EDITORIAL - Future labor pains

Yesterday, May 1, was a Labor Day unlike any other for the country’s workers. When before people were greeted by the sight of protesters taking to the streets, asking for their usual demands from the government, there were none of the usual coordinated protests around the country yesterday, thanks to the coronavirus crisis.

Just because their protests were confined to online activities yesterday doesn’t mean things have improved for the Filipino laborer. In fact, the worst may yet be to come.

An estimated two million people nationwide have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, mostly through no fault of their own. They were not necessarily infected by the virus, prompting their employers to let them go. The virus crisis just eliminated a lot of demand from many different markets; many hotels lost guests, many restaurants lost customers, many shops and small businesses lost clients, and so on.

Over time, some businesses found it impractical to retain workers when it became apparent money was not coming in.

This did not just happen here in our country, but also many countries abroad, which explains why many Overseas Filipino Workers came home.

Why do we say things may yet get worse? There is another wave we have to be wary of after this COVID-19 crisis. It isn’t a wave of new viral infections; it’s a wave of unemployment.

Even after the COVID-19 crisis ends --and we don’t know when this will be-- the government must prepare for the wave of unemployment.

For sure, a lot of economic activities will resume once the crisis is over. Shops, restaurants, hotels, and small and medium businesses will reopen. However, this won’t happen overnight or quickly.

This also doesn’t guarantee that everyone who needs a job will get one, or get one overnight or quickly.

Of course, we cannot nor should not expect the government to take care of everyone, but you can expect that people who have families to feed but no means to make a livelihood will come knocking on its door first.

So this early, the government better have plans in mind to help the unemployed --or at least minimize their impact on our economy. Unlike the virus, this is something the government has time to prepare for.