TUCP CELEBRATES 49TH ANNIVERSARY: NEARLY HALF A CENTURY OF ADVOCACY IN ACTION FOR FILIPINO WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Our 49 long years of being the country's largest labor center began way back in 1975 when our founder Atty. Democrito “Ka Kito” T. Mendoza realized that for our unions and our federations to best fight for and win job security, higher wages, and decent work—we should be “giving the labor movement, through its collective force, an opportunity to exercise its political power.”

Today, our one big labor family TUCP remains that collective force as the leading voice and force in labor advocacy through tripartism with our very own workers' representatives at the forefront in influencing policy through our TUCP Party-list in Congress that uplifts the lives and livelihood of each and every Filipino worker and their family.

That’s why, amid the many challenges we confronted and conquered for nearly five decades, the TUCP Party-list continues to work for laws for the workers, especially the unorganized, by giving them jobs, justice, and equity.

Next year will be both our 50th Anniversary as well as the 2025 National and Local Midterm Elections: Tuloy ang laban ng TUCP para sa manggagawang Pilipino sa Kongreso!

We are the only workers' party in Congress today who successfully pushed for the passage of the 4Ps Law for those who have less in life, creation of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) para sa ating mga bagong bayani, Expanded Maternity Leave para sa kababaihan—at marami pa tayong ipapasang batas para sa manggagawa!

For nearly half a century, the TUCP has fought for living wages, security of tenure, and decent work inside and outside of Congress. 

We increased the minimum wage of every region every year. Pero barya-barya hindi sapat! Tuloy ang laban para sa ₱150 across-the-board wage hike ng TUCP!

We passed the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill for the regularization of all permanent temporary & 5-5-5 ENDO workers back in the previous Administration. Na-veto pero hindi tayo susuko! Tuloy ang laban para sa SOT ng TUCP!

We filed bills and resolutions to make decent work a reality for all, lalo na para sa ating informal workers at delivery platform riders.

Dahil sa TUCP, laging una ang manggagawa!

‘Ka Kito’ once said, “If you have the people behind your campaign, believe me, the fight is already won 90%!” Let us make 2025 our golden year by mobilizing our worker-members and leaders in our respective unions and federations.

Because without all of you, there can be no TUCP that can unify Philippine labor, pass labor reforms, and extend medical, financial, employment, and education assistance to Filipino workers and their families.

Tuloy ang laban ng TUCP para sa manggagawang Pilipino sa Kongreso!

Ipanalo ang manggagawa at pamilyang Pilipino!

Mabuhay ang TUCP!

#TUCP  

#TUCP49thANNIVERSARY  

#unaangmanggagawa

PAG-ALAALA SA KABAYANIHAN AT PAGMAMAHAL NI GAT ANDRES BONIFACIO PARA SA BAYAN

Mabuhay ang mga manggagawang Pilipino! Sa diwa ni Andres Bonifacio, ipagpatuloy natin ang laban para sa mas mataas na sahod, ligtas na trabaho, at makatarungang karapatan. 

Sama-sama tayong kumilos para sa mas magandang kinabukasan ng bawat Pilipino.

#TUCP  

#UnaAngManggagawa  

#BonifacioDay

P150 wage hike pushed as TUCP party-list seeks reelection

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines party-list on Tuesday filed its certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA) for the 2025 midterm elections for its ninth straight year in the House, calling on Congress to pass the P150 legislated wage hike for private sector workers.

TUCP filed its CONA through its legislative officer Carlos Miguel Oñate.

“We are still pushing for P150 across the board wage hike. Bilang co-author ng Trabaho Para sa Bayan law, naninindigan kami sa TUCP na ang bawat Pilipino ay may karapatan sa permanente at disenteng hanapbuhay,” Oñate said.

(We stand by our principle that every Filipino has a right to permanent and decent jobs.)

Other party-list groups who filed their CONA on Tuesday include:

Sagip

Nanay

Arangkada Pilipino

Magsasaka

Agri

1-Pinoy

ARTE, among others

Wage hike

Asked about the biggest hurdle to the passage of the P150 legislated wage hike, Oñate said the cause needs more support to take root.

Bagamat kami po ay kalyado ng Marcos administration, patuloy po yung laban ng TUCP para sa Legislated Wage Act. Sa katunayan, maaaring may isa lamang po kami representante sa Kongreso, ngunit ‘yung co-authors po namin sa Legislated Wage Act, meron lang po kami halos isang daan sa House of Representatives,” Oñate said.

(While we are an ally of the administration,  we will continue to push for legislated wage hike. We only have one representative but the co-authors of the measure are close to 100.) 

“Kung kaya ang panawagan po natin kay Speaker Martin Romualdez at kay Congressman Fidel Nogales na siyang chairman ng House Committee on Labor ay idaos na po iyong pang-apat at huling hearing sa committee para finally i-approve na itong P150 [legislated wage hike] sa House of Representatives,” Oñate added.

(And so we call on Speaker Romualdez and Congressman Nograles who chairs the House Committee on Labor to conduct the final committee hearing to pave the road for the passage of this measure into a law.)

The Senate passed a slightly lower P100 legislated wage hike in May 2023, but it remains stuck at the committee level in the House of Representatives.—LDF, GMA Integrated News

(The Senate already pulled it off. If the Senate can do it, the House of Representatives can certainly do it better.)

- By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA Integrated News 

TUCP SLAMS NEDA’S ABSURDLY LOW FOOD POVERTY THRESHOLD AS AN INSULT TO FILIPINO WORKERS: WHAT DECENT MEAL CAN ₱20 BUY? CONGRESS SHOULD ACT NOW AND PASS ₱150 WAGE HIKE!

