Workers to PNoy: Labor justice needs powerful execution, not endless dialogue

A big march to Malacanang with simultaneous actions in other cities nationwide marked today’s celebration of Labor Day as workers protested the government’s failure to address their bottom line issues such as jobs and job security, living wage, trade union rights, and decent working and living conditions.

In Manila, thousands of workers from different federations and labor organization comprising the Nagkaisa! coalition marched from Mabuhay Welcome Rotonda to Mendiola under the theme, “Hustisya sa Manggagawa at Sambayanan.”

The cry for justice, according to Nagkaisa!, is labor’s summation of failed engagement with President Aquino, whom the group insisted, “never stood on the side of labor since the PAL dispute in 2011” despite the rhetoric of ‘tuwid na daan’.

“President Aquino should have learned a valuable lesson from his last minute intervention on Mary Jane’s case. That in order to move a quixotic boulder up the mountaintop, a firm decision and solid determination is needed — a resolve he never had in addressing labor problems during the last five years in office,” said Partido Manggagawa (PM) chair Renato Magtubo and one of Nagkaisa! convenors.

The group disclosed earlier that none of labor’s bottom line issues such as contractualization, low wages and power rates reduction have been addressed by Malacanang after four years of dialogues.

“During the last five years we didn’t ask President Aquino to produce miracles. Yet a simple certification of pro-labor measure such as the Security of Tenure bill to regulate contractualization did not even warrant his attention,” said Frank Mero, President of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (Sentro), another convenor of Nagkaisa!

Labor justice, he added, needs a powerful execution not an endless dialogue.

Another convenor, Annie Geron of the Public Services Labor Confederation (PSLINK), public sector unions are disappointed that the President was not even aware of the fact that the government bureaucracy itself is implementing a widespread and worst kind of contractualization called ‘job orders’.

However, Nagkaisa! conceded that President Aquino has earned credits for saving the life of Mary Jane Veloso. But the group said that won’t change the fact that beyond his buzzer beater intervention on Mary Jane’s behalf, many labor issues that translate into social problems like human trafficking and the exodus of Filipinos to foreign lands persist.

“Filipino are hopelessly enmeshed in an unchanging political system serving the affluent elite and betraying the destitute millions. They sense that no one is fighting for them,” said Gerard Seno, Vice President of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa!

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) President accused the Aquino administration of perpetuating the old system of elite rule.

“PNoy has resolutely protected controversial allies and lifted no fingers on political dynasties. But never had he shown a grain of disposition for the working class,” said De Guzman.

Other than Manila, labor marches were also held in the cities of Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, General Santos, and in Cavite and Laguna provinces.

25,000 'frustrated' workers to march on Labor Day vs govt failure to address poverty, inequality

MANILA, Philippines -- A labor coalition that counts the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said it will field 25,000 workers, including those from the informal sector, in a Labor Day protest “to express their collective frustration at President Aquino’s failure to initiate policy reforms to address deepening poverty and widening inequality in the country.”

Gerard Seno, vice president of TUCP-Nagkaisa, said in a statement that, on the fifth Labor Day under President Benigno Aquino III, “for the excluded basic social sectors there is still no one in government they can trust or run to. For them as the majority of Filipinos, the message to our President: ‘This is just not acceptable, we can do better’.”

Nagkaisa counts 49 labor groups in the private and public sectors.

The coalition’s May 1 protest will begin with a march from the Welcome Rotonda on Espana to Mendiola for a rally.

Earlier, Nagkaisa member organizations announced they were scrapping the annual Labor Day breakfast dialogue with Aquino over his “failure to deliver the workable and time bound 8-point policy agenda proposed by the group finalized in 2012 designed to mainstream the country’s economic growth down to the grassroots level.”

The 8-point agenda seeks the streamlining of the contractual job scheme, an increase in private and government workers’ wages, a reduction in rates and reliable supply of power, the implementation of an agro-industrial plan to create stable jobs, and the enforcement of the international convention allowing public sector workers to unionize.

“The eight policy issues have been painstakingly tackled and validated by bilateral technical working groups between Nagkaisa labor organizations and the different government agency policy people,” Seno noted. “What the President must do is approve and implement them or veto it altogether but he must not keep these groups waiting.”

Because of Aquino’s perceived inaction, he added, “TUCP-Nagkaisa sees a uniting thread of disengagement from the administration within the basic sectors of our society from labor to the farmers to the urban poor, to the middle class. The feeling that no one in government really cares, that everyone is a victim in system where personal control over their destiny has been lost, that nameless bureaucrats in a faraway, unknown office determine what will be and that each and every Filipino is hopelessly enmeshed in an unchanging political system serving the affluent elite and betraying the destitute millions. They sense that no one is fighting for them.”

