“We are not sure if we will go to the meeting with the President as we don’t know which version of the Executive Order (EO) Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III is once again peddling,” Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said in a hastily called press conference following reports of a much delayed meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte happening in mid-April.
President Duterte, in a meeting with labor leaders on February 27, promised that he and his legal team will look into the workers’ draft EO submitted jointly by Nagkaisa and Kilusang Mayo Uno with the support of the National Anti-Poverty Commission. He promised to sign the issuance by March 15, to no avail.
“The truth is, the Secretary has been obstructing our efforts these past few years. He has been misleading the president and has been fooling the public by twisting labor’s position and making it appear we are unreasonable,” Nagkaisa said.
“The workers’ draft has moved from total prohibition of contractualization to a framework of prohibition of contractualization that would allow certain exemptions for contracting out of work, but subject to the decision of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council.” Nagkaisa added.
“We abhor the abuse and exploitation of workers through contractualization as it has become the convenient excuse of unscrupulous employers and manpower agencies and pseudo cooperatives to pay low wages, disregard social protection, bust unions and fire workers at will. We believed the President share these abhorrence with irresponsible employers,” Nagkaisa added.
Nagkaisa calls on government to decide where its policy on addressing contractualization stands. “Is it for more profits to employers at the expense of workers’ rights and welfare; or adhering to state guarantees of providing full protection to workers’ rights and welfare that would bring about sustainable growth to the economy?”
“Secretary Bello shamelessly foisted that labor is calling for the total prohibition of contractualization and deliberately misled the public and the President that workers are hardlining and demanding the impossible. He obstructed and derailed the democratic processing of an EO,” Nagkaisa added.
“He has acted beyond the pale and has shown to what depths he will unconscionably betray his sworn trust and the public interest. He must now disclose what this purported April 16 EO contains. It is something we have never seen,” said Nagkaisa.
Nagkaisa only learned about a supposed new round of meetings in Malacañang via news reports as no official invitations and meeting agenda have been received by any labor group.
http://www.nagkaisa.org/2018/04/labor-hesitant-about-palace-meeting.html
Showing posts with label Nagkaisa!. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nagkaisa!. Show all posts
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Friday, June 16, 2017
REPOST: Labor coalition welcomes lower tax on personal income but rejects regressive impact of excise taxes
Workers have long been demanding for higher tax exemptions, hence, the approval by the House of Representatives of Package 1 of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) is a welcome relief.
Under the TRAIN, income lower than P250,000 per year will be tax free while higher income brackets, except for those who earn more than P5 million, will be charged a lowered tax rate of 25% from the current high of 32%.
This is surely a welcome development. But for the labor coalition Nagkaisa, the workers’ gain in Personal Income Tax (PIT) will be offset in a regressive manner by the imposition of excise taxes on fuel products and the lifting of VAT exemptions in the sale of specific goods and services.
“Everyone knows, not just workers, that it will increase prices of goods and services that would affect mostly the poor and those at the lower income brackets,” said Nagkaisa spokesman Renato Magtubo.
Magtubo said the TRAIN’s objective of shifting the tax burden from the poor to the rich, “Seems to be scheming if not tricky as forgone revenue on the side of the government, which is equivalent to individual savings derived from lower PIT of specific income group, shall be recovered in a universal manner through excise taxes and expanded VAT.”
The group explained further that the tax base can never be expanded through exemptions in PIT and corporate income, making indirect taxation through excise taxes and VAT expansion the main strategy in generating new and more revenue. “Otherwise, nobody is going to pay for the lost revenue,” added Magtubo.
Under TRAIN’s package 1, a P3.00-P6.00 excise taxes will be imposed per liter on fuel and P10 for locally produced sugary products while several VAT-exempt products and services will be lifted, including cooperative income exceeding the P3 million thresholds. Likewise, sale of real estate for socialized housing will now be covered by VAT.
According to the group, even the simulations made by staffs of the finance department showed the inevitable impact of increase in VAT payments by decile group – 43% for the richest 10% and 35% for the bottom 80%. Increase for the second richest 10% is 22%.
“An increase of 43 and 22 per cent respectively may mean nothing for the richest 20% who got significant savings from PIT exemptions. But a 35% increase is surely a burden for the bottom 80% who includes the majority in the formal and informal sector, employed and unemployed, of the working class. In the same manner everyone will be paying for the direct and indirect impact of excise taxes on fuel,” explained Magtubo.
The labor leader added that those living in SPUG areas which rely on diesel as their single source of power will be absorbing a “minimal” impact, according to DOF. But that would mean additional P84 for those who consume 100 kWh per month and P106 for those who consume 300 kWh.
“These are the immediate impact that will hit everyone while the poor wait for the promised transfers contained in the proposed expenditure programs of the government,” said Magtubo.
The group said it will intervene in the continuing deliberation of the tax package in Congress especially on the proposed lowering of income taxes for corporations from 30% to 25%.
“Our main question for this is why a tax rate on corporate income, which is supposed to be a tax on profit, is being lowered down to the same level of personal income which is a tax on labor? A uniform rate on business and personal income can never be considered progressive taxation,” concludes Magtubo.”
NAGKAISA
On Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Package 1
13 June 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
REPOST: Contractualization will proliferate under new DOLE order--PM
The militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that contractualization is allowed and will continue to proliferate under the new Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) order named DO 174 issued yesterday.
“News that DO 174 prohibits contractualization is fake! What prohibition? What total ban? DO 174 merely reiterates the bans already provided for in the old DO 18-A. Everything old is presented as new again,” declared Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.
Members of PM, the union PALEA and other groups under the coalition Nagkaisa held a rally yesterday at the DOLE while the DO 174 was being announced by DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello. More protests are planned nationwide as a result of labor’s rejection of DO 174. Today in Cebu City, workers are holding a mass action to coincide with a House Labor Committee hearing.
Fortaleza explained that “Bello is acting like Pontius Pilate by passing the ball to Congress on prohibiting all forms of contractualization. The Labor Secretary is vested by Article 106 of the Labor Code with the power to prohibit or restrict labor contracting. Why does he not want exercise this authority to prohibit? Given the irreconcilable positions between employers and workers, why does he side with the capitalists?”
“We want Bello to go. Bello’s order contradicts the President’s directive during the labor dialogue to end contractualization and agency hiring,” Fortaleza said. Labor leaders had a dialogue with President Rodrigo Duterte last February 27 at Malacanang and the latter acceded to the demand to prohibit all forms of contractualization.
“DO 18-A was issued in late 2011 in the wake of PALEA’s resistance to the contractualization scheme at Philippine Airlines. Since D0 18-A merely regulated not prohibited contractualization, the problem of endo has gone from bad to worse over the past five years. With DO 18-A rehashed as DO 174, contractualization will only get worst in the years to come,” Fortaleza extrapolated.