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) lambasts the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) outlandish assertion that a Filipino can survive on three meals a day with a mere ₱64. Grilled by senators during the budget briefing of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on how the Government classifies food-poor Filipinos, NEDA Secretary-General Arsenio Balisacan responded: “As of 2023, a monthly food threshold for a family of five is ₱9,581, that comes out [to] about ₱64 per person.”

“Is our country’s chief economic planner on another planet to not witness the crippling impact of skyrocketing food inflation, especially rice, and electricity inflation to Filipinos every day? This is a severe insult to Filipino workers who sacrifice their blood, sweat, and tears to do honest hard work but are reduced to a meal worth just ₱20! This is not just offensive—it’s dangerous. It threatens to undermine the much-needed ₱150 across-the-board wage hike proposed by TUCP as the Government and employers abuse these silly statistics to dismiss the survival crisis of the working class—to make ends meet,” stated TUCP Vice President Luis Corral.

The country’s largest labor center TUCP expresses deep indignation that workers are being forced, by their own Government, to endure standards and benchmarks that condemn them to perpetual hunger and a life of eking out a living on scraps. Without the immediate passage of House Bill No. 7871 which seeks to legislate an across-the-board wage recovery increase of ₱150 in the daily wages of private sector workers nationwide, workers can never bring nutritious food to their family’s table, resulting in malnourished children and sick workforce with their productivity and competitiveness dropping like a rock.

“Is this how our economic managers advise our President? Is this how economic planning and wage orders are devised? Really? Are our technocrats really basing their strategy on numbers that have no relation to the real prices of rice, poultry, meat, fish, and vegetables in the public market? Foisting that outrageous food poverty threshold is a grave disservice to the Marcos Administration which vows to reduce poverty to single digit not by statistical gimmickry but by actually improving the quality of lives and livelihood of every Filipino. Our economic managers are badly serving the Filipino people by building a supposedly robust economy on the backs of hungry people and poverty-level wages. Such an unrealistically low food poverty threshold only serves to arm those who oppose our proposed concrete, actionable, and reasonable wage hike, not only undermining the credibility of the Government but derailing our efforts to uplift the lives of our people and uphold their rights which should be the hallmarks of ‘Bagong Pilipinas’,” lamented Corral.

While the food poverty threshold according to NEDA is at least ₱64 per individual per meal, the Ateneo Policy Center estimates that the government-prescribed daily healthy food guide ‘Pinggang Pinoy’ for a family of five would cost ₱693. The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) last estimated the family living wage in 2008 at ₱917.

“No wonder, Filipino students are lagging behind international education rankings as they suffer or even die from malnutrition—principally because under the regional wage board system for 35 years of scraps as increases, workers’ wages failed to keep up with the rising cost of living and to fulfill the Constitutional right to a living wage,” explained Corral.

According to UNICEF Philippines, every day, 95 children in the Philippines die from malnutrition, and twenty-seven out of 1,000 Filipino children do not get past their fifth birthday. A third of Filipino children are stunted or short for their age.  In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 survey among 15-year-old students from 79 countries, Filipino students scored lowest in reading and second to lowest in mathematics and science. According to the World Bank, nearly one in three Filipino children under five years of age is stunted primarily due to poverty.

“Congress can no longer afford to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to these absurd official statistics and skewed standards that distort the harsh reality faced by Filipino workers and their families. With high prices and low wages as the most urgent issues plaguing our nation, there is only one course of action: Congress must urgently pass the ₱150 wage hike proposed by TUCP to end the crisis of poverty wages further eroded by surging prices,” emphasized Corral.

General Membership Assembly KILUSAN-TUCP

TUCP URGES: “SA IKATLONG SONA NG PANGULO, BIGYANG HALAGA NAMAN SANA ANG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO!”

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) calls on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., on his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA), to place workers front-and-center in shaping our collective vision of a “Bagong Pilipinas.” 

"Ang mga manggagawa naman sana ay bigyang halaga sa pangatlo niyang SONA," the TUCP urges, explaining the prevalence of precarious work such as short-term, low-end gig, and ENDO jobs with poverty-level minimum wages under which a family of five could not even afford three nutritious meals a day. "This vicious cycle makes workers 'disposable' and where they are routinely subjected to harassment and political profiling which is unfortunately the current state of Filipino workers," the TUCP stated. 

The TUCP, the country’s largest labor center, reiterates the need for a long-overdue dialogue between the Philippine labor movement and the President to tackle the true state of Filipino workers and their families without filter or embellishments.

The TUCP feels that the Marcos Administration can do so much more by certifying urgent long-pending priority labor reforms to raise wages, uphold workers’ freedom of association, and create new, permanent, and decent jobs.

“We welcome the target to create three million jobs under the Trabaho Para Sa Bayan law, but these jobs should alleviate poverty in an environment that recognizes and respects the human dignity of every Filipino worker. This means improvements in the quality of life of every Filipino worker and their respective families. This means decent and permanent jobs where workers are paid a living wage and freely exercise labor rights without fear, especially their right to freedom to organize and join a union, and not just the insult of mere lip service to workers in addition to the injury of wage orders keeping wages low,” the TUCP explained. 

Soaring food and electricity prices incessantly erode the purchasing power of workers’ wages especially as the ₱35.00 wage increase from the NCR regional wage board cannot even buy the workers and their families a kilo of quality rice.  

