Scrapping minimum wage to expose workers to abuse, virtualslavery—labor groups

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Labor groups in the country cautioned government policy makers on Tuesday against lifting the minimum wage requirement, saying that doing so would expose workers to abuse.

Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), said the minimum wage has been serving as the minimum standard to protect workers’ interests, and improve the quality of labor.

“If there is no minimum wage, workers will be very vulnerable to abuse and oppression,” said Tanjusay. “There has to be a standard such as the minimum wage. Otherwise, we will revert back to the age of slavery.”

Julius Cainglet, Federation of Free Workers (FFW)’s assistant vice president for Research, Communication, Networking and Project Development, on the other hand, said PIDS’ views were not new.

“The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have been saying that for years. The think tank’s research seems wanting as it failed to consider the real state of workers,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message.

“The minimum wage is but a meager social protection for workers. Present minimum wage rates in Metro Manila could not even cover half the required income needed to afford your family a decent life. Besides, the minimum wage is much smaller in the provinces where a lot of investors set up manufacturing plants,” he said.

“Abolishing the minimum wage would only work if workers have a voice, that is if the majority of them are unionized. We know how employers do everything to bust unions.

Without a minimum wage to bank on and a union to fight for their rights to just wages, benefits and better working conditions, the government is opening the floodgates for even more exploitation of workers. We will end up with workers receiving alms and getting employed for no more than five months,” added Cainglet.

The FFW official urged the government to instead look at improving the environment for doing business in the country, which would significantly impact the capacity of businesses to employ more workers and pay wages.

“What is pushing down employment is the high cost of doing business. For one, the country’s power rates are the highest in Asia. Add the fact that there are mounting fees, permits and impossible requirements when applying for a new business or renewing permits for the same. It is a nightmare in fact,” said Cainglet.

“The FFW believes that this is what curtails employment more and not the minimum wage. We would want to abolish the wage boards for the right reasons like for being insensitive to the needs of workers. But removing the minimum wage right now will only deprive workers even more of their just share in the country’s economic growth,” he added. - By Tina G. Santos |Philippine Daily Inquirer

Call center workers urged to form unions

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—To protect their welfare as workers and to take advantage of the full benefits of their labor, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has urged young professionals particularly workers in the information technology sector to join or form unions.

“I encourage yuppies particularly those in call centers to join or create unions so they can have a voice in their work…,” said Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) in a statement.

Through unions, Seno said workers can “negotiate a contract like fair and safe workplace, better wages, a secure retirement or separation pay, family-oriented policies such as paid sick leave and other benefits.”

Because call center workers handle delicate jobs, Seno said they must be compensated substantially.

“Workers in the call center industry are also considered one of the most vulnerable workers because they work at night when their bodies are supposed to sleep,” he said.

“Customer service representatives, for example, interact mostly with stressful customers. So they should get more in terms of wages and benefits because of the precarious characteristics of their work. They can maximize what they can get through a union. And we have union organizers who will assist them in every step of the way,” he added.

According to him, “gone are the days when unions are perceived obstructionist.”

“Management today should look at forming unions as a way to promote productive workforce that provides better services and products. They should treat unions as a way of meeting the needs of their workforce in this modern age of flexible and non-traditional work environments,” he said.

TUCP said there are 1.04 million BPO workers in the Philippines as of September 2014.

Bill filed in Congress

In 2013, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed a Magna Carta for Call Center Workers.

The bill seeks to enforce the rights of call center workers to organize unions to have safe and healthy working environments given the long hours they spend at their work stations.
Santiago expressed alarm over reports that business process outsourcing (BPO) companies discouraged labor organizations.

She cited health and occupational safety issues in BPO, adding that the Philippines cannot truly boast about its BPO industry to the world if it does not comply with the most basic of international labor standards. - Nestor Corrales |INQUIRER.net

TUCP bats for P135 wage hike in Metro next month

The country’s largest labor group is considering filing a P135 wage hike in Metro Manila next month to help workers cope with the rising cost of basic commodities and services.

In a text message, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said the tentative amount was based from their assessment on the impact of the high-cost of living in the National Capital Region (NCR) to minimum wage earners.

“Among our primary considerations is the 4.9 percent inflation, which is the highest in 33 months, increase in transportation fares, food prices, and tuition of students,” Tanjusay said.

He said they will finalize the amount for their new wage petition by October during the anniversary date of the implementation of Wage Order No. NCR-18, which raised the minimum wage rates in Metro Manila to P429 to P466.

The previous wage rate in NCR was P399 to P436.

“We are preparing our wage increase petition. We are also trying to improve our lobby efforts to get a significant amount from the wage board,” Tanjusay said.

Last year, TUCP filed an P85 wage petition at the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR).

DoLE-NCR director and RTWPB-NCR chairperson Alex Avila said they will wait for the new wage petition before they begin processing a new wage hike in Metro Manila.

Under the wage rules, regional wage boards could only process a new wage petition after the anniversary date of its previous wage order.

“As of now, the Board has not yet received any new petition,” Avila said. - by Samuel Medenilla - Manila Bulletin

More brownouts in next 2 years -TUCP

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said rotational brownouts especially in Luzon may continue in 2015 due to electricity shortage. Photo shows dark Manila streets where power was affected following Typhoon Glenda earlier this year. AP/Aaron Favila

MANILA, Philippines — Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday said it foresees more brownouts for the next two years without a concrete national strategy by the government to address a looming energy crisis.

The group said the real extent of the energy problem will kick in 2016 and beyond if Department of Energy (DOE) secretary Jericho Petilla will resort to quick fixes and expensive band-aid solutions.

Such short-term solutions the group cited as ineffective are renting power barges and generator sets, gas turbines and effect the Interruptible Load Program, or ILP.

The ILP by the DOE will allow malls to run their generator sets with consumers paying for their maintenance and operation costs.

Under these schemes, TUCP said the generating companies and their distribution utility will merrily do their supply and demand games while continuously burdening consumers with high power rates and more brownouts.

"The silence of Secretary Petilla is deafening. After his 'emergency powers' call was made, he is now backpedalling and trying to portray the problem as less than it is. Either he is the 'boy who cried wolf' or simply trying to place a band-aid fix because he was unable to make a case for surgery to the president, he clearly has not grasped the true extent of the problem," TUCP executive director Louie Corral said.

Corral warned that the ILP program is just a stopgap measure, noting that Meralco customers will now be financially obligated to cover the costs for mall owners running their generators for their own use.

It runs on the theory that by freeing Meralco to keep the lights on in other areas, businesses are doing consumers a favor, he explained.

"We are going to end up subsidizing their malls. But the 2015 power deficit is just the tip of the iceberg. The failure of both the DOE to address the policy gap now makes it inevitable that the crisis will repeat itself in 2016 and onwards," Corral said.

TUCP said the major policy gap is that government does not incentivize the entry of additional and cheaper power capacity if it continues to allow Meralco to enter 'sweetheart' bilateral contracts from their preferred suppliers which will always mean low reserves to ensure high power rates.

To bring in genuine competition and additional supply, TUCP proposes to allow enough leeway in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act for DOE to mandate all the distribution utilities such as the market-dominant Meralco to source their power supply every three years through international public bidding under the DOE and ERC.

"Our call is therefore to clip this self-serving option of their subject the choice of who will supply them to international public bidding under DOE supervision," Corral said.

By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)