He insisted that “Under DO 174, replacement of regular workers with contractual workers will continue. Agency rather direct hiring will be the norm. Manpower agencies will remain as middleman between principal employers and workers. As lifetime agency employees, the best workers can hope for is a minimum wage while principal employers reap the fruits of labor productivity."
March 17, 2017
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino: Statement after the labor meeting with Duterte
Aral sa pakikipag-usap ng labor groups kay DU30:
PAGKAKAISA NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO
ANG KAILANGAN UPANG WAKASAN ANG KONTRAKTWALISASYON
...
PAGKAKAISA NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO
ANG KAILANGAN UPANG WAKASAN ANG KONTRAKTWALISASYON
...
MATAPOS ang walong buwan sa pagkahalal bilang pangulo ng bansa, hinarap na rin ni pangulong Duterte ang mga lider-manggagawa. Ilang beses na niyang pinulong ang mga kapitalista. Ngunit nitong Pebrero 27 lamang siya humarap sa mga lider ng kilusang paggawa, na mahigit dalawang dekada nang nakikibaka laban sa kontraktwalisasyon.
Sa wakas, humarap din siya sa mga manggagawang pinagmulan ng 16 milyong boto na nagluklok sa kanya sa Malakanyang. Binoto siya dahil sa plataporma ng “pagbabago”, ng pangakong wawakasan ang kontraktwalisasyon liban pa sa pagsugpo sa droga na ramdam ng nakararami bilang isang salot sa kanilang mga komunidad.
Bakit humarap si Digong sa mga manggagawa? Sapagkat paulit-ulit na hindi tinanggap ng mga manggagawa ang panukala ni DOLE Secretary Bello na payagan ang kontraktwalisasyon.
Sa “win-win solution” ng DOLE at DTI, ang mga kontraktwal ay magiging regular ng mga agency. Kalokohang panukala dahil inililigtas pa rin nito ang mga “principal employer” – ang mga kapitalista – sa kanilang obligasyon na bayaran ng tamang sweldo’t benepisyo ang mga manggagawa sa kanilang pagkakaregular sa kompanya.
Pilit kasing hinahanap ni Bello ang kompromiso sa mga agency – gayong iligal ang kanilang ginagawa na laway lamang ang puhunan habang nagpapasasa sa pawis ng mga kontraktwal na manggagawa at nagpapalago sa tubo ng mga kapitalista.
Subalit sa pakikipagpulong sa mga manggagawa, naiipit si Bello sa naunang pahayag ni Digong na “contractualization must stop”. Kaya siya hinamon ng mga lider ng Nagkaisa labor coalition (BMP, TUCP, FFW, SENTRO, PM, PTGWO, atbp.) na iharap sila kay pangulong Duterte. Sa naitakdang pagpupulong, nagpahayag naman ng kahandaang dumalo ang grupong KMU.
Ano ang naganap sa naturang pagpupulong? Umayon si Digong sa hinaing ng mga manggagawa. Ito ang kakaiba dahil sa nagdaang mga pangulo, ang ikakatwiran nila’y maraming mawawalan ng trabaho kapag sinugpo ang kontraktwalisasyon.
Subalit imbes na pirmahan ang panukalang Executive Order laban dito (na naunang ipinanukala ng BMP at kinalauna’y sinuportahan ng Nagkaisa). Inutusan niya si Sec. Bello na gumawa ng Department Order laban sa kontraktwalisasyon. Nangako din siyang tatakan bilang “urgent” ang panukala sa Kongreso – ang House Bill 444 – na ipagbawal ang kontraktwalisasyon.
AS IS, WHERE IS! Walang binago ang naturang pagpupulong. Nananatiling pangako lamang ang “contractualization must stop” ng Malakanyang. Ngunit para sa totoong aksyon (hindi lamang salita) ang dapat daw kalampagin ng mga manggagawa ay ang DOLE at kongreso’t senado, na para bang matutuwa na ang manggagawa sa simpleng pagsang-ayon ni Digong sa ating mga pahayag kahit wala naman siyang ginawang kongkretong hakbang para tugunan ang ating hinaing.
Sa madaling sabi, iwas-pusoy si Digong! Si Secretary Bello ang naging tampulan ng sisi. Dumulog daw tayo sa kongreso’t senado.
Mga kamanggagawa’t kababayan! Hindi ipinatawag ang naturang pulong mula sa kabutihang-loob ng Malakanyang. Naobliga lamang ang DOLE na iharap kay Digong ang mga lider-manggagawa nang hindi sila matinag sa kanilang nagkakaisang tindig laban sa kontraktwalisasyon.
Pagkakaisa at pakikibaka. Ito ang sinandigan ng manggagawa nang maobliga ang Malakanyang na harapin sila sa mesa. Dito rin nakasalalay ang totoong paglulutas sa problema ng kontraktwalisasyon.
Tuloy ang laban hangga’t hindi nakakamit ang inaasam na tagumpay. Huwag manahimik, makontento sa resulta ng pag-uusap at simpleng umasa’t maghintay kay Digong na lutasin ang kontraktwalisasyon. Ituloy-tuloy ang pagkilos upang presyurin ang gobyerno, laluna ang pangulo, na tuparin ang pangakong “contractualization must stop”. Tungkulin ng kilusang unyon na pakilusin, hindi lamang ang kanyang kasapian, kundi ang milyon-milyong hindi organisadong mga kontraktwal, sa iba’t ibang mga protesta laban sa kontraktwalisasyon.
Manggagawa, magkaisa! Puksain ang iskemang ito ng lantarang pambabarat sa sahod upang palaguin pa ang tubo ng mga kapitalista. Hindi ito susukuan ng mga employer nang walang laban sapagkat bilyon-bilyong tubo ang nakakamkam nila sa ganitong sistema, nang kakutsaba ang mga manpower agency at labor service cooperatives. Tiyak tayong gagalaw sila para pumanig sa kanila ang ilalabas na Department Order ni Sec. Bello at upang hindi maaprubahan ng kongreso’t senado ang anumang panukalang batas laban sa kontrakwalisasyon.
Sa gagawing maneobra ng mga kapitalista sa DOLE at sa kongreso’t senado, hamunin natin si Digong na pumanig sa mga manggagawang inaabuso. Dito natin mabibisto kung ang “contractualization must stop” ay isang pangakong pang-kuha lamang ng boto o kung seryoso’t sinsero itong paninindigan ni Rodrigo Duterte. #
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)
Marso 2017
National Office: 19 Mayaman St., UP Village, QC
FB: http://facebook.com/manggagawangpilipino | Tel: 4364307 | Email: bmp_national04@yahoo.com
https://web.facebook.com/manggagawangpilipino/posts/1313086078785333:0
Sa wakas, humarap din siya sa mga manggagawang pinagmulan ng 16 milyong boto na nagluklok sa kanya sa Malakanyang. Binoto siya dahil sa plataporma ng “pagbabago”, ng pangakong wawakasan ang kontraktwalisasyon liban pa sa pagsugpo sa droga na ramdam ng nakararami bilang isang salot sa kanilang mga komunidad.