The TUCP urges the President to certify as urgent the bill granting an across-the-board wage increase of ₱150.00 nationwide maintaining that the NCR ₱35-wage increase is insultingly paltry, which is not even enough to afford a decent meal, solve the crisis of malnutrition, and child stunting, fatally threatening Filipino children to be either too short for their age and mentally stunted or worst, being the reason why they cannot even reach their fifth birthday. 

“Only the Congress holds the key to raise workers’ wages at levels that can afford three nutritious meals daily for their families and ensure their decent lives in the spirit of simple fairness and social justice. A substantial wage hike today is an investment for a bright tomorrow with a healthy and competitive future workforce,” underscored the TUCP.  The TUCP also called on House Speaker Martin Romualdez to prioritize the immediate passage of the most urgent law demanded and deserved by every Filipino worker— House Bill No. 7871, known as the Wage Recovery Act, filed by the TUCP that seeks to give a daily across-the-board ₱150 wage hike nationwide.

The TUCP also reminds the Marcos Administration that trade and investments into the country are conditioned on the observance of labor rights and are not just all about providing an enabling business environment through ease of doing business. "Ang mga manggagawa naman ay bigyan kahalagahan! Bagong Pilipinas should be anchored on the rule of law, where our dark long history of anti-union violence, political profiling, and impunity aimed at workers and unions in the country definitely has no place,” the TUCP stated.

“We cannot have a ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ while the country continues to be among the ten worst countries for workers for nearly a decade. We trust that under President Marcos’ modern and modernizing leadership, we can correct our troubling track record in workers’ rights and promote a race-to-the-top labor relations through sincere and genuine social partnership with the workers," the TUCP emphasized.

In addition to the legislated wage hike, the TUCP calls on the President to certify urgent the following long-pending priority labor legislation to align labor laws and practices with ratified  International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. "Surely, the country would not want to perennially be in the shortlist for persistent violation of international labor standards for two straight years since 2023". The TUCP therefore calls for passage of the following: 

(a) HOUSE BILL NO. 1512: SECURITY OF TENURE (SOT) ACT to end the pandemic of ENDO contractualization in the country and to restore security of tenure as the norm in labor relations.

(b) HOUSE BILL NO. 1518: UNION FORMATION ACT to strengthen the rights of workers to self-organization by lowering the requirements for union registration.

(c) HOUSE BILL NO. 5536: ASSUMPTION OF JURISDICTION ACT to limit the power of the DOLE Secretary to assume jurisdiction over labor disputes from the overly-broad “industries indispensable to national interest” to only those  “industries providing essential services.”

(d) HOUSE BILL NO. 7043: WORKERS’ RIGHT TO STRIKE ACT to remove dismissal and imprisonment as a penalty for illegal strikes and lockouts.

Prioritizing these labor reforms promotes an enabling environment. But we not only need to put Filipinos back to work but create new opportunities, especially to our millions of fresh graduates every year.  To this end TUCP asks the President to also prioritize the TUCP Jobs Agenda: 

(a) NATIONAL RAILWAY SYSTEM CONNECTING REGIONAL AND PROVINCIAL AGRI-INDUSTRIAL HUBS. This will create new jobs, ensure food security, decongest urban metropolitan areas, and democratize wealth creation by promoting rural development and job generation. It will ultimately lower the cost of doing business throughout the countryside, incentivizing the entry of foreign investments; 

(b) JUST TRANSITION PROGRAM, with tripartite partners in Government, labor, and business,  to ensure human-centered and worker-friendly solutions, such as via massive reskilling and upskilling, to seize millions of new, permanent, and decent employment opportunities in green jobs, such as renewable energy and environmental compliance, and digital jobs, such as e-commerce and big data.

“With all our social partners, let us work together as one nation in upholding labor rights, building infrastructure, and prioritizing human capital development to generate more and better jobs today and tomorrow—tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas para sa Manggagawa, Mamumumuhunan, at Mamamayang Pilipino!” the TUCP emphasized.

Labor groups to Marcos: Certify proposed P150 legislated wage as urgent

Labor groups on Monday called on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to certify the proposed measures for a P150 increase in the minimum wage of private sector employees as urgent.

The National Wage Coalition (NWC) made the call a week ahead of Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22.

“‘Yung mga panukalang batas natin na nakabinbin sa Kongreso, ‘yun na lang ang tanging pag-asa natin upang makadama ang ating manggagawa ng sapat na dagdag-sahod,” said Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Legislative Officer Paul Gajes in a media briefing.

(The proposed bills are our only hope for an adequate wage hike.)

“’Yung P35 na binigay ng Regional Wage Boards (RWB), hindi sasapat yun,” Gajes added.

(The P35 wage hike of the RWB is not enough.)

The coalition, composed of workers’ organizations including SENTRO, Nagkaisa, TUCP, and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, also urged Speaker Martin Romualdez to expedite the passage of the proposed bills at the House of Representatives.

“Sa tingin ng NWC, nararapat na bigyang-pansin ng Pangulo. I-certify na as urgent itong pending bills na ito at ang Kamara… sana naman i-expedite na itong bills na to,” said Gajes.

(The NWC thinks President Marcos should certify these bills as urgent and the House should expedite their passage.)

Earlier this month, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved the P35 hike in the daily minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), increasing it from P610 to P645 for the non-agriculture sector.

But Gajes earlier said the wage hike is not enough, describing it as “crumbs tossed to humiliate workers.”

“It’s high time that the President and Speaker of the House show their genuine concern for the underprivileged and heed the cause of the united Filipino workers for sustainable and livable wages. ‘Yung P35 just won’t do,” he added.

