Philippine labor groups demand wage increase

From the Mindanao Examiner BlogSpot site (Feb 18): Philippine labor groups demand wage increase







     Labor groups rally in Davao City.

Members of various labor fronts and workers on Tuesday demanded a salary increase and at the same time asked President Aquino to resignation for his failure to prioritize the welfare of the working class.

Coming together as All Workers’ Unity in southern Mindanao, workers from the agricultural and non-agricultural private sector, government employees, and drivers picketed the Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office in Davao City. They also wanted a ban on contractual labor scheme.

Organizers said there is a need for an urgent salary increase as wages have remained stagnant for many years now and that chronic unemployment worsened in the country. Saying that Aquino’s neglect of the working class adds to his growing “list of offenses” against the Filipino people, workers under Kilusang Mayo Uno, Courage, and Transmision-Piston echoed the growing clamor for Aquino’s resignation.

The labor groups want a P16,000 monthly minimum wage for all workers.

According to Ibon Foundation, the average wage across all industries in the entire country as of April 2014 was P366 per day, with P341 a day for the private sector and a much lower average wage of P247 per day for the peasant and fisher folk, based on data provided by the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics.

This means that the average wage covers a measly 34% of the family living wage which is pegged now at P1,086 per day. In Southern Mindanao, where the mandated minimum wage is P317 for non-agricultural and P307 for agricultural for the private sector, the differential from the family living wage is much higher.

Carlo Olalo, a spokesperson for Kilusang Mayo Uno - Southern Mindanao, criticized Aquino’s continued subservience to neoliberal policies on labor for the country’s labor woes. He said the unemployment rate as of the last quarter of 2014 was at its peak at 27%, citing a survey of the Social Weather Stations.

“Aside from the fact that more Filipinos are now jobless, the quality of jobs being peddled by our government are those which render workers insecure, vulnerable, and disposable due to legalized contractualization which Aquino himself is culpable. Under his leadership, the Department Order 18-A Series of 2011 was passed and implemented by DOLE, giving capitalist unbridled license to exploit workers further by making regularization impossible,” he said.

Olalo also cited the case of the workers of Franklin Baker, whose security of tenure is imperilled due to contractualization.  “It is standard practice among the labor agencies in Franklin Baker to change the names of workers after five months of service in order to skirt the law on regularization where a worker can attain regular status after six months. We condemn the DOLE for being an agent of contractualization as the latter grants certification to sham labor agencies inside Franklin Baker,” he said.

There was no immediate statement from the DOLE about the allegations and demands by the labor groups.

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.net/2015/02/philippine-labor-groups-demand-wage.html