Bakit humarap si Digong sa mga manggagawa? Sapagkat paulit-ulit na hindi tinanggap ng mga manggagawa ang panukala ni DOLE Secretary Bello na payagan ang kontraktwalisasyon.
Sa “win-win solution” ng DOLE at DTI, ang mga kontraktwal ay magiging regular ng mga agency. Kalokohang panukala dahil inililigtas pa rin nito ang mga “principal employer” – ang mga kapitalista – sa kanilang obligasyon na bayaran ng tamang sweldo’t benepisyo ang mga manggagawa sa kanilang pagkakaregular sa kompanya.
Pilit kasing hinahanap ni Bello ang kompromiso sa mga agency – gayong iligal ang kanilang ginagawa na laway lamang ang puhunan habang nagpapasasa sa pawis ng mga kontraktwal na manggagawa at nagpapalago sa tubo ng mga kapitalista.
Subalit sa pakikipagpulong sa mga manggagawa, naiipit si Bello sa naunang pahayag ni Digong na “contractualization must stop”. Kaya siya hinamon ng mga lider ng Nagkaisa labor coalition (BMP, TUCP, FFW, SENTRO, PM, PTGWO, atbp.) na iharap sila kay pangulong Duterte. Sa naitakdang pagpupulong, nagpahayag naman ng kahandaang dumalo ang grupong KMU.
Ano ang naganap sa naturang pagpupulong? Umayon si Digong sa hinaing ng mga manggagawa. Ito ang kakaiba dahil sa nagdaang mga pangulo, ang ikakatwiran nila’y maraming mawawalan ng trabaho kapag sinugpo ang kontraktwalisasyon.
Subalit imbes na pirmahan ang panukalang Executive Order laban dito (na naunang ipinanukala ng BMP at kinalauna’y sinuportahan ng Nagkaisa). Inutusan niya si Sec. Bello na gumawa ng Department Order laban sa kontraktwalisasyon. Nangako din siyang tatakan bilang “urgent” ang panukala sa Kongreso – ang House Bill 444 – na ipagbawal ang kontraktwalisasyon.
AS IS, WHERE IS! Walang binago ang naturang pagpupulong. Nananatiling pangako lamang ang “contractualization must stop” ng Malakanyang. Ngunit para sa totoong aksyon (hindi lamang salita) ang dapat daw kalampagin ng mga manggagawa ay ang DOLE at kongreso’t senado, na para bang matutuwa na ang manggagawa sa simpleng pagsang-ayon ni Digong sa ating mga pahayag kahit wala naman siyang ginawang kongkretong hakbang para tugunan ang ating hinaing.
Sa madaling sabi, iwas-pusoy si Digong! Si Secretary Bello ang naging tampulan ng sisi. Dumulog daw tayo sa kongreso’t senado.
Mga kamanggagawa’t kababayan! Hindi ipinatawag ang naturang pulong mula sa kabutihang-loob ng Malakanyang. Naobliga lamang ang DOLE na iharap kay Digong ang mga lider-manggagawa nang hindi sila matinag sa kanilang nagkakaisang tindig laban sa kontraktwalisasyon.
Pagkakaisa at pakikibaka. Ito ang sinandigan ng manggagawa nang maobliga ang Malakanyang na harapin sila sa mesa. Dito rin nakasalalay ang totoong paglulutas sa problema ng kontraktwalisasyon.
Tuloy ang laban hangga’t hindi nakakamit ang inaasam na tagumpay. Huwag manahimik, makontento sa resulta ng pag-uusap at simpleng umasa’t maghintay kay Digong na lutasin ang kontraktwalisasyon. Ituloy-tuloy ang pagkilos upang presyurin ang gobyerno, laluna ang pangulo, na tuparin ang pangakong “contractualization must stop”. Tungkulin ng kilusang unyon na pakilusin, hindi lamang ang kanyang kasapian, kundi ang milyon-milyong hindi organisadong mga kontraktwal, sa iba’t ibang mga protesta laban sa kontraktwalisasyon.
Manggagawa, magkaisa! Puksain ang iskemang ito ng lantarang pambabarat sa sahod upang palaguin pa ang tubo ng mga kapitalista. Hindi ito susukuan ng mga employer nang walang laban sapagkat bilyon-bilyong tubo ang nakakamkam nila sa ganitong sistema, nang kakutsaba ang mga manpower agency at labor service cooperatives. Tiyak tayong gagalaw sila para pumanig sa kanila ang ilalabas na Department Order ni Sec. Bello at upang hindi maaprubahan ng kongreso’t senado ang anumang panukalang batas laban sa kontrakwalisasyon.
Sa gagawing maneobra ng mga kapitalista sa DOLE at sa kongreso’t senado, hamunin natin si Digong na pumanig sa mga manggagawang inaabuso. Dito natin mabibisto kung ang “contractualization must stop” ay isang pangakong pang-kuha lamang ng boto o kung seryoso’t sinsero itong paninindigan ni Rodrigo Duterte. #
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)
Marso 2017
National Office: 19 Mayaman St., UP Village, QC
FB: http://facebook.com/manggagawangpilipino | Tel: 4364307 | Email: bmp_national04@yahoo.com
https://web.facebook.com/manggagawangpilipino/posts/1313086078785333:0
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
REPOST: Workers win prohibition on endo and contractualization after dialogue with PDU30
PRESS STATEMENT
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition
28 Feb 2017
Workers win prohibition on endo and contractualization after dialogue with PDU30
After decades of consistent struggle against the epidemic of contractualization, workers may finally get their demand for its total prohibition, at least at the level of the Office of the President.
This chance became clearer when the President, after a three-hour dialogue with labor leaders Monday evening, demonstrated empathy and understanding for the plight of Filipino workers by reiterating his position that he is not going to renege on his promise to end contractualization both in the private and public sector.
"Ayoko itong agency agency... walang agency agency hiring. Kawawa ang worker sa ganito,” declared President Duterte during the meeting as he directed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to come out with a Department Order that will meet the objective of restoring the norm of regular jobs through direct hiring.
DOLE was also instructed to resolve the 2011 PAL-PALEA dispute on outsourcing the soonest time possible.
Furthermore, the President indicated that he was inclined to honor the request of labor to certify HB 4444 of Rep. Raymond Mendoza (TUCP Partylist) as an urgent administration measure.
The President pointed out that contractualization only enriches the employer but keeps the workers poor and unable to plan a better life for the future. He also added that many agencies are also owned by the employers and are just a legal camouflage to prevent the regularization of workers and to defeat the workers 'exercise of their rights under the Constitution.