The NWC was pushing for the passage of the legislated wage hike as it raised concerns about the inadequacy of the minimum wage to provide families with a decent standard of living.

In February, Cavite lawmaker Jolo Revilla said there were at least 77 House members who would support the P150 legislated wage hike.

Also in February, the Senate approved a P100 legislated wage hike for private sector workers. — Story by SUNDY LOCUS,GMA Integrated News 

The Regional Wage Boards are Unreliable and Unjust!

The National Wage Coalition’s Statement on the Recently Issued Wage Increase

The new ₱35.00 wage increase for NCR workers issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board - National Capital Region office (RTWPB-NCR) is a disgrace. After several legislative proposals for an across-the-board wage increase, numerous actions held on the streets, and hearings with the labor sector — all with the intent to call and demand for a fair wage increase to adjust for inflation and the ever-changing value of our salaries, the RTWPB’s increase is nothing short of a heartless disregard for the economic crises faced by our workers and families.

The National Wage Coalition (NWC), which represents workers across various sectors and industries, has demanded for a wage increase no less than ₱150. Our minimum wages do not amount to liveable wages. We have presented our arguments based on factual and credible research. And yet our efforts amount to a low increase. The ₱35 increase does not even amount to measly change; it is not even sufficient for a kilo of rice. It makes up for only 30% of the lost value of wages in the NCR, which reached ₱100 according to the Consumer Price Index of May 2024. The NWC has stated before that the RTWPB-NCR has had 35 years’ worth of failure to issue fair and livable wage increases. This recent increase is no failure. It is the deliberate demonstration of the Board’s lack of empathy towards the economic needs of the working class.

With the RTWPB-NCR showing once again their unreliability and heartlessness, the National Wage Coalition demands Congress to address our calls accordingly. In light of this disrespectful and disgusting ₱35 increase by the RTWPB, Congress and the House of Representatives’ Committee on Labor must pass our proposed bills for an across-the-board increase of at least ₱150. Additionally, they must recognize the uselessness and irrelevance of the RTWPB-NCR and conduct a congressional review of our wage fixing policies under RA 6727. It is clear that such policies are insufficient and unreflective of our current economic needs. The RTWPB refuses to meet our demands, thus their existence must be challenged, questioned, and ultimately discontinued.

The National Wage Coalition urges the greater Philippine labor movement and all Filipino workers to press on with the fight for higher and fairer wages. We must act in solidarity in addressing Congress, so that they may truly understand the needs of the working class. You know the worth of your labor and more importantly, the value of your personal life and needs. And while this laughable ₱35 increase may be a setback, so long as we persevere, the fight for a higher wage continues. ###

PH still on Top 10 list of worst countries for workers

DESPITE its return to the International Labor Organization's governing body (GB), the Philippines again landed among the Top 10 worst countries for workers.

The International Trade Union Confederation's (ITUC) 2024 Global Rights Index placed the Philippines on the list of the world's Top 10 Worst Countries for Workers for eight years in a row.

This happened the same day the ILO Committee on Application of Standards issued its conclusion after reviewing the country's adherence to ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association: the Philippines is failing to protect workers' rights.

It listed the Philippines as one of six countries where trade unionists have been killed in staggering numbers.

According to ITUC affiliates Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro), and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), not one of the recorded 72 cases of trade union killings since 2016 have been resolved.

In a joint statement, they also claimed that serious obstacles persist against trade union formation.

"A climate of fear, violence and intimidation continues to loom heavily over workers. To have Filipino workers in a state of near-permanent marginalization and disempowerment is a national disgrace for a country that presents itself as modern, democratic and economically vibrant," the statement said.

It pointed out that more than a year after the conclusion of the ILO investigation, technically called the High-Level Tripartite Mission, none of the mission's recommendations have been realized in any meaningful way.

"All this is not surprising. For the Philippine labor movement, the responsibility for this national disgrace lies squarely with the government, especially the Department of Labor and Employment. At every step of the way, DoLE had been actively blocking and undermining organized labor's attempts at pushing for urgently needed reforms," it added.

It disclosed that the DoLE had been exposed before the ILO for misrepresenting its alleged compliance with the ILO's high-level mission recommendations, as well as its supposed respect for tripartism in economic zones where workers' representatives are hand-picked by employers.

"How can the Philippines make its way out of this grim situation when the DoLE itself stubbornly refuses to recognize the harsh reality of red-tagging by state security forces and high officials, abduction, and killing of trade unionists, and constantly blocks the labor movement's efforts for policy reforms?" it said.

"How can our rights to organize and to freedom of association be respected when DoLE itself is part of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), an agency which cracks down on our workers and unionists rights?" it added.

"The fact that unionization rates remain stagnant provides the true litmus test of compliance with international labor standards. If this downward trend in unionization rates and collective bargaining coverage continues, due in large part to rampant corporate and state impunity against workers, the Philippines will remain one of the worst countries for working people." -By William B. Depasupil

NATIONAL WAGE COALITION LABOR DAY MOBILIZATION: DAGDAG SAHOD ISABATAS! 150 PATAAS!

On Wednesday, 01 May 2024—Labor Day—thousands of workers from various Philippine trade union centers, labor federations, and workers' organizations will march together in solidarity to Morayta under the banner of the National Wage Coalition to send a strong message to Batasan and Malacañang: DAGDAG SAHOD ISABATAS! P150 PATAAS!

