“We challenge all candidates to take a stand on the issue of national minimum wage. This will also expose their true colors as to whom they truly serve. Will they serve the wealthy capitalists or the poor workers?” said Rhea Alegre, spokesperson of All Workers Unity (AWU), a network of workers from the public and private sectors advancing labor rights.
The workers staged a protest on March 14 at Mabuhay Rotunda in Quezon City to urge candidates to re-install the national minimum wage and raise the current wage as well.
Groups such as AWU and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) are pushing for an increase in minimum wage, a minimum wage of P 750 daily and P 16,000 monthly for private and public sectors, respectively.
“All politicians promise to end poverty and hunger, but none of these candidates pledge to increase the minimum wage,” said Alegre in an interview.
According to Alegre, the current minimum wage, which is pegged at P481 in the National Capital Region, is way below what is needed for a family to survive.
In a research by IBON Foundation in 2015, a family of six needs at least P 1,088 daily to live decently.
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“The P750 national minimum wage would somewhat help alleviate the financial burden faced by our workforce,” said KMU chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog.
The Wage Rationalization Act (R.A. 6727) was approved by then President Corazon Aquino in 1989. The law puts wage increases at the discretion of regional wage boards. The law effectively quashed the national minimum wage, a victory of the labor movement since 1952.
The labor leader further stated that workers living outside Metro Manila are paid even lower wages.
“Workers in Mindanao and the Visayas should be paid P750, the same wages we are fighting for here in Luzon because the cost of living in the far regions is also high,” said Labog.
Workers from the Ilocos region receive the lowest wages, pegged between P227.00 and P253.00, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission website.
“The current minimum wage is already very low, and the government keeps wages even lower through the implementation of neoliberal policies such as Wage Freeze and No Strike No Union policy in export processing zones,” added Labog.
Labog further stressed that the demand for a national minimum wage seeks to unite workers all over the country.
The proposal for a national minimum wage is part of Boto sa Obrero, Hamon sa Kandidato, a list of 20 challenges to candidates.
Banning contractualization and putting a stop to union-busting were also included in the list of demands forwarded by KMU and AWU.
The presidential elections take place on May 9, 2016.
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Boto ng Obrero, Hamon sa Kandidato
(Workers’ Vote, Challenge to Candidates)
Kilusang Mayo Uno
March 2016
We Filipino workers are announcing our decision to vote in favor of our demands on May 9. We are using this Labor Agenda as basis for evaluating candidates running in the 2016 elections. We are calling on all candidates, especially those running for national positions, to make their stands on the following demands loud and clear.
(1) National Minimum Wage, P750. Because of the Wage Rationalization Law of 1989 and other attacks, there is no genuine minimum wage in the country at present. It is time that an NMW is enacted, one that will also carry with it a significant wage hike for Filipino workers.
(2) Ban Contractualization. Contractualization is a wholescale violation of workers’ basic rights. It should be banned completely and long-standing contractuals should be regularized immediately.
(3) Stop Union-busting. Many capitalists carry out large-scale retrenchment whenever workers try to form unions. Erring employers should be penalized for this and the right of workers to form unions should be respected.
(4) Safer workplaces. There should be mandatory inspection of compliance with Occupational Health and Safety standards. Capitalists who violate these standards, especially when such violations cause the death of workers, should face stiff punishment.
(5) Junk Assumption of Jurisdiction power of Labor Secretary. This is a repressive measure against the right of workers to hold strikes and collectively bargain. It served as a license for the Hacienda Luisita massacre of 2004. It should be immediately junked.
(6) Free all detained labor rights defenders. There are 11 labor rights defenders who were illegally arrested and detained by the present regime on the basis of trumped-up charges. They should not stay in detention any minute longer and should be set free.
(7) Genuine land reform. The government’s so-called land reform program has only concentrated lands in the hands of a few families. There can be no genuine national development without land reform, and the government should give this measure top priority.
(8) National industrialization. The government’s implementation of neoliberal economic policies has only furter weakened manufacturing in the country. Land reform should be coupled with national industrialization in order to ensure the country’s sovereignty over the economy.
(9) Social services for all. The government should take the lead in providing basic social services to workers and the people: education, health care, housing, and even social security. Social services should be a right of all workers and Filipinos and not a privilege of the few who can pay for them.
(10) Junk unequal treaties with the US. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Mutual Defense Treaty, and all unequal treaties with the US violate Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as threaten the lives and livelihoods of Filipinos in favor of the imperial interests of the US.
(11) Respect the democratic rights of workers and all Filipinos. The right to form and join unions and people’s organizations, as well as the right to hold collective action, should be respected and in no way be hindered.
(12) Women among the toiling masses. Encourage participation and leadership of women in progressive organizations of the toiling masses. Improve the situation of workers, farmers and the poor in general and ensure that women are not discriminated against.
(13) National minorities. Stop the eviction of national minorities from their lands and communities in favor of logging, plantation and mining operations. Remove military forces from the communities of national minorities. Respect national minorities’ right to self-determination.
(14) Promote a national, scientific, pro-people culture. Promote an education system and culture that does away with colonial, pre-scientific and anti-people worldviews and habits. Encourage educators, cultural workers and others in this field to create culture and education that truly serve the interests of Filipinos.###
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