The dialogue ended months of speculation in the business community that the President may only be after agencies that were practicing endo (the hiring of workers only for five months) as he categorically stated that his policy extends fully to ending contractualization through middlemen or manpower agencies.
More than a third of total workforce employed in establishments employing 20 workers and above is considered ‘non-regular’, according to the latest survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The number would rise significantly had the survey covered firms employing 20 workers and below as they comprise more than 90% of registered business establishments.
Now the DOLE was instructed to play hardball and a major challenge is posed upon Congress as well. Will DOLE officials and members of Congress who, during the past several months, were pushing for the compromise position (win-win) being proposed by the DTI and employers’ groups finally toe the line of the President?
We therefore urge our fellow workers to remain vigilant to make sure that government bodies under instruction to comply with our demands do not stray out of line. This recent advance in our struggle for decent work confirms the power of unions and organized resistance in winning the battle against anti-labor policies.
Hundreds of Nagkaisa members kept vigil and lit candles at the foot of Mendiola while their leaders meet the President last night. A day of action by women workers will also be held on March 6 and 8.
The President also made several other commitments that we need to press forward, including our proposals to review and make changes to the old regime of wage setting; the signing of ILO Convention 151 for the public sector; representation in tripartite bodies; deputization of labor leaders as inspectors; and the holding of regular dialogues with labor, including meeting with the striking transport workers.
It ain’t over until it’s over. Workers have a world to win. The struggle goes on. ###
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1345029102238415&id=421413561266645
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition
28 Feb 2017
Workers win prohibition on endo and contractualization after dialogue with PDU30
After decades of consistent struggle against the epidemic of contractualization, workers may finally get their demand for its total prohibition, at least at the level of the Office of the President.
This chance became clearer when the President, after a three-hour dialogue with labor leaders Monday evening, demonstrated empathy and understanding for the plight of Filipino workers by reiterating his position that he is not going to renege on his promise to end contractualization both in the private and public sector.
"Ayoko itong agency agency... walang agency agency hiring. Kawawa ang worker sa ganito,” declared President Duterte during the meeting as he directed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to come out with a Department Order that will meet the objective of restoring the norm of regular jobs through direct hiring.
DOLE was also instructed to resolve the 2011 PAL-PALEA dispute on outsourcing the soonest time possible.
Furthermore, the President indicated that he was inclined to honor the request of labor to certify HB 4444 of Rep. Raymond Mendoza (TUCP Partylist) as an urgent administration measure.
The President pointed out that contractualization only enriches the employer but keeps the workers poor and unable to plan a better life for the future. He also added that many agencies are also owned by the employers and are just a legal camouflage to prevent the regularization of workers and to defeat the workers 'exercise of their rights under the Constitution.
The dialogue ended months of speculation in the business community that the President may only be after agencies that were practicing endo (the hiring of workers only for five months) as he categorically stated that his policy extends fully to ending contractualization through middlemen or manpower agencies.
More than a third of total workforce employed in establishments employing 20 workers and above is considered ‘non-regular’, according to the latest survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The number would rise significantly had the survey covered firms employing 20 workers and below as they comprise more than 90% of registered business establishments.
Now the DOLE was instructed to play hardball and a major challenge is posed upon Congress as well. Will DOLE officials and members of Congress who, during the past several months, were pushing for the compromise position (win-win) being proposed by the DTI and employers’ groups finally toe the line of the President?
We therefore urge our fellow workers to remain vigilant to make sure that government bodies under instruction to comply with our demands do not stray out of line. This recent advance in our struggle for decent work confirms the power of unions and organized resistance in winning the battle against anti-labor policies.
Hundreds of Nagkaisa members kept vigil and lit candles at the foot of Mendiola while their leaders meet the President last night. A day of action by women workers will also be held on March 6 and 8.
The President also made several other commitments that we need to press forward, including our proposals to review and make changes to the old regime of wage setting; the signing of ILO Convention 151 for the public sector; representation in tripartite bodies; deputization of labor leaders as inspectors; and the holding of regular dialogues with labor, including meeting with the striking transport workers.
It ain’t over until it’s over. Workers have a world to win. The struggle goes on. ###
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1345029102238415&id=421413561266645
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Duterte to meet with labor groups on February 27
Duterte to meet with labor groups on February 27
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III says the signing of the department order requiring agencies or contractors to regularize workers will be deferred until after the meeting
MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte granted the labor sector's longtime request to have a dialogue with him regarding his promise of ending contractualization.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Duterte will meet with the labor groups on February 27.
Bello expressed optimism that this meeting could finally lead to a compromise between employers and workers in crafting the policy of ending contractualization. (READ: No 'endo' in 2017? Challenge of ending labor contractualization)
Ending the decades-long "endo" (end of contract) practice is among the most popular campaign promises of the President.
As early as January this year, labor coalition Nagkaisa urged Duterte to meet with them so that they can air their concerns about the direction being taken by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
The groups under Nagkaisa oppose DOLE's plan to sign a department order (DO) that will require the agencies or contractors – instead of main employers – to regularize their workers. The anticipated DO will replace DO-18, which provides the rules on contracting that have been abused by some manpower agencies.
Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say earlier said Bello is eyeing to sign the DO on Tuesday, February 14, to serve as a Valentine's gift to labor groups. But upon the confirmation of the dialogue with the President, Bello said the DO will be deferred until after February 27 to consolidate feedback from the stakeholders. – Rappler.com
http://www.rappler.com/nation/161356-duterte-labor-groups-meeting-february
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III says the signing of the department order requiring agencies or contractors to regularize workers will be deferred until after the meeting
MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte granted the labor sector's longtime request to have a dialogue with him regarding his promise of ending contractualization.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Duterte will meet with the labor groups on February 27.
Bello expressed optimism that this meeting could finally lead to a compromise between employers and workers in crafting the policy of ending contractualization. (READ: No 'endo' in 2017? Challenge of ending labor contractualization)
Ending the decades-long "endo" (end of contract) practice is among the most popular campaign promises of the President.
As early as January this year, labor coalition Nagkaisa urged Duterte to meet with them so that they can air their concerns about the direction being taken by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
The groups under Nagkaisa oppose DOLE's plan to sign a department order (DO) that will require the agencies or contractors – instead of main employers – to regularize their workers. The anticipated DO will replace DO-18, which provides the rules on contracting that have been abused by some manpower agencies.
Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say earlier said Bello is eyeing to sign the DO on Tuesday, February 14, to serve as a Valentine's gift to labor groups. But upon the confirmation of the dialogue with the President, Bello said the DO will be deferred until after February 27 to consolidate feedback from the stakeholders. – Rappler.com
http://www.rappler.com/nation/161356-duterte-labor-groups-meeting-february
Friday, December 30, 2016
REPOST: D.O. 30 in Breach of DU30’s Campaign Promise, Workers’ Reiterate Call to End all Forms of Contractualization -- NAGKAISA
President Duterte made these pledge before the Filipino people when he was campaigning for the Presidency:
"The moment I assume the Presidency, contractualization will stop. They have to stop it."
"What I will do is call the Speaker and the Senate President after their elections and everybody, may constitution na doon, internal, then I will call on mostly the majority, mga Liberal congressmen, you pass this bill immediately. Senate, sabihin ko, I need it first week of my administration."
"The moment I assume the Presidency, contractualization will stop. They have to stop it."
"What I will do is call the Speaker and the Senate President after their elections and everybody, may constitution na doon, internal, then I will call on mostly the majority, mga Liberal congressmen, you pass this bill immediately. Senate, sabihin ko, I need it first week of my administration."
And he stood firm and stubborn in pushing for this platform upon assumption to office, up to the point of threatening big companies to close their plants if they don't comply.
"You will not just lose money, you will also lose pants. No tolerance ako dito, ito ang pangako ko sa tao. Stop contractualization. It will not do good to our country. Huwag na ninyong hintayin na mahuli kayo ni Sec. Bello. Kapag nalaman ko, I will simply close your plant and I can find a thousand reason to do it.
"You will not just lose money, you will also lose pants. No tolerance ako dito, ito ang pangako ko sa tao. Stop contractualization. It will not do good to our country. Huwag na ninyong hintayin na mahuli kayo ni Sec. Bello. Kapag nalaman ko, I will simply close your plant and I can find a thousand reason to do it.
He even threatened to shot businessmen who practice endo or contractualization.
"I am warning you, you choose: stop contractualization or I will kill you. You know why… I am the President. I am here. I have immunity."
"I am warning you, you choose: stop contractualization or I will kill you. You know why… I am the President. I am here. I have immunity."
Many people may have been accustomed to President Duterte's use of hyperbole in driving a point. But for workers, the epidemic of contractualization has really gone out of proportion – a plague that warrants absolute containment in order to save the present and future generation of workers, the women and the youth.
Zero tolerance, therefore, is the correct and strategic policy change to pursue.
Now, is the impending issuance of Department Order No. 30 (DO30) in line with the early pronouncements of the President and in accordance with workers' unanimous demand to end all forms of contractualization? NO!
DO30 falls short of what has been promised by DU30. It will only perpetuate contractualization. No wonder that the employers and the manning agencies are celebrating it!
Workers do not deserve this odious holiday and year-ender present from the government.
In digest, the new DO simply simulated in new fashion the framework of recognizing trilateral employment relations. It perpetuates the failed logic of regulation which, during the last several decades, has allowed and legitimized the business of labor contractualization done in many ways and in different forms.
This has to stop. The perpetuation of trilateral employment relation, which DO30 continues to recognize in the form of job/service contracting of specialized, project and seasonal jobs, is more of a system upgrade rather than a change in the policy itself. Hence, we denounce it as UNACCEPTABLE.
Ayaw namin ng mga middleman, sa anyo ng mga agency at cooperative, na ginagawang negosyo ang pangangalakal ng aming lakas paggawa. Nais namin ay DIRECT HIRING at ipagbawal ang FIXED-TERM employment.
Thus, if the President was really true to his campaign promise and to the commitment he made to end contractualization upon his assumption to office, we call on him to set aside DO30 for reasons cited above, notwithstanding its failure to secure acceptance from labor groups as well as endorsement from the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC).
We request that the President hold a personal dialogue with labor leaders to exchange ideas on how to really end endo. And in the meantime, in the absence of a new DO or a new law, the President should likewise consider issuing an Executive Order that expressly prohibits all forms of contractualization, or certify as an urgent administration measure the enactment of HB 4444 (Mendoza, TUCP PL) that seeks to prohibit and criminalize contractualization.
Matatapos na ang taong 2016 sa susunod na dalawang araw. Ang kontraktwalisasyon kailan pa ba magwawakas?
Zero tolerance, therefore, is the correct and strategic policy change to pursue.
Now, is the impending issuance of Department Order No. 30 (DO30) in line with the early pronouncements of the President and in accordance with workers' unanimous demand to end all forms of contractualization? NO!
DO30 falls short of what has been promised by DU30. It will only perpetuate contractualization. No wonder that the employers and the manning agencies are celebrating it!
Workers do not deserve this odious holiday and year-ender present from the government.
In digest, the new DO simply simulated in new fashion the framework of recognizing trilateral employment relations. It perpetuates the failed logic of regulation which, during the last several decades, has allowed and legitimized the business of labor contractualization done in many ways and in different forms.
This has to stop. The perpetuation of trilateral employment relation, which DO30 continues to recognize in the form of job/service contracting of specialized, project and seasonal jobs, is more of a system upgrade rather than a change in the policy itself. Hence, we denounce it as UNACCEPTABLE.
Ayaw namin ng mga middleman, sa anyo ng mga agency at cooperative, na ginagawang negosyo ang pangangalakal ng aming lakas paggawa. Nais namin ay DIRECT HIRING at ipagbawal ang FIXED-TERM employment.
Thus, if the President was really true to his campaign promise and to the commitment he made to end contractualization upon his assumption to office, we call on him to set aside DO30 for reasons cited above, notwithstanding its failure to secure acceptance from labor groups as well as endorsement from the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC).
We request that the President hold a personal dialogue with labor leaders to exchange ideas on how to really end endo. And in the meantime, in the absence of a new DO or a new law, the President should likewise consider issuing an Executive Order that expressly prohibits all forms of contractualization, or certify as an urgent administration measure the enactment of HB 4444 (Mendoza, TUCP PL) that seeks to prohibit and criminalize contractualization.
Matatapos na ang taong 2016 sa susunod na dalawang araw. Ang kontraktwalisasyon kailan pa ba magwawakas?
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
REPOST: Unacceptable!: Labor groups thumb down proposed new DO on endo
From: http://partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com/2016/12/unacceptable-labor-groups-thumb-down.html
It’s dead on arrival (DA) for the proposed new Department Order (DO) on endo of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as far as labor groups are concerned.
It’s dead on arrival (DA) for the proposed new Department Order (DO) on endo of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as far as labor groups are concerned.
The draft DO, the country’s major labor groups under the labor coalition Nagkaisa declared, will not lead to the ultimate end but rather to the further strengthening of the legal standing of contractualization in the country.
“DOLE intends to adopt what all labor groups unanimously rejected during the labor summit – the ‘win-win solution’ of DTI. This could signal the end of President Duterte’s campaign promise to end endo,” declared Danny Edralin, Vice-Chair for the Private Sector of the Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa or SENTRO.