Passing the ₱150 wage recovery increase is only the first yet pivotal step that the Philippines should take to actualize living wages embodied in proposed legislation for a ₱750 daily wage increase for private sector workers and a new Salary Standardization Law (SSL) anchored on the ₱33,000 monthly minimum wage for public sector workers. 

Various trade union centers, labor federations, and workers’ organizations in both the private and public sector led by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (Nagkaisa!) united in solidarity as the NATIONAL WAGE COALITION.

SAMA-SAMA TAYONG MAGMARTSA SA MAYO UNO!

SAMA-SAMA NATING ITAAS ANG SAHOD MO!

Pushing for just living wage, better workers’ protection

May 1, 2024 marks the 122nd Labor Day in the Philippines.

It was May 1, 1903, when the Filipinos celebrated Labor Day in the Philippines. The first labor group, Union Obrera Democratica, was behind the history-altering movement. Demanding absolute freedom from American capitalism and imperialism, thousands of workers marched down from Plaza Moriones in Tondo to Malacañang that day.

Formerly known as the Union Obrera Democratica, the labor group was founded by Isabelo Delos Reyes and Herminigildo Cruz on February 2, 1902. The union championed the rights of the labor force during the American occupation in the Philippines.

Unfortunately, Delos Reyes was jailed in August 1902 for sedition, rebellion, and conspiring to raise labor wages. Dominador Gomez took the helm afterward and led the first Labor Day celebration on May 1.

Since that day, Filipino workers continue to struggle for fair wages and better working practices.

Today, the celebration of Labor Day in the Philippines is not just about parades but also rallies and demonstrations to call for a just and livable minimum wage, among others.

The labor unions in the Philippines are recognized under the Labor Code of the Philippines, allowing them to have the freedom to self-organize. They are raising awareness of the usual concerns of workers such as wages, an hour of work, and other legal rights they are entitled to have.

These labor groups are also legitimate entities negotiating the terms and conditions of employment—through the process of collective bargaining agreement—with the employers.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is the largest confederation of labor federations in the Philippines with 480,000 members. Another prominent labor union is the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

Meanwhile, the TUCP is appealing for a dialogue with President Marcos Jr. and to meet with the labor sector to discuss the workers problems.

In a statement, the TUCP asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) over the absence of any dialogue, especially during the annual May 1 celebration, between workers and Marcos.

The DOLE program for May 1 should have focused instead on letting workers’ voices be heard by the President on what urgently needs to be done to address the plight of the Filipino workers, the TUCP said.

“It is in the spirit of continuing social dialogue that the TUCP is dumbfounded by the lack of labor dialogue even just once a year on workers’ day, particularly, this May 1st. It has been two years into the Administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., and there has been no labor dialogue set even on the scheduled Labor Day Celebration in Malacañang this year. We therefore ask DOLE: ‘What is there to mark and remember the 122nd Labor Day with?’ Celebrating Labor Day would be a hollow ritual without addressing or even listening to the struggling workers’ pleas,” the TUCP stressed.

The TUCP said that ignoring the Philippine labor movement could derail President Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr., pitch to the world for the Philippines as an investment destination considering that both foreign trade and foreign direct investments are inextricably linked to the clear and categorical observance of international labor standards.

It should be noted that the country has been consistently ranked globally as one of the ten worst countries for workers. The country’s observance of ILO Convention No.87 on Freedom of Association has been under continuing scrutiny internationally since 2009. The latest January 2023 ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission highlighted persistent violations and violence directed against the Filipino workers’ freedom of association, all done with impunity.

Also, the TUCP seeks the House of Representatives to pass several house bills pending before congress and these include:

HOUSE BILL NO. 1512: SECURITY OF TENURE (SOT) ACT that seeks to end the pandemic of ENDO contractualization in the country and to restore security of tenure as the norm in labor relations, rather than the exemption.

HOUSE BILL NO. 1518: UNION FORMATION ACT aims to strengthen the right of workers to self-organize by lowering the requirements for union registration in response to the ILO’s long-standing observation of excessive registration requirements on workers’ organizations in the country.

HOUSE BILL NO. 5536: ASSUMPTION OF JURISDICTION ACT proposes to limit the power of the DOLE Secretary to assume jurisdiction over labor disputes by changing the operative phrase from the overly broad “industries indispensable to the national interest” to “industries providing essential services” as defined by the ILO.

HOUSE BILL NO. 7043: WORKERS’ RIGHT TO STRIKE ACT removes dismissal and imprisonment as a penalty for illegal strikes and lockouts because these are too harsh and disproportionate to the seriousness of the violation.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will set up 94 job fair sites across the country in celebration of the 122nd Labor Day.

The Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) said the job fairs featuring local and overseas employment opportunities will be held in almost all regions on Labor Day.

“DOLE is presenting a huge opportunity for all jobseekers. We will be conducting job fairs in 94 sites across the country. Come and participate in the job fair nearest you,” it added.

DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said Kadiwa centers would also be brought closer to Filipino workers and job seekers on May 1.

“With at least one job fair and Kadiwa per province, more workers and job seekers and even consumers will have access to employment opportunities and affordable products as DOLE conducts these activities on May 1,” Laguesma said in a statement.

The DOLE said 1,901 participating employers would offer up to 154,470 jobs.

Production workers, customer service representatives, cashiers, baggers, sales clerks, laborers, carpenters, painters, microfinance officers, financial advisers, service crew, cooks, waiters, truck drivers, nurses, property consultants and tutors are the top vacancies this year.

The DOLE advised job seekers to prepare their application requirements such as resumé or curriculum vitae, diploma, transcript of records and certificate of employment for those formerly employed.

