GMA, labor hold farewell meeting

For the last time during her incumbency, President Gloria Arroyo on Tuesday met with leaders of labor groups in the country in what was seen as a kick-off for the country’s celebration of Labor Day, May 1.

Secretary Marianito Roque of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that President Arroyo welcomed to Malacañang some 50 labor leaders of federations and unions led by Democrito Mendoza Sr., the national president of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

During the meeting, according to Roque, the labor leaders thanked the President for having supported various labor agenda during her nine-year presidency, among them enactment of the amended Migrant Workers Act, the Tax Exemption for Minimum Wage Earners and the Magna Carta of Women, which have helped Filipino workers cope with challenges of a volatile and struggling economy.

They acknowledged Mrs. Arroyo for having instituted economic and fiscal reforms that have mitigated the impact of the global financial crisis.

Roque said that the President told her guests that she appreciated the growing maturity of both the labor and management sectors, which resulted in a historic industrial peace that for one saw the lowest strike rate of four recorded in 2009.

He himself noted a steady decline in the number of strikes and lockout notices being filed by the labor federations and unions.

“Peace and stability in the labor front was largely attained through the active cooperation of labor and management, as they resorted to less costly, amicable and more expeditious means of settling their disputes,” Roque said.

He added that the labor leaders cited, among others, the wage and non-wage benefits that the Arroyo administration has provided workers, especially during critical times of the global crisis and the natural calamities that hit the country last year.

Roque said the that the workers’ leaders also cited the Social Security System (SSS) Condonation Program and other assistance given to the labor to help the sector cope with the crisis and calamities such as rice subsidy, Botika ng Bayan, micro-entrepreneurship for the informal sector and sectoral representation in government boards.

Also present during the meeting were senior officials from the Labor department and the Office of the President.

Other federations and unions there included Federation of Free Workers National Association of Trade Unions, Alliance of Filipino Workers, Associated Federation of Labor Unions, Confederation of Filipino Workers, National Mines and Allied Workers Union, National Union of Bank Employees, Associated Marine and Officers Union of the Philippines, International Seamen’s Mutual Labor Association and Alliance of Workers in the Informal Economy Sector.

Bongbong defends workers
All apparently is not well, however, between employers and the workers.

Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of Ilocos Norte has scored businessmen who allegedly are threatening their employees with plant closure for demanding wage increase as Labor Day approaches.

Marcos said that the threat is coercive and condemnable.

“It is obvious that these capitalists are holding their employees hostage [because] they know that their workers have no choice, but to accept what is being given them by their employers,” he added.

These businessmen, Marcos said, continue to use the financial crisis that hit the country in 2009 as an alibi for not granting their workers’ demand for wage raise.

“If they [employers] are really affected by the financial crisis, and that they are really bankrupt, why is it that they have not closed down? The problem is that they really do not want to lower their profits,” he added.

Marcos, a senatorial candidate of the Nacionalista Party in the May 10 elections, said that minimum-wage earners badly need ample increase in their salary to cope with rising prices of basic goods and services.

“How can someone make his daily wage of P380 fit? How about his water and electricity bills? House rental? These are the things the capitalists should consider,” he added.

Marcos revealed that a number of employers have continued to take advantage of their workers not only by not paying the right salary, not remitting mandatory contributions to the Social Security System, not providing company benefits and not allowing establishment of workers’ union but also by engaging in contractualization. He did not elaborate. –JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ Reporter with Jomar Canlas, Manila Times