For Partido Manggagawa (PM): “The draft new DO may seem to restrict labor contracting to seasonal and project employment but these employment schemes may however be extended to cover jobs, work or services which are directly related to the business operations of a company. As such, contractualization of labor would still proliferate in the guise of describing the job, work or service as seasonal or project employment,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.
The working draft of the new DO was presented during the Tripartite Executive Committee (TEC) of the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC) last week. Said DO recognizes trilateral employment relationship which has long been opposed by organized labor as it undermines workers’ rights to security of tenure, to organize and collectively bargain.
For TUCP, the proposed DO is unacceptable. “It is a mere rehash of what current laws already provide. It gives nothing new to workers. Change requires a DO that further restricts contractualization while a new law is needed to end contractualization,” said Luis Corral, Executive Director of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
‘Win-win’, for Nagkaisa, is DTI doublespeak roundly rejected as ‘lose-lose’ by workers. Thus, it is pushing for the passage of HB 4444 (Rep. Raymond Mendoza. TUCP Partylist) which prohibits contractualization and calls on Sec. Bello to endorse it for certification by President Duterte as an urgent Presidential measure. HB 4444 prohibits all fixed term contracts and criminalizes violations.
The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) on the other hand wanted to directly challenge President Duterte to completely prohibit endo by means of an executive order.
“The new draft DO is a mere attempt to rehash DO 18-A with sophisticated words to continue justifying contractualization under the Duterte regime. Thus, BMP now directly challenges President Duterte to immediately issue an Executive Order to strictly prohibit all forms of contractualization by urgently signing a draft EO which BMP crafted and submitted to the Office of the President last November 10, 2016 for instant Presidential executive action,” said its President Leody De Guzman.
Even public sector unions are disappointed on the way the end endo agenda of the Duterte administration regresses.
“The proposed DO officialises contractualization and bastardizes Duterte’s campaign platform to end contractualization,” said Annie Geron, President of the Public Services Independent Labor Confederation (PSLINK).
The government is being accused by labor groups as the single biggest practitioner of contractualization in the forms of job order (JO) and contracts of service (CS).
December 19, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
REPOST: NAGKAISA Condemns Killings of Labor and Community Organizers
NAGKAISA (SOLIDARITY), the coalition of 47 labor federations and workers organizations, which is the largest labor formation in the Philippines, strongly condemned the recent spate of murders of labor union and community organizers with seven incidents happening only this month. NAGKAISA expressed grave concern that this may just presage the start of more violence directed towards grassroots labor organizing.
Yesterday, 64-year old Edilberto Miralles, former union president of R&E Taxi transport service, was gunned down by unknown assailants right in front of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Quezon City. He was scheduled to attend a labor hearing that day.
On September 17, union organizer Orlando Abangan, 35 years old, was shot by unidentified gunmen on the way to his home in Barangay Maghaway, Talisay City, Cebu.
Abangan was a full-time organizer for Partido Manggagawa (PM) in the province since 2001. During the last elections, he built an organization in Talisay that campaigned for social protection and social services for persons with disabilities. He was also engaged by the labor center Sentro as organizer for the informal sector workers.
Earlier this month, four farmers were shot dead by unidentified men in a farm located inside Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija. The armed men involved in the brutal slay were reportedly dropped from a helicopter seen hovering over the military reservation camp. The victims were Emerenciana Mercado-de la Cruz, Violeta Mercado-de Leon, Eligio Barbado and Gaudencio Bagalay.
They were all members of the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayang Nagkakaisa, tilling part of the disputed 3,100 hectares of land inside Fort Magsaysay. Several others were wounded.
On September 7, farmworker leader Ariel Diaz was shot to death by three men in his Villa Pereda farm in Delfin Albano town, Isabela. Diaz is the chairperson of the Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon ti Isabela and was the head of the provincial chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Isabela.
Union and community organizers are the quintessential vital cogs of our still nascent and highly vulnerable grassroots democracy. Their collective struggle is key in helping realize inclusive growth and preventing “the race-to-the-bottom” particularly for the majority poor and their families in a Philippines where the gap between the poor and the rich are growing wider and deeper every day.
The wide ranging implications of their deaths further underscores the need for the government to ensure protection to ordinary citizens let alone labor leaders and community organizers. The killings, again, put into question the bragging rights of employers and government that we have stable industrial peace.
NAGKAISA expressed sympathy with the relatives of those killed, and also demanded swift justice for the victims.
NAGKAISA called upon Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to immediately convene the high-level labor-government-employer Tripartite Industry Peace Council (TIPC) that would not only draw up long-lasting measures to contain and prevent anything of this sort from happening again but place a spotlight into any attempt to short-circuit the Constitutional right of workers to organize, bargain collectively or engage in legitimate concerted action. NAGKAISA also, called on Secretary Emmanuel Sueno of the Department of Interior and Local Government and PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa to reconvene, with labor, business and civic organization membership, the National Peace and Order Council, and its regional, provincial, and municipal chapter counterparts to send a clear signal of the primacy of the law .
Retrieved from the SENTRO website: http://www.sentro.org/?p=925
=========================================================================
Nagkaisa is made up of:
Alliance of Free Workers (AFW) ,
All Filipino Workers Confederation (AFWC),
Automobile Industry Workers Alliance (AIWA),
Alab Katipunan,
Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO),
Associated Labor Unions (ALU),
Associated Labor Unions- Association of Professional Supervisory Officers Technical Employees Union (ALU-APSOTEU),
ALU-Metal,
Associated Labor Unions-Philippine Seafarers’Union (ALU-PSU),
ALU-Textile,
ALU-Transport, Associated Labor Unions-Visayas Mindanao Confederation of Trade Unions (ALU-VIMCOMTU),
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL),
Association of Trade Unions (ATU),
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP),
Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU),
Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services (CLASS),
Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS),
Federation of Coca-Cola Unions (FCCU),
Federation of Free Workers (FFW),
Kapisanan ng Maralitang Obrero (KAMAO),
Katipunan,
Pambansang Kilusan sa Paggawa (KILUSAN),
Kapisanan ng mga Kawani sa Koreo sa Pilipinas (KKKP),
Labor education and Research Network (LEARN),
League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO),
MARINO,
National Association of Broadcast Unions (NABU),
National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU),
National Mines and Allied Workers Union (NAMAWU),
National Association of Trade Unions (NATU),
National Confederation of Labor (NCL),
National Confederation of Transport Union (NCTU),
National Union of Portworkers in the Philippines (NUPP),
National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN),
Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA),
Pepsi Cola Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP),
Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA),
Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS),
Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PILLU),
Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA),
Partido Manggagawa (PM),
Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA),
Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK),
Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO),
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP),
Workers Solidarity Network (WSN).
Yesterday, 64-year old Edilberto Miralles, former union president of R&E Taxi transport service, was gunned down by unknown assailants right in front of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Quezon City. He was scheduled to attend a labor hearing that day.