Job seekers and consumers can access affordable products from 1,015 enterprises and 2,414 sellers in 92 “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” sites nationwide, the biggest to date.

The activities aim to honor Filipino workers as the nation commemorates Labor Day with the theme, “Sa Bagong Pilipinas: Manggagawang Pilipino, Kabalikat at Kasama sa Pag-asenso.”

On the other hand, the government is committed to pushing more strategies that will further boost labor and improve employment conditions.

“Quality jobs need to be created in sectors with current labor supply constraints, as well as in other higher value-added sectors like BPO, IT, construction, accounting, and healthcare, among others,” the Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said.

The DOF will ensure the efficient implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act to attract more strategic investments into the country. It is working on amending the law to further address investor concerns and tailor fit incentives.

With its high multiplier effect on the economy, the government will vigorously implement the President’s Build Better More program to generate more jobs and investments.

The DOF will ensure the efficient execution of the 2024 national budget through timely implementation of projects to avoid government underspending, allowing it to hold fast to the commitment to delivering high-yielding infrastructure projects.

The government will likewise strengthen the implementation of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code to bring in more capital that will cut infrastructure backlog while freeing budget space for social services and generating jobs that boost domestic consumption. - By Vito Barcelo

TUCP Labor Day Statement: 50 years of the labor code, 50 years of workers’ travails for social justice

The irony is not lost on labor that this year’s Labor Day celebration by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) at the Malacañang Palace will be all about the Labor Code turning 50 years old, while the ordinary workers toil in suffocating heat, worsening traffic, poverty wages, amid the high cost of food and services, not to mention the fast disappearing space for freedom of association and collective bargaining, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said in a Statement.

The TUCP, the largest labor center in the country, said it is scandalized by the patronizing memorial presentation by the DOLE of the 50th year of Presidential Decree 442, an issuance of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. The DOLE program for May 1 should have focused instead on letting workers’ voices be heard by the President on what urgently needs to be done to address the plight of the Filipino workers.

“Fifty years after its enactment, the Labor Code, a landmark social legislation of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., has now become a relic and a dismal failure in delivering its promise of social justice due to the erosion through 50 years of the workers’ Constitutional right to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work,” the TUCP explained.

The TUCP explained that it consistently worked closely in genuine social partnership with former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., as well as succeeding administrations, as the TUCP believed then, that the Labor Code provided workers both a legal framework and a reasonable foundation to reason and thresh out labor issues, to ensure employment preservation and maintain meaningful industrial peace through social dialogue.

“It is in the spirit of continuing social dialogue that the TUCP is dumbfounded by the lack of labor dialogue even just once a year on workers’ day, particularly, this May 1st. It has been two years into the Administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., and there has been no labor dialogue set even on the scheduled Labor Day Celebration in Malacañang this year. We therefore ask DOLE: ‘What is there to mark and remember the 122nd Labor Day with?’ Celebrating Labor Day would be a hollow ritual without addressing or even listening to the struggling workers’ pleas,” the TUCP stressed.

The TUCP pointed out that wittingly or unwittingly shutting out or ignoring the Philippine labor movement could derail President Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr., pitch to the world for the Philippines as an investment destination considering that both foreign trade and foreign direct investments are inextricably linked to the clear and categorical observance of international labor standards.

It should be noted that the country has been consistently ranked globally as one of the ten worst countries for workers. The country’s observance of ILO Convention No.87 on Freedom of Association has been under continuing scrutiny internationally since 2009. The latest January 2023 ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission highlighted persistent violations and violence directed against the Filipino workers’ freedom of association, all done with impunity.

The EU-GSP+ monitoring report for 2020-2022 has noted the need for the Philippines to align its national labor laws with international labor standards on freedom of association, to ensure the protection of workers’ right to security of tenure, to better enforcement to eradicate forced and child labor and trafficking in persons, among others. These concerns should be addressed by a genuine tripartite freedom of association roadmap and not a pseudo-tripartite roadmap that leaves out a majority of the trade union movement.

Part-and-parcel of the recommendations of the ILO has been the long-overdue need for amendments to the Labor Code long championed by TUCP. These include:

HOUSE BILL NO. 1512: SECURITY OF TENURE (SOT) ACT that seeks to end the pandemic of ENDO contractualization in the country and to restore security of tenure as the norm in labor relations, rather than the exemption.

HOUSE BILL NO. 1518: UNION FORMATION ACT aims to strengthen the right of workers to self-organization by lowering the requirements for union registration in response to the ILO’s long-standing observation of excessive registration requirements on workers’ organizations in the country.

HOUSE BILL NO. 5536: ASSUMPTION OF JURISDICTION ACT proposes to limit the power of the DOLE Secretary to assume jurisdiction over labor disputes by changing the operative phrase from the overly broad “industries indispensable to the national interest” to “industries providing essential services” as defined by the ILO.

HOUSE BILL NO. 7043: WORKERS’ RIGHT TO STRIKE ACT removes dismissal and imprisonment as a penalty for illegal strikes and lockouts because these are too harsh and disproportionate to the seriousness of the violation.

For the 50th Anniversary of the Labor Code to be truly worth celebrating, the declared State policy “to afford protection to labor, promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race or creed and regulate the relations between workers and employers” and social justice should be realized in practice. But no, sadly, the implementation of the Labor Code has been left severely wanting and in dire need of reforms demanded at home and abroad.

House leader calls on colleagues to heed experts’ support for a wage hike

House Deputy Speaker and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) party-list representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza on Tuesday called on the House of Representatives to support the passage of the P150 daily minimum wage hike for private sector workers, saying a wage increase is urgently needed and backed by economists.

