MANILA, Philippines — The government should act urgently on petitions for wage increases, end labor contractualization, and address the attacks on trade unionists, workers' federations said Monday as they marked Labor Day.
Different labor groups — united under All Philippine Trade Unions — held protests Monday morning to call for urgent and significant wage increases.
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"Working Filipinos and their families continue to suffer through skyrocketing prices of goods and services that erode the already-measly wages, lack of efforts to shift from job restoration to the creation of new and decent jobs, and the pressing need to uphold fundamental labor rights, especially freedom of association and the right to organize," APTU said on the eve of Labor Day.
APTU includes Kilusang Mayo Uno, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition — itself made up of different labor groups — and other trade union centers and confederations. Labor groups, including those who have been historical rivals, have increasingly been campaigning together since the Duterte administration.
"For these, we urge the government to speed up actions on the petitions for wage increases now pending before the regional wage boards and in Congress. In addition, we maintain our position that for the existing as well as for new jobs to be protected, labor contractualization must be addressed decisively," APTU said.
Police here along España Blvd as Philippine trade unions prepare for their march to Mendiola for this year’s labor day protests @PhilstarNews #MayoUno2023 pic.twitter.com/mMdraht8YT
— Kaycee Valmonte (@kayceevalmonte) May 1, 2023
Sectors raise specific calls
Farmers under the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura also called for a P750 across-the-board wage hike and a national minimum wage. The average pay of an agriculture worker ranges between P70 and P350.
"How will the country’s agriculture sector be invigorated if our own government looks down on the poor who make up the democratic majority of the population," UMA acting chairperson Ariel Casilao, a former party-list representative, said.
Overworked and underpaid teachers and health workers also called for compensation that they deserve.
In his first Labor Day message, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government is "working conscientiously" to provide opportunities that will uplift the living and social conditions of workers and their families.
Attacks vs trade unionists
APTU also called for "meaningful and tangible action" to prevent attacks against trade unionists.
Last week, trade unionist and labor rights defender Alex Dolorosa was found dead in Bacolod City with multiple stab wounds. Workers’ organizations allege his murder is linked to his union work.
Labor leaders and groups pressing for better working conditions have been vilified and attacked since 2016, when President Rodrigo Duterte was elected into office partly on a platform to end labor contractualization. The promise to end contractual labor ended with Duterte's veto in 2019 of the Security of Tenure bill.
In January, the International Labour Organization held a high-level tripartite mission to the Philippines. One of the mission’s key recommendations was the creation of a body that will identify and address all outstanding cases of alleged labor-related, extrajudicial killings and abductions.
According to KMU, the Philippines has 45 days left before it reports to the ILO on the progress of the mission’s recommendations, “yet no actions have been done.”
Marcos' US trip hit
Labor groups also criticized Marcos for going to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden as Filipino workers commemorate Labor Day.
"May 1 should have been an opportune time for [Marcos] to finally sit down with workers and discuss, face-to-face and without any liaisons, ways to move forward. Yet again, he has chosen to get on a plane and leave us behind," KMU chairperson Elmer Labog said.
"His government instead had job fairs, Kadiwa and ayuda (aid) distribution—all for show and mere band-aid solutions, as opposed to the genuine, concrete labor program and roadmap we have been presenting," he also said.
Climate change and defense deals will be the center of the talks between Marcos and Biden as they meet to affirm the "special relationship" of the Philippines and the United States. — with reports from Kaycee Valmonte