On September 17, union organizer Orlando Abangan, 35 years old, was shot by unidentified gunmen on the way to his home in Barangay Maghaway, Talisay City, Cebu.
Abangan was a full-time organizer for Partido Manggagawa (PM) in the province since 2001. During the last elections, he built an organization in Talisay that campaigned for social protection and social services for persons with disabilities. He was also engaged by the labor center Sentro as organizer for the informal sector workers.
Earlier this month, four farmers were shot dead by unidentified men in a farm located inside Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija. The armed men involved in the brutal slay were reportedly dropped from a helicopter seen hovering over the military reservation camp. The victims were Emerenciana Mercado-de la Cruz, Violeta Mercado-de Leon, Eligio Barbado and Gaudencio Bagalay.
They were all members of the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayang Nagkakaisa, tilling part of the disputed 3,100 hectares of land inside Fort Magsaysay. Several others were wounded.
On September 7, farmworker leader Ariel Diaz was shot to death by three men in his Villa Pereda farm in Delfin Albano town, Isabela. Diaz is the chairperson of the Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon ti Isabela and was the head of the provincial chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Isabela.
Union and community organizers are the quintessential vital cogs of our still nascent and highly vulnerable grassroots democracy. Their collective struggle is key in helping realize inclusive growth and preventing “the race-to-the-bottom” particularly for the majority poor and their families in a Philippines where the gap between the poor and the rich are growing wider and deeper every day.
The wide ranging implications of their deaths further underscores the need for the government to ensure protection to ordinary citizens let alone labor leaders and community organizers. The killings, again, put into question the bragging rights of employers and government that we have stable industrial peace.
NAGKAISA expressed sympathy with the relatives of those killed, and also demanded swift justice for the victims.
NAGKAISA called upon Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to immediately convene the high-level labor-government-employer Tripartite Industry Peace Council (TIPC) that would not only draw up long-lasting measures to contain and prevent anything of this sort from happening again but place a spotlight into any attempt to short-circuit the Constitutional right of workers to organize, bargain collectively or engage in legitimate concerted action. NAGKAISA also, called on Secretary Emmanuel Sueno of the Department of Interior and Local Government and PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa to reconvene, with labor, business and civic organization membership, the National Peace and Order Council, and its regional, provincial, and municipal chapter counterparts to send a clear signal of the primacy of the law .
Retrieved from the SENTRO website: http://www.sentro.org/?p=925
=========================================================================
Nagkaisa is made up of:
Alliance of Free Workers (AFW) ,
All Filipino Workers Confederation (AFWC),
Automobile Industry Workers Alliance (AIWA),
Alab Katipunan,
Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO),
Associated Labor Unions (ALU),
Associated Labor Unions- Association of Professional Supervisory Officers Technical Employees Union (ALU-APSOTEU),
ALU-Metal,
Associated Labor Unions-Philippine Seafarers’Union (ALU-PSU),
ALU-Textile,
ALU-Transport, Associated Labor Unions-Visayas Mindanao Confederation of Trade Unions (ALU-VIMCOMTU),
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL),
Association of Trade Unions (ATU),
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP),
Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU),
Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services (CLASS),
Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS),
Federation of Coca-Cola Unions (FCCU),
Federation of Free Workers (FFW),
Kapisanan ng Maralitang Obrero (KAMAO),
Katipunan,
Pambansang Kilusan sa Paggawa (KILUSAN),
Kapisanan ng mga Kawani sa Koreo sa Pilipinas (KKKP),
Labor education and Research Network (LEARN),
League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO),
MARINO,
National Association of Broadcast Unions (NABU),
National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU),
National Mines and Allied Workers Union (NAMAWU),
National Association of Trade Unions (NATU),
National Confederation of Labor (NCL),
National Confederation of Transport Union (NCTU),
National Union of Portworkers in the Philippines (NUPP),
National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN),
Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA),
Pepsi Cola Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP),
Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA),
Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS),
Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PILLU),
Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA),
Partido Manggagawa (PM),
Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA),
Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK),
Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO),
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP),
Workers Solidarity Network (WSN).
Monday, September 12, 2016
REPOST: Big Labor Alliance: Time to End Regionalization and Setting of Wages to Barest Minimum
It is the right of every Filipino to live a life of dignity as well as to quality standard of living. And for this national vision to be realized, the 1987 Constitution directed the State to provide labor full protection and ensure the right of workers and their families to a living wage.
Regrettably over the years since the Constitution was ratified, the workers’ demand for a family living wage was never addressed as previous governments deviated towards regionalization and the containment of wages to the barest minimum. This deviation consequently created wide gaps in wage levels all over the country as wage fixing mechanism now seeks the lowest level of balance in every region where the market clearing price of labor is primarily determined on the basis of employer’s capacity to pay rather than on the worker’s right to a living wage. The same problem can be seen in different wage levels in the public sector despite the salary standardization program.
As a result, this minimum wage and regionalization policy created the condition of chronic poverty and deepening inequality in the country as millions of workers were consigned to an imposed reality of sustaining their families on wages that can hardly meet even half of the daily cost of living.
We, the NAGKAISA, therefore, take as delighting news the planned nationalization of the minimum wage announced recently by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello. It is because of our long-standing position that poverty knows no boundary while inequality is the despicable outcome of unfair distribution of national wealth. This deformed policy clearly needs to be rectified, now!
However, we always consider as mere government propaganda a major pronouncement that is left without form at the policy level. That, certainly, is what happened to the living wage principle that lay lifeless in the Constitution during the last three decades. But since the new administration has made a pledge to rectify the errors of the previous administrations, stopping the plague of contractualization and realizing the living wage were core issues that NAGKAISA and the government can work together in achieving a common goal.
At this particular juncture, the NAGKAISA labor coalition gladly presumes that the Duterte administration remains committed to the principle of living wage and that its planned nationalization of minimum wage will lead towards the ultimate realization of this social objective. Workers, in the first place, deserve not a minimum wage but a fair share in the product of their labor.
Hence, in line with the pronouncement of Secretary Bello, the NAGKAISA is looking forward soon to an Order, or something to that effect, going to be issued by Malacanang. We are looking forward to an instruction to all regional wage boards to issue a uniform wage order that is based on Metro Manila rate. And we are, at the same time, looking forward to a Palace-endorsed or certified bill in Congress seeking the same and eventually the repeal of the existing Wage Rationalization Act.
The NAGKAISA also strongly believe on the principle of equal pay for equal work and work of equal value not just on private sector workers but for those government employees who are in the same bind. In the same breath, the NAGKAISA call on the government for the uniform application and implementation of Salary Standardization Law to all local government units (LGUs).
It is high time to stop the spiral race to the bottom by ending the regionalization and setting of wages to the barest minimum now. The NAGKAISA believes this can be done especially when government will treat the labor movement as main partner to this enormous reform tasks.