Mendoza made the call after the House labor and employment panel conducted two hearings on bills proposing daily minimum wage hikes ranging from P150 to P750.

Mendoza said that during the second hearing experts and stakeholders from the academe, civil society, and the informal sector as well as economists voiced their support of the P150 wage hike bill.

Minimum wage earners speak

Among them, he said, was Margarita Refaldo of the Association of Minimum Wage Earners, who had asked that those who do honest hard work and contribute to the growth of the economy be compensated appropriately.

"Hindi naman po kami humihingi ng malaki at hindi naman kami hihingi ng sobra," Refaldo said. "Ang hinihingi lang po namin bilang mga manggagawa na siyang nagtataas ng ekonomiya ng ating bansa ay...sweldo na masasabi natin na [papayagang] magkaroon ng maayos at disenteng pamumuhay ang mga simpleng workers."

(We are not asking for much, or for more than we should have. What we are asking is for us workers, who are vital in stirring economic growth, to have a living wage that will allow workers to lead decent lives.)

Another resource person, Flora Asiddao Santos of the Metro Manila Vendors Alliance (MMVA), said what they are demanding is a just wage.

“Kami ay naniniwala na ang hinihingi ng uring manggagawa sa pormal ay makatarungan. Kung mataas ang kita nila, tataas ang kanilang purchasing power, at tataas rin ang aming kita,” she said, citing their own experience of a surge in sales during holiday season when workers receive their Christmas bonus and 13th month pay.

(We are of the belief that what the laborers are calling for is just. If they earn more, their purchasing power will increase, and our livelihood will thrive as well.)

House of the People

Mendoza said the House of Representatives, as the "House of the People," should "walk the talk of inclusive growth and development."

"Through weekly marathon hearings, let us speak truth to power and end the big lie peddled by employers and economic managers that a legislated wage hike only spells doom,” he said.

“The House of the People should stand in solidarity with Filipino workers and their families because our society and our fast-growing economy will benefit from higher wages boosting consumer demand, pump-priming the local economy, and paving the way for equity and prosperity,” he added.

Mendoza also quoted economist and Social Weather Stations president Mahar Mangahas as saying that “the minimum wage system is not working because the real wages are stagnant and not increasing.”

Further, Mendoza noted the findings of Dr. Benjamin Velasco of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR), which showed that wage increases have no impact on employment because the wage increases have very little impact on inflation, given that inflation stems from cost-related factors and supply imbalances such as energy costs.

Mendoza also quoted economist Dr. Rene Ofreneo, also of UP-SOLAIR, as saying that the proposed legislated wage hike of P150 is doable and imperative given the billions in profits of big businesses.

Poverty wages

Mendoza then said that the Ateneo Policy Center also presented a position paper which revealed that it would require a daily budget of around P693.30 to be able to afford the main ingredients required to make the cheapest plate from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute's (FNRI) Pinggang Pinoy list—a cost higher than the highest daily minimum wage in the country: P610 in the National Capital Region.

Economist Emmanuel Leyco, for his part, also said that there is no record of businesses closing down as a result of a wage hike.

“I, therefore, urge all my colleagues in the House of Representatives to heed our people’s clarion call: Enough is enough! End poverty wages and cheap labor!,” Mendoza said.

“Together, let us make history. The Filipino demands and deserves a raise,” he added.

The Senate has approved a bill granting a P100 daily minimum wage hike for the private sector on third and final reading. — By LLANESCA T. PANTI,  BM, GMA Integrated News 

Philippine workers demand increased wages

The All Philippines’ Trade Unions (APTU), where the majority of IndustriALL Philippine affiliates are members, are demanding that Congress pass the Wage Recovery Act of 2023. This would mean a PHP150 (US$2.7) increase of the daily wage for all workers in the country’s private sector.

The Wage Recovery Act was filed by TUCP party list congressman Raymond Mendoza in 2023 to tackle escalating inflation and a decrease of real wages.

The labour centre says that regional wage boards have been ineffective in helping workers to increase their wages corresponding to the rise of productivity and gross domestic product. A wage increase would strengthen workers’ purchasing power and reduce hunger.

On 29 February, twenty APTU members rallied outside Congress when the bill was tabled. It is expected that Congress will hold three more hearings and a bicameral conference committee will be set up to consolidate the bills and decide on the amount, after which the Philippine President will either approve or veto the bills.

Unions in the country will continue to advocate for higher wages for Philippine workers. The Associated Labor Union (ALU) welcomes the current moves to focus national discussions on what matters for struggling Filipinos.

    “The take home pay of workers must be sufficient to buy at least their families’ minimum basic food and non-food needs. Daily minimum wages in the Philippines continue to be below poverty thresholds. Workers are used to small slices in the wage gap. Our basic labour rights advocacies continue – in Congress, wage boards, industries and at enterprises,”

says Eva Arcos, ALU national vice president.

    "Providing for an across-the-board wage increase is not only an economic, but also a social justice issue. It allows the workers to somehow cope with the inequities of the economic system, and assert their politico-economic rights,"

says Darius Guerrero, national secretary of Philippine Trade & General Workers' Organization (PTGWO).

 

IndustriALL supports the legislative initiative as Philippine workers are hit hard by the soaring price after the Covid-19 pandemic and impact of geopolitical tensions.

