Workers press for significant wage hike

MANILA, Philippines - With barely a week before May 1, organized labor pressed their demand for a significant wage increase as a Labor Day gift for workers.

Labor groups led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) announced plans to mount simultaneous protest actions today to demand a substantial salary hike.

The protest, dubbed “Pambansang Protesta ng mga Manggagawa at Mamamayan,” would feature noise barrage protests in Metro Manila and different parts of the country.

Joining the protest action are members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap, Gabriela, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage), Migrante, among other organizations.

The Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) are also set to hold a protest at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) main office in Intramuros, Manila to call for a significant wage hike for workers.

“We will be condemning the Aquino government’s rejection of a significant wage hike and its promotion of contractual employment. We will also be calling for the removal of US troops and bases in the country,” KMU chair Elmer Labog said.

“The Filipino workers and people are angry that the government is giving various favors to US troops while hunger and poverty among workers and the poor continue to spread and intensify,” he added.

Labog said workers are angry over the Aquino administration’s continuously delaying hearings for a wage hike while negotiating for expanding US bases’ stay in the country.

Various labor groups, Labog said, would also mount a protest action on May 1 to dramatize their objection against the government’s failure to improve the workers’ lives and working conditions.