Therefore, we urge the government to instruct all regional wage boards to issue a uniform wage order the rate of which is based on Metro Manila. We call on government to certify a bill in Congress seeking the same and, eventually, the repeal of the existing Wage Rationalization Act. The NAGKAISA, likewise, call on the government for the uniform application and implementation of Salary Standardization Law to all local government units (LGUs).
About NAGKAISA
Issue-based NAGKAISA labor coalition is composed of 47 labor federations, workers organizations in public and private sectors and various urban and peasants groups. The group came together in April 2012 to advocate for workers’ living wage, promote security of tenure, to lower the cost and ensure reliable supply of power, and for public sector workers to be allowed to form unions and collectively bargain.
The members of the NAGKAISA are: Alliance of Free Workers (AFW) , All Filipino Workers Confederation (AFWC), Automobile Industry Workers Alliance (AIWA), Alab Katipunan, Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), Associated Labor Unions (ALU), Associated Labor Unions- Association of Professional Supervisory Officers Technical Employees Union (ALU-APSOTEU), ALU-Metal, Associated Labor Unions-Philippine Seafarers’Union (ALU-PSU), ALU-Textile, ALU-Transport, Associated Labor Unions-Visayas Mindanao Confederation of Trade Unions (ALU-VIMCOMTU), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Association of Trade Unions (ATU), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU), Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services (CLASS), Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS), Federation of Coca-Cola Unions (FCCU), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Kapisanan ng Maralitang Obrero (KAMAO), Katipunan, Pambansang Kilusan sa Paggawa (KILUSAN), Kapisanan ng mga Kawani sa Koreo sa Pilipinas (KKKP), Labor education and Research Network (LEARN), League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO), MARINO, National Association of Broadcast Unions (NABU), National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU), National Mines and Allied Workers Union (NAMAWU), National Association of Trade Unions (NATU), National Confederation of Labor (NCL), National Confederation of Transport Union (NCTU), National Union of Portworkers in the Philippines (NUPP), National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN), Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), Pepsi Cola Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP), Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA), Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS), Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PILLU), Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA), Partido Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA), Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Workers Solidarity Network (WSN).
http://www.sentro.org/?p=896
Regrettably over the years since the Constitution was ratified, the workers’ demand for a family living wage was never addressed as previous governments deviated towards regionalization and the containment of wages to the barest minimum. This deviation consequently created wide gaps in wage levels all over the country as wage fixing mechanism now seeks the lowest level of balance in every region where the market clearing price of labor is primarily determined on the basis of employer’s capacity to pay rather than on the worker’s right to a living wage. The same problem can be seen in different wage levels in the public sector despite the salary standardization program.
As a result, this minimum wage and regionalization policy created the condition of chronic poverty and deepening inequality in the country as millions of workers were consigned to an imposed reality of sustaining their families on wages that can hardly meet even half of the daily cost of living.
We, the NAGKAISA, therefore, take as delighting news the planned nationalization of the minimum wage announced recently by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello. It is because of our long-standing position that poverty knows no boundary while inequality is the despicable outcome of unfair distribution of national wealth. This deformed policy clearly needs to be rectified, now!
However, we always consider as mere government propaganda a major pronouncement that is left without form at the policy level. That, certainly, is what happened to the living wage principle that lay lifeless in the Constitution during the last three decades. But since the new administration has made a pledge to rectify the errors of the previous administrations, stopping the plague of contractualization and realizing the living wage were core issues that NAGKAISA and the government can work together in achieving a common goal.
At this particular juncture, the NAGKAISA labor coalition gladly presumes that the Duterte administration remains committed to the principle of living wage and that its planned nationalization of minimum wage will lead towards the ultimate realization of this social objective. Workers, in the first place, deserve not a minimum wage but a fair share in the product of their labor.
Hence, in line with the pronouncement of Secretary Bello, the NAGKAISA is looking forward soon to an Order, or something to that effect, going to be issued by Malacanang. We are looking forward to an instruction to all regional wage boards to issue a uniform wage order that is based on Metro Manila rate. And we are, at the same time, looking forward to a Palace-endorsed or certified bill in Congress seeking the same and eventually the repeal of the existing Wage Rationalization Act.
The NAGKAISA also strongly believe on the principle of equal pay for equal work and work of equal value not just on private sector workers but for those government employees who are in the same bind. In the same breath, the NAGKAISA call on the government for the uniform application and implementation of Salary Standardization Law to all local government units (LGUs).
It is high time to stop the spiral race to the bottom by ending the regionalization and setting of wages to the barest minimum now. The NAGKAISA believes this can be done especially when government will treat the labor movement as main partner to this enormous reform tasks.
Therefore, we urge the government to instruct all regional wage boards to issue a uniform wage order the rate of which is based on Metro Manila. We call on government to certify a bill in Congress seeking the same and, eventually, the repeal of the existing Wage Rationalization Act. The NAGKAISA, likewise, call on the government for the uniform application and implementation of Salary Standardization Law to all local government units (LGUs).
About NAGKAISA
Issue-based NAGKAISA labor coalition is composed of 47 labor federations, workers organizations in public and private sectors and various urban and peasants groups. The group came together in April 2012 to advocate for workers’ living wage, promote security of tenure, to lower the cost and ensure reliable supply of power, and for public sector workers to be allowed to form unions and collectively bargain.
The members of the NAGKAISA are: Alliance of Free Workers (AFW) , All Filipino Workers Confederation (AFWC), Automobile Industry Workers Alliance (AIWA), Alab Katipunan, Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), Associated Labor Unions (ALU), Associated Labor Unions- Association of Professional Supervisory Officers Technical Employees Union (ALU-APSOTEU), ALU-Metal, Associated Labor Unions-Philippine Seafarers’Union (ALU-PSU), ALU-Textile, ALU-Transport, Associated Labor Unions-Visayas Mindanao Confederation of Trade Unions (ALU-VIMCOMTU), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Association of Trade Unions (ATU), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU), Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services (CLASS), Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS), Federation of Coca-Cola Unions (FCCU), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Kapisanan ng Maralitang Obrero (KAMAO), Katipunan, Pambansang Kilusan sa Paggawa (KILUSAN), Kapisanan ng mga Kawani sa Koreo sa Pilipinas (KKKP), Labor education and Research Network (LEARN), League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO), MARINO, National Association of Broadcast Unions (NABU), National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU), National Mines and Allied Workers Union (NAMAWU), National Association of Trade Unions (NATU), National Confederation of Labor (NCL), National Confederation of Transport Union (NCTU), National Union of Portworkers in the Philippines (NUPP), National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN), Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), Pepsi Cola Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP), Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA), Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS), Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PILLU), Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA), Partido Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA), Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Workers Solidarity Network (WSN).
http://www.sentro.org/?p=896
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