups in Malacañang today.
Instead of providing substantial wage hikes, President Aquino has offered seed money for cooperatives of labor groups, scholarships and promises of benefits from agencies like Pag-Ibig, PhilHealth, Social Security System, and Government Service Insurance System.
“He forgot that these government agencies are the same culprits of the workers’ agony through corruption of the funds that workers have religiously contributed. Besides, the greater issue here is that we have a President who could not face squarely the capitalists, and make these employers provide just wages to the workers whose toil are being exploited for profits. In that way, he could have adequately answered the people’s needs, foremost is surviving the cost of living,” Buhayan said.
“Either he is simply indifferent, or acting as a plain stooge to capitalists whose super profits depend much on making laborers work more and paying them less, one thing is sure, he is a President who lacks the bone to help his people,” Buhayan added.
Aside from deliberately evading abidance of minimum wage standards, many employers intentionally deny workers’ benefits most commonly are remittance to SSS, provision of overtime and holiday pays, allowing leave and other benefits, to save cost on labor costs.
Buhayan added that capitalists’ exploitation is getting harsher but President has allowed it, as seen in the number of employers, getting retrenched without due cause, and the increasing number of perpetually contractual workers.
“Other blatant violations take the form of repressing trade unionism, which is ironically provided in labor laws. But you hear many union members being victimized by coercive actions, either physical or by other means to discourage them to give up fighting for what is due,” Buhayan said.
The President’s announcement of new job openings is no good news in itself, according to Buhayan. “What kinds of jobs will these be, if capitalists can maintain exploitative terms with their workers without the slightest fear of being punished?”
“Besides, why do we see the continuing exodus of Filipinos to other countries, taking on odd jobs and ending up as victims if indeed these jobs made available in the country can adequately provide for their needs? The truth is the government has never been able to provide job opportunities that will raise the standard of living and at the same time ensure human development, and respect of dignity among most Filipinos,” Buhayan said.
Buhayan also said President Aquino’s policy pronouncements on the problem of prices indicate same cowardice to confront the perpetrators of people’s hardships.
“He feeds us with the same deception towed by oil cartel companies, such as justifying increases by way of citing oil price trends in the world market, when in fact these are schemes of deception and that he can actually decisively address price hikes in the country by regulating the way oil companies can unscrupulously set pump prices via such speculations,” he said.
“We urge the people not to be hoodwinked by these palliatives. These pronouncements could not provide the meaningful change that people need. We have got to show this government that it is the people who are decisive of the change they most need,” Buhayan said.
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