Press Release
30 November 2020
BONIFACIO DAY MARCH 2020:
LABOR GROUPS DEMAND COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTION OF WORKERS AND POOR FROM PANDEMIC, RECESSION, AND CLIMATE-INDUCED DISASTERS
Socialist labor coalition Pagkakaisa ng Uring Manggagawa (PAGGAWA) marched to Mendiola on Bonifacio day to call for comprehensive solutions to the intensifying problems of the working class due to the ongoing economic, health, and climate crises.
The group held a ceremonial wreath-laying at the Bonifacio shrine in front of Tutuban to honor the national hero before merging with other groups and marching towards the Mendiola Peace Arch.
PAGGAWA Spokesperson Ka Leody de Guzman declared, "Workers are facing a crisis of epic proportions. We are up against a multiple headed monster that threatens our health, jobs and livelihood, rights and liberties, and the very lives of our families. The labor movement must realize the narrowness and limitations of craft-level and localized trade unionism, which could not fully address the ravages of the pandemic, recession, fascist attacks against trade union and human rights, and climate-induced disasters. Hence, PAGGAWA has collectively resolved to fight for a comprehensive overhaul of state policies and laws in order to protect the rights and welfare of the working class and their families".
Stop trade union repression, repeal terror law
Among their demands was the immediate end to trade union repression and red-tagging, the defunding of the NTF-ELCAC, and the repeal of the Anti-Terror Act. KASAMA Federation's Larry de Guzman of explained, "The Anti-Terror Law is not only meant to stifle opposition to the Duterte regime, it also gives blanket protection to abusive capitalists, who are now more brazen in their attempts to bust unions and depress labor costs, using the recession and pandemic as pretext".
Itigil ang tanggalan, kontraktwalisasyon wakasan!
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) President Atty. Luke Espiritu averred, "Employers have been taking advantage of the current crises by terminating their regular workers and unionists and replacing them with contractual workers. The DOLE must declare an immediate moratorium on mass-layoffs. They must impose stricter regulations and verification processes to ascertain that companies are not just exploiting the economic crisis to undermine security of tenure and unionism".
The group also registered its opposition to the current version of the so-called security of tenure bill (House Bill 7036), "which is being railroaded in Congress in order to expressly legitimize the practice of contractualization". He added, "The lowly condition of cheap and docile contractual workers is proof that the principal employers use third-party service providers (manpower agencies, service cooperatives, job contractors) to rescind from their obligations to regular workers, and in effect, extract more profit from their employees. What we need is not a stricter definition for legitimate contracting nor to impose higher penalties for labor-only contracting, which is now prohibited by the Labor Code, but to abolish this anti-labor practice altogether. We demand an end to all forms of contractualization.
Public healthcare and aid amid pandemic and climate calamity
Kilusan ng Manggagawang Makabayan (KMM-Katipunan) President Nathanial Clores stated that the recent successive typhoons have worsened the poverty and misery of the Filipino majority, who have been reeling from the effects of the pandemic and the reccession. "In allocating government budget to reinvigorate the economy, the immediate needs of the workers and the poor must enjoy primacy over the clamor of the propertied elite for bailouts from actual and projected loss. Continuous aid must be given to typhoons and hte unemployed. The state must invest to strengthen our its systems for public health and disaster resiliency. Initiate the transition from dirty energy to clean renewable energy. These thrusts will generate decent and green jobs that can ensure our protection from future crises," said Clores.
The march was also joined in by unions of various private hospital workers, who called for free mass for all workers and higher hazard pay and benefits for health workers and frontliners.
Just transition for transport modernization
PAGGAWA also called on the government to allow the return to operations of provincial buses and Jeepneys and immediately involve drivers and conductors in the planned modernization of public transport. Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO) Vice President Eduardo Laurencio explained, "Our drivers and conductors are not opposed to modernization. However, this modernization process must not leave our transport workers to fend for themselves. No one must be left behind! A just transition can only be achieved if transport workers and operators are involved in the decision-making processes regarding reforms towards cleaner and modern public transport".
Laurencio added, "Transport workers are aware of the need for an systematic and organized approach in public transport to lower the risks of COVID19 transmission. But with the gradual opening up of the economy, the current suspension of traditional PUVs is only promoting anarchy as commuters scramble for a ride with the decreased volume of jeepneys and public buses. Dyip at bus, Ibalik sa pamamasada!," Laurencio added.
Pampublikong serbisyo hindi negosyo, disente at ligtas na pabahay sa maralita
Socialista President Eding Villasin criticized government inaction in the recent hikes in the prices of food, water and electricity rates, the increasing occurrence of demolition to urban poor communities, amid the overlapping crises brought by the pandemic, recession, and successive typhoons. "Unregulated markets would not only lead to profiteering by opportunistic capitalists but the denial of basic needs to a desperate population. The government should not leave the needs of its citizens at the mercy of market forces especially in times of multiple crises. One such need is for safe living spaces to poor families in urban areas, who are usually regarded as a hindrance to progress but are actually the essential but lowly paid workers that drive commerce in densely-populated cities. Price control! Decent safe housing!"
Multisectoral demands, Fight as One
The labor-led PAGGAWA march was joined in by organizations from different sectors such as multi-sectoral groups Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), farmers' group Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA), and the youth activist group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK). Among the demands that they raised are the repeal of rice tariffication law, academic break for all students, and holding government officials criminally liable for neglect, mismanagement, and the bungled response to the health, jobs, and climate crises.
Ka Leody concluded, "Sa araw ng dakilang manggagawa na si Gat Andres, nananawagan tayo sa ating mga kamanggagawa't kababayan na magkaisa’t lumaban para sa kanilang kalusugan, kabuhayan, kaligtasan! At the onset of emergencies, the instinctive reaction for individuals is to secure themselves and their loved ones. But our collective experience - with nine months under a pandemic, three quarters of negative economic growth, and a recent string of super typhoons - should be enough to highlight the need for solidarity, as a class and as a people. Divided, we will perish. But united, we are a force for change. We must fight as one and compel the Duterte regime to protect the Filipino people, especially the workers and the poor, from the intertwining crises on our health, jobs, and lives". #
PAGGAWA is composed of the following labor centers and federations: Associated Trade Unions (ATU), Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Katipunan ng Samahang ng mga Manggagawa (KASAMA), Kilusan ng Manggagawang Makabayan (KMM-Katipunan), Metro East Labor Federation (MELF), National Union of Builders and Construction Workers (NUBCW), Socialista, Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (SUPER), Workers Advocates for Struggle, Transformation and Organization (WASTO). #
For reference, please contact: Ka Leody De Guzman
