CPP/Ang Bayan: Successful campaign of sugarcane farm workers in Negros

Propaganda article from the English language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 21, 2021): Successful campaign of sugarcane farm workers in Negros

Paghimakas, revolutionary publication in the Negros island, reported that farm workers will start to benefit this month from their dialogue with a landlord last September 2020 to demand wage increase. In line with their calls, their daily wage was raised from ₱150-₱170 to ₱200.

Additionally, they also won a raise in the daily wage for plowing to ₱300 from ₱250-₱270; ₱900 for planting ten thousand sugarcane tops from ₱700-₱800; and ₱350 for reaping and stevedoring from ₱320-₱330. More than 200 farm workers from 11 sitios in four barrios are set to benefit from this.

A research by Paghimakas revealed that the said plantation has a capacity to produce 230 metric tons of sugar for every 20 hectares within two planting seasons which can be sold for a total of ₱5.98 million. Before the dialogue, 45% of this (₱2.7 million) went to the landlord, and 30% went to the sugar central (₱1.8 million). The remaining 20% (₱1.2 million) is shared by the farm workers.

In a related story, hundreds of members of the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) in the town of Sta. Maria, Isabela filed a complaint at the City Council of Isabela last May to oppose “slave-like wages” and inhumane treatment in plantations. According to the group, farm workers in one plantation in the area receive less than ₱200 daily.

They also demanded the reinstatement of 287 farm workers who were laid off last August 2019 after sugar barons in northern Isabela and southern Cagayan into a contract with Green Future Innovations-Ecofuel for the production of bioethanol covering 1,696 hectares of sugarcane plantations.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2021/06/21/successful-campaign-of-sugarcane-farm-workers-in-negros/