The Kilusang Mayo Uno burns an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte called “Duterthreat” during the Labor Day rally at Freedom Park in Davao City which condemns Duterte’s failure to end ‘Endo’. (Kath M. Cortez/davaotoday.com)
#LaborDay2018 | Groups slam contractualization, Duterte’s failed promise to workers
Thousands of workers in the Philippines spent International Worker’s Day marching to the gates of Malacañang and condemning Pres. Duterte’s failure to end contractualization.
An estimated 50,000 members of unions, labor groups, and other progressive organizations marched to Mendiola Bridge in Manila from different mass-up points in the city. Their main call: “Wakasan ang kontraktwalisasyon!” (End contractualization!)
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, in a Labor Day celebration in Cebu earlier today, signed an executive order to put an end to contractualization and provide workers with security of tenure. Quoting an excerpt from the E.O., Duterte said this will prohibit “illegal contracting or subcontracting or undertaking to circumvent the workers’ right to security of tenure.”
Labor groups in Mendiola, however, asserted that the order only strengthens labor contractualization in the Philippines, adding that not one representative from the labor sector was present in the signing.
Carrying banners with “Tuloy ang laban!” written on them, workers marked today’s Labor Day mobilization as only the first of many until the rights of the working class are met.
For the first time since 1989, different labor groups formed Kilusang Mayo Uno – Nagkaisa! to collectively protest against contractualization, low wages, unfair working hours, and occupational safety hazards, among other unfair labor practices.
Below are photos of the protest.
Photos by Marvin Atchuela, Mel Doctor, Engrid Hipolito,Queno Llarenas, Marilou Morales, Valerie Rosaldo, Karen Serada, and Lanz Varon
The post #LaborDay2018 | Groups slam contractualization, Duterte’s failed promise to workers appeared first on Manila Today.
Labor leader: No need for Duterte to sign EO on ‘endo’
There is no need for Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to sign an executive order (EO) or for Congress to pass a legislation banning the illegal contractualization of workers since the same law has already been stipulated in Article 106 of the Philippine Labor Code, a labor group leader said on Tuesday, May 1.
Duterte uses BS Aquino’s repressive immigration policy to suppress rights
“Two wrongs do not make a right. Both the Duterte and the Aquino governments are accountable for the creation and continued use of repressive policies, no doubt for their own gains. In any case, regardless of this useless and ludicrous blaming game, the fact is that this BI order is already being put to use to persecute a nun who has spent almost three decades of her life serving poor communities in the country,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay in response to Duterte’s speech Sunday, April 29, on the basis of the Bureau of Immigration’s decision regarding Sr. Patricia Fox.
DIFFERENT DUTERTE
Labor groups led by Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao (KMU-SMR) bring an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte as they march from Magsaysay Avenue to Roxas Avenue in Davao City during the commemoration of Labor Day on Tuesday, May 1. The labor group said the effigy portrays the economic and political repression against workers under the Duterte administration. (Medel V. Hernani/davaotoday.com)
FAMILY BONDING ON LABOR DAY
A worker brings his son to the Labor Day protest in Davao City on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. Three major federations namely, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Partidong Manggagawa-Nagkakaisa and Sentro Nagkakaisa held a unity march against labor-only contracting. (Medel V. Hernani/davaotoday.com)
Over a million more underemployed, part-time workers under Duterte
The number of Filipino workers relegated to insecure and low-paying jobs have grown under the Duterte administration, said research group IBON.
Latest official labor force data shows a higher number of employed under Pres. Duterte. The number of employed increased to 41.8 million in January 2018 from 39.3 million in the same period last year, with the employment rate at 94.7% and 93.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate declined to 5.3% in January 2018 from 6.6% in January 2017.
IBON noted however that despite the upturn in employment and lower unemployment, there are now more Filipinos who are underemployed or seeking for more work. The number of part-time workers, or those working less than 40 hours per week, also grew.
The underemployment rate of 18% as of January 2018 saw a rise from the 16.3% underemployment rate the year before. This is the highest of all labor force survey rounds during Duterte’s term. The number of underemployed Filipinos grew by 1.1 million or from 6.4 million the year before to 7.5 million in January this year.
There was also an increase in the number of part-time workers, said the group. Part-time workers grew by 1.3 million (9.3%) to 14.7 million in January 2018 from 13.4 million the year before.
Another indication of the worsening jobs situation is that informal sector workers, or the number of own-account workers and unpaid family workers combined, rose by 1.4 million (9.2%) to 16 million in January 2018 from 14.6 million in January 2017.
IBON stated that the government should implement much-needed reforms that prioritize Filipino workers’ interests over big business profits. These include ending contractualization; mandating a Php750 across-the-board national minimum wage; and ensuring decent benefits and working conditions. Such reforms must go hand in hand with a strategic plan for national industrialization that is necessary in creating sustainable jobs for the Filipino people. ###
Global market-focused education wastes potential of Filipino labor — EFD
Filipino educators urge the Duterte government and all stakeholders to mark this year’s International Labor Day as a reminder of the importance of workers and human resources in achieving the country’s development, and how this can be guided only through a nationalist and progressive education system.
The Educators’Forum for Development (EFD), a voluntary association of educators committed to social change and transformative education, said that Filipinos’ huge potential as nation builders is put to waste. This is because the present education system serves the needs of the global market instead of domestic agricultural and industrial development.
Data from the Commission on Higher Education shows a total of 3.55 million Filipino college graduates from 2010 to 2016. But this was still outpaced by graduates of Technical-Vocational-Education and Training (TVET) at 10.54 million, about 60% of whom were certified as highly qualified to work in the country or overseas, based on data from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
According to the EFD, it is unfortunate that TESDA Secretary Irene Isaac believes that tech-voc is a primary option as it trains Filipinos with relevant skills profitable in the global market. The educators’ group said that tech-voc has only shaped a large part of the country’s productive force into low- and semi-skilled workers.
“They are often paid with measly wages and almost minimal benefits. They are often left at the mercy of their contractors, as part of an exploitative value-chain controlled by transnational corporations (TNCs),” the group said.
Only a nationalist and progressive education system could shape the curriculum, training and development of generations of the labor force towards the strengthening of local agriculture and growth of basic industries. This is needed to better ensure people’s welfare and push sustainable economic progress, EFD said.