Various labor groups and trade union centers Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), NAGKAISA Labor Coalition, and Paggawa, under the banner of United Workers, marched along Blumentritt, España down to Mendiola to denounce the 3 years of continuous contractualization scheme, low minimum wages and different attacks on labor unions under the Duterte administration.
With his campaign promise to end the contractualization, President Duterte gained the support of the labor groups, but the workers had enough to show their anger and frustration towards his administration following his failure to fulfill his promise during the campaign trail.
Aside from ending contractualization, workers also demanded P750 ($14) per day minimum wage or P16,000 ($307) a month for both public and private sectors.
“Ang demonstrasyon na ito ay para din igiit na hindi makatarungan ang implementasyon ng regionalization of wages sa pamamagitan ng RA 6727, na kung saan iba’t iba ang antas ng sahod ng manggagawa kahit hindi naman iba ang halaga ng pamumuhay sa ibang mga lugar sa Metro Manila. Kaya dapat ipatupad ang National Minimum Wage,” said Elmer Labog, KMU chairperson, in an interview.
[“This demonstration is also to assert that the regionalization of the wages through RA 6727 is not fair to implement because the cost of living in Metro Manila is the same with other provinces . That’s why we need to push the passage of National Minimum Wage,”]
Lastly, the workers condemned the fascist attacks of the hired private goons and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) itself in the labor unions. There are continuous union busting with the workers nationwide such as NAFLU-KMU Sumifru workers in Mindanao, Pepmaco Workers Union, Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng NutriAsia in Marilao, Bulacan and Calamba, Laguna, Samahang Manggagawa sa Harbor Centre and Samahang Manggagawa sa Slord Development Corporation-Unipak Sardines and more.
Labog also said that this mass protests will not stop as they will organize more workers and will continue the struggle in the parliament and on ground. According to Labog, just like the national heroes, they will not stop until they achieved their goal of regularization and just wages.