 

Says IndustriALL South East Asia regional secretary Ramon Certeza:

    “We will continue to support our affiliates to develop national action plan towards the attainment not only of minimum wage but towards living wage.” - IndustriAll

P150 wage hike pushed in House

In response to the Senate’s earlier passage of a P100 wage hike bill, a labor sector lawmaker called on the leadership of the House of Representatives to pass a bill seeking a P150 across-the-board wage increase nationwide for private sector workers.

In a statement, Deputy Speaker Raymond Mendoza said the passage of House Bill No. 7871, or any other measure seeking salary increases for Filipino workers, “is no longer a social or economic imperative but a moral and existential imperative for our millions of mostly poor wage earners.”

Mendoza serves as the representative for the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) party list.

“Their honest hard work receives only poverty wages that cannot even sustain the health, productivity and need for a decent life of their families,” he said.

Mendoza is author of HB 7871, or the Wage Recovery Act of 2023. It seeks a wage hike that’s P50 higher than the recently approved Senate Bill No. 2534, which sought a P100 wage-hike increase.

The difference, however, is that HB 7871 offers wage subsidies for micro and small enterprises to allow them to cope with the increased labor costs.

The TUCP said this was in anticipation of protests from employers, especially big businesses, who are “expert scaremongers misleading the people with their myths and fallacies against any wage increase.”

“The swift opposition from employers to the still-pending proposed legislated wage increase does not shock us anymore,” said Luis Corral, vice president of TUCP.

‘Demonized’

“They perennially demonize any and all legitimate wage demands of Filipino workers and their families who just want simple fairness as they struggle to make ends meet,” he added.

These fears prompted the House to pass its counterpart to SB 2534, which was passed on third reading last week.

However, Corral challenged both government and business players to “end the blame-game that workers’ wages will increase inflation and discourage investments because the real culprits are astronomically expensive yet unreliable electricity and soaring food prices, and not the poverty wages further eroded by the rising cost of living.”

“Let’s put an end to employer ‘overkill’ on a fair wage because a wage increase actually lifts all boats,” he added.

“All benefit from higher wages boosting consumer demand and driving inclusive and equitable wage-led growth toward a more prosperous and just Philippine society where Filipino workers and their families rightfully reap the fruits of their labor,” Mendoza said.

The last legislated national wage hike was given in 1989, with the enactment of Republic Act No. 6727, or the Wage Rationalization Act, that established the regional wage boards. - By: Krixia Subingsubing - Reporter / @KrixiasINQ

TUCP: Let’s end ‘guilt trip’ vs. labor

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called on the House of Representatives to immediately pass House Bill 7871, or the Wage Recovery Act of 2023, authored by TUCP president and House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza.

The measure seeks to legislate an across-the-board wage increase of P150 in the daily wages of private sector workers nationwide.

“We laud the marching orders of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez for the House committee on labor and employment to urgently and vigorously conduct public hearings as soon as possible to hear all sectors and deliberate on the much-needed increase in the take-home pay of our workers,” said Mendoza in a statement.

The TUCP claimed that since 1989, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) have failed to keep pace with significant changes in the cost of living due to an “unsaid, unspoken de facto implicit policy of dampening legitimate wage demands by setting too late, too little, and highly unjust wages.”

The group blamed this on what it believes to be an “outmoded exploitative approach” of setting “cheap wages” as the key to bringing in investments. It said 21st century trade is increasingly worker-centered trade.

Tariff-free access to the United States and Europe places a premium on Filipino workers having decent work and that includes having a living wage, TUCP added.

Business concerns

The last legislated wage hike through Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, which established the regional wage boards, was P25 on top of the then P64 minimum wage; whereas the highest latest minimum wage hike given by the regional wage boards as of 2024 was only P50.

The TUCP said after nearly 35 years without a legislated wage hike, Congress should act now to address worker survival needs to reverse this “cheap labor” policy.

“As Filipino workers struggle with already low wages eroded by inflation and various headwinds, the legislated wage hike is no longer a social or economic imperative but a moral and existential imperative, especially for our millions of mostly poor wage earners. Their honest hard work receives only poverty wages that cannot even sustain the health, productivity, and need for a decent life of their families,” said Mendoza.

Even with the latest wage hikes, all regional minimum wages are below the government-set poverty threshold by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and no way near the family living wage estimated by the think tank Ibon Foundation, according to the TUCP.

“No wonder Filipino learners are failing in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) rankings and no wonder one in every three of our children below five years old are stunted. We are raising a next generation of endo workers who will never be competitive globally or even in Asean,” Mendoza said.

“Our workforce and economy will remain ‘gatherers of woods’ and ‘carriers of water’; forever assembling goods but never manufacturing; and doomed to be an economy of low-end gig and temporary work,” TUCP vice president Luis Corral said.

Addressing the concerns of businesses, House Bill 7871 provides for wage subsidies to micro and small enterprises, ensuring their viability and full compliance with this wage legislation.

Coral said the swift opposition from employers to the pending proposed legislated wage increase does not shock them anymore.

“They are expert scare-mongers misleading the people with their myths and fallacies against any wage increase. They perennially demonize any and all legitimate wage demands of Filipino workers,” said Corral.

“Let’s end the blame game that workers’ wages will increase inflation and discourage investments because the real culprits are astronomically expensive yet unreliable electricity and soaring food prices, and not the poverty wages further eroded by the rising cost of living,” Corral added.

Corral called for an end to “the guilt trip thrown to labor for demanding a wage raise that supposedly benefits only formal workers and not the larger informal economy” because increases in formal workers’ wages, he said, translate into increased consumer demand for goods and services produced by the informal economy and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), hence raising the income of informal workers.” - SunStar