Labor group: 2024 challenged workers

CEBU, Philippines — The Partido Manggagawa in their 2024 review noted that workers faced severe challenges in their wages, benefits, and working conditions as they were caught between the cost-of-living crisis and escalating intramurals between the two leading political dynasties in the country.

PM-Cebu spokesman Dennis Derige said that while the average inflation of 3.2% in 2024 was almost half compared to 2023, it continued to erode the purchasing power of wages.

“Thus, the demand for another round of minimum wage increases in 2024 was a recurring theme for organized labor. The campaign for a wage hike was two-pronged with wage bills for a ?150 increase filed at Congress and at the wage boards,” Derige said

He said that the Senate approved a ?100-increase in minimum wage in February 2024 and this advance was a result of organized labor successfully leveraging the rift between the Senate and Congress over the latest move to amend the Constitution.

The Senate was against Charter Change and pushed for the wage bill’s passage, but the reverse was the case in the House of Representatives.

Derige said that the House tackled the drug war and extra-judicial killings during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and the controversial budget of the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“The year ended with no legislated wage hike but with wage orders for several regions. Notwithstanding the wage orders, minimum wages in all the regions --including those which increased, like Central Visayas, Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon-- remained below the official poverty line. Even though the threshold was assailed for being too low --as the controversy over the ?64 daily food budget revealed. With the wage boards perpetuating a system of poverty wages, calls for the abolition of provincial rates became popular,” Derige said.

He also said organized labor and their civil society allies fought to keep PhilHealth funds devoted to improving benefits services to members and providing services for indigents.

Another battle erupted in December when the Congressional bicameral conference committee removed the subsidy for PhilHealth along with cuts in other social services. They led protests in Cebu City and Metro Manila to call for the restoration of the subsidy and social services budget.

“But President Marcos Jr. did not heed the popular clamor as he signed the national budget by year end with the much-assailed budget insertions for ayuda kept intact. Among these was the ?26 billion unprogrammed budget for AKAP which has been criticized as funding for electoral patronage. As if on cue, the Comelec allowed the distribution of ayuda even during the midterm elections this year --breaking with long-established rule of prohibiting the use of public money for vote buying. This means that formal and informal workers will now have to beg trapos for assistance for medical and other emergencies instead of getting health insurance as a right,” Derige said.

He added that workers will have to endure worse economic difficulties as political infighting heightens in 2025 and the remaining years of this administration.

“Nonetheless, this situation also motivates organized labor to engage with public outrage over wanton government corruption and dynastic political dominance. A big multi-sectoral rally this month promises to jumpstart a robust movement for good governance, in which workers’ demands should be embedded and integral,” Derige added. — (FREEMAN)