The labor center, Kilusang Mayo Uno, is set to mobilize 10,000 workers from around Davao Region on Sunday, May 1 to call out the government on various workers issues under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. (Earl O. Condeza/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY – On the 113th commemoration of the Labor Day on Sunday, May 1, Kilusang Mayo Uno said 10,000 workers from the region will march here to air their dismay over workers’ worsening situation in the country.
KMU Southern Mindanao Region Spokesperson Carlo Olalo said that under the six years of Pres. Benigno Aquino III, “workers are not happy especially on the workers’ benefits and low wage.”
The P750 daily minimum wage presented by KMU according to Olalo will be a “just relief” for a family of 5-6 members. “As a living wage, it cannot suffice the needs of the family of five to six,” he said.
The KMU presented its “Summary on the workers situation under US-Aquino Regime” where they recorded that only 692,000 jobs are provided by the current administration per year since 2010, compared to 732,000 per year on 2001-2009.
The report said that 4.3 million Filipinos are jobless; seven out of 10 are not regular, self-employed or unpaid family worker. The report also said that there are 5,021 overseas Filipino workers who left daily in 2014.
KMU said that under Aquino administration, the government is likened to a manpower agency ”selling cheap labor forces in the country”.
Larry Argilles, deputy secretary general of KMU, said that Labor Day is a clear testament on the struggle of the workers against government’s negligence on their welfare.
Contractualization
On Labor Day, KMU said that it will also highlight the issue on contractualization which it said is rampant in the country.
“Within five or six months, you can be kicked out, then look for another job. There will no good service, benefits, and it worsen the
difficulties of the workers. We call for it to be banned,” Argilles said.
“The government did not find ways to resolve the issue, but instead it worsened the workers situation by making contractualization a system. That is why we continue our call to ban it and push for regularization for all workers,” Argilles added.
According to KMU, it is the Department of Labor and Employment’s Department Order 18-A series of 2011 that strengthen and legitimize the job contract and contractualization.
The first Labor Day celebration in the Philippines took place on May 1, 1903.
It was led by the first labor federation in the country, the Union Obrera Democratica de Filipinas where thousands of workers marched from Plaza Moriones in Tondo to Malacañang demanding complete independence and decrying anti American capitalism and imperialism.
On April 8, 1908, Philippine Assembly passed a bill making the first day of May, Labor Day, a national holiday.(davaotoday.com)
