MANILA, Philippines — On Labor Day, workers from different sectors called for higher pay that will allow them a living wage and for the security of tenure for all employees.
Thousands of workers and activists marched to the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City to mark May 1 and endorse the candidacies of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan who are running for president and vice president resepctively.
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Kilusang Mayo Uno on Sunday hosted the program titled "A10 ang Bukas: Mabuhay ang Manggagawa" along EDSA to rally for higher wages and call for the end of contractualization, red-tagging, and of the government’s anti-communist task force)
PISTON, BPO (business process outsourcing) Workers for Leni and Kiko, Migrante International, Peasant Movement of the Philippines, Gabriela Women’s Party, and Anakpawis party-list were among the groups at the rally.
The Sumilao farmers, who traveled all the way from Bukidnon on foot over 40 days, also joined the event.
READ: Sumilao farmers reach Metro Manila in march to carry Robredo to Malacañang
In a statement, Anakpawis called for the increase in minimum wage as consumer prices also continue to rise.
“Ang sahod ng ordinaryong manggagawa ngayon ay tuluyan pang lumiliit ang halaga, dahil sa sunud-sunod na pagtaas ng presyo ng produktong langis, pagkain at mga batayang bilihin. Kaya, ang sinumang tumutol pa sa P750 National Minimum Wage, ay hindi na talaga makatao,” Anakpawis National Chairperson Rafael Mariano, who is first nominee for the party-list, said.
(The salary of ordinary workers are now steadily declining as the continued price increase of oil, food, and basic commodities. Anyone who still opposes the P750 national minimum wage would no longer be considered humane.)
PISTON said the group is standing with Robredo and Pangilinan along with their Senate slate because of their clear plans for the sector and the rehabilitation of public transportation under their leadership.
Migrante is calling for more services and protection of rights of overseas Filipino workers, on top of creating more jobs here in the country so Filipinos would no longer need to go abroad.
SAHOD ITAAS, PRESYO IBABA!
Handang-handa na ang masang Anakpawis magmartsa ngayong Pandaigdigang Araw ng Paggawa!#MayoUno2022#A10AngBukas pic.twitter.com/OMRqKMs77p— Peasant Advocates #StopKillingFarmers (@NNARAYouth) April 30, 2022
Nurses, journalists issue statements
The Filipino Nurses United, in their own statement, called for an increase for the salaries of nurses working in the private sector. The group noted that nurses remain “underpaid, overworked, and unappreciated” despite health workers taking the frontlines amid the unprecedented global pandemic.
Citing January 2022 data from the Health department, over 30,000 health workers have tested positive COVID-19 and 117 have died due to the virus.
The group also raised concerns such as understaffing, which leads to prolonged working hours and “unsafe nurse to patient ratio,” and the “no pay, no work” scheme because of contractualization.
“FNU strongly recommends [an] increase in salaries of all nurses to P50,000 monthly, entry salary, both in [the] private and public sector. As health workers, nurses deserve [a] living wage and humane work conditions," FNU said.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, in a separate statement, called for safer working conditions for newsmen in the country as unfair work conditions persist in the Philippine media landscape.
NUJP noted that aside from being overworked and underpaid, journalists do not receive needed support from employers or the companies they work for.
"These work conditions risk our colleagues' health and safety and also makes the sector vulnerable to the ethical dilemmas many find themselves facing in the face of precarity," NUJP said.