EDITORIAL - Sad and sorry state of lowly gov't workers

Wage rates and wage increases in the private sector are determined by the regional wage boards. Those who compose these wage boards are representatives of labor, of management, and of government. Among the factors that go into the determination of wage rates and increases is the need to protect the dignity of workers by giving them decent wages. The main fulfillment of this need is what is called the minimum wage.

The minimum wage is what regional wage boards think workers in the private sector need to make a decent living and keep their dignity as human beings intact. What the minimum wage is, and what adjustments are made thereafter, is subject to agreement between the labor and management representatives in the board, and as concurred by their government counterparts.

But here is where the irony of it all comes crashing in. While every step is taken to provide a decent living to workers in the private sector that they may keep their human dignity intact, nothing of the sort is accorded those who work in government. Would you believe that there are people working in government today who get paid less than a third of what minimum wage earners in the private sector get?

Yes, there are government workers, many of them assigned in the barangays, who get paid just a little over a thousand pesos each month. Yes, a little over a thousand pesos each month - snack money for some officials. How can anyone keep body and soul together on such a pittance? They may just be barangay workers who toil in the sun but that does not make them any less human than the rest of their fellow citizens.

And how does government justify such an inhumane treatment of some of its citizens? The government justifies this inhumanity by saying these workers are just JOs, or job order workers. See? Even the terminology deprives these human beings of even a claim to their humanity. They are just "job order" workers who are not party to bonuses and incentives because "they do not enjoy regular employer-employee relationships with the government that is supposed to be for all the people.

And not only are these JOs being paid peanuts, the peanuts are also not delivered on time. Robots are treated better. They get oiled with expensive lubricants, and they get oiled regularly. It is true many JOs have been politically accommodated. And it is true many just collect their pay every payday without breaking sweat. But there are also many other JOs who perform real jobs, have real responsibilities, doing them diligently as vital cogs in the overall machinery of government.

Yet for all their sacrifices and dedication to do their part in helping keep the business of government going, they remain unrecognized by their own government for their worth as humans, their dignities stretched to the limit of their thin, way below minimum wages. What a shame for government to forget that its own true worth is measured by how equitably it treats everyone, including those who actually work under its wing, regardless of their status.