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
...

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

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.

 

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

 

http://partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com/2016/12/unacceptable-labor-groups-thumb-down.html

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

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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).

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