Nagkaisa said it has other pending demands: expanding the coverage of tax exemptions, reforming the wage-setting mechanism, passing the Freedom of Information bill, in-city relocation for informal settlers, addressing migrant workers’ concerns, and a quarterly dialogue between workers and the Office of the President.

In the same statement, TUCP-Nagkaisa executive director Louie Corral noted a March survey by Pulse Asia highlighted the fact that four of Filipinos’ top five concerns “relate to the daily survival needs” of people: the high prices of basic needs, low wages, the lack of decent jobs, and the lack of substantial poverty reduction.

The fifth concern was corruption in government.

Corral also accused the administration Liberal Party and the opposition United Nationalist Alliance of “merrily plotting for 2016, “setting up the electoral circus in the hope that we will all forget that the unemployment level has been mired at 7.1 percent, the underemployment rate stuck at 22 percent, and that the daily minimum wage in (the National Capital Region) just increased by P15 from P466 to a still “unliveable” P481.” - InterAksyon.com TV5

Philippine labor unions stand behind Veloso

Members of associated labor unions in the Philippines stand vigil for Mary Jane Veloso on International Workers's Memorial Day on Tuesday, April 28. Analy Labor / GMA News

Labor drops talks with Malacañang

A COALITION of labor groups will drop its annual luncheon meetings with Pres. Benigno S.C. Aquino III, sector leaders announced Monday, saying workers’ concerns have fallen on deaf ears in Malacañang these past five years.

“There will not be any dialogue between workers and Malacañang this May 1,” Annie E. Geron, convenor of the Nagkaisa  labor coalition that is composed of 49 organizations deemed the sector’s moderates, said as she read a prepared statement in Filipino in a press conference in the City of Manila yesterday.

“The entire force of Nagkaisa will take to the streets to seek justice for the Filipino worker.”

Pressed for details, Ms. Geron said the Aquino administration’s failure to act on concerns presented by labor groups in 2010 left them with no choice but to abandon talks with the Executive.

The list consisted of full employment, an across-the-board wage hike, quality public service, primary universal health care, protection for all Filipino migrant workers, and lower prices of goods and utilities. Particular reforms included the Security of Tenure bill and the proposed Freedom of Information act, both of which remain stalled in Congress.

TUCP-Nagkaisa started its annual May 1 talks with Mr. Aquino in 2012, but the group said these were fruitless.

“If the government did not act on our concerns these past five years, what else can we expect in this remaining one year of the administration, given that it faces so many issues: OFWs [overseas Filipino workers in trouble] and China,” Ms. Geron said, noting that “labor issues always take the back seat and are overshadowed by the emerging issues of the day.”

At the same time, however, Ms. Geron said members of her group will still negotiate directly with state agencies and private sector employers. “We need to go to each agency... rather than wait for him (Mr. Aquino) to give them orders (on labor concerns).”

A P15 increase in daily minimum wage for private sector workers in Metro Manila took effect on April 4, but this was far from the P136 wage hike sought by TUCP-Nagkaisa.

Sought for comment, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin S. Lacierda told reporters in a regular briefing yesterday that Malacañang will still reach out to labor groups.

“We will continue to engage any sector that is willing to listen to us. We have always spoken to TUCP. There are certain issues that have been discussed with the secretary of Labor and we continue to discuss those things,” Mr. Lacierda said.

“Perhaps, some of them may not be to the entire satisfaction but we have certainly addressed a number -- if not most -- of the issues that they have raised and we will continue to do so,” he added, citing, for instance, subdued increases in prices of basic goods.

“We always talk to people who would like to discuss matters with us. But if they chose not to, it’s our obligation to continue to fight for... and protect the rights of our workers.”

Rene E. Ofreneo, director of the Center for Labor Justice at the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said it is time for government to review its programs.

Noting that Mr. Aquino’s “term is ending”, Mr. Ofreneo said in a telephone interview: “Many labor groups have the same sentiment.”

“They have high expectations following Mr. Aquino’s social contract in 2010. They are now looking for results, asking: ‘Where are they?’”

TUCP-Nagkaisa has around 2.7 million worker-members, said the group’s spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay, with most coming from the informal sector. At least 25,000 are expected to join the group’s Friday march in Metro Manila and similar protest actions will be held in other regions.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) asked TUCP not to halt consultations with Malacañang.

“It will be unfortunate if TUCP will close the door on the presidential dialogue on employment issues,” ECOP President Edgardo G. Lacson said via text.

“The journey towards progress and full employment is a long-term aspiration that should not be put on hold by unmet present demand for short-term gains like a substantial wage adjustment now. ECOP urges TUCP to reconsider its decision to boycott the dialogue with the president even if it has low expectations on the outcome of such consultations.” By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Reporter BusinessWorld