DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Weak knees, aching back, and working under the heat of the sun are among the many things Norberta Zeta, 64-years old, has to endure in her 29 years of work as a street sweeper in Davao.
Her day begins by spending mornings tending to her family, minding her three grandchildren. At noon she goes to work at the city’s parks and ends her shift at 8 pm. This has become the daily routine for Nanay Norberta.
But despite working hard for almost half her life, the compensation she gets is her monthly salary of 11,600 pesos.
As the sole provider for her children and three school-aged grandchildren, ends are barely met in the Zeta household. With 300 pesos taken from her daily wage for school allowances, the rest goes to food, water, electricity, and other necessities.
This is the reality for many minimum-wage earners like Nanay Norberta, as her salary is not sufficient for her family’s daily needs.
An average family in Davao needs to spend 1,177 pesos a day to survive, according to government records, and this shows the disparity between wages and costs of living, but Nanay Norberta has to get up and work.
“I don’t get tired of working because it’s what I rely on for my family’s livelihood,” she said.
Nanay Norberta shared that she got the job as a replacement of her deceased husband under the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO). With retirement coming up, her worries are doubled for her family, who have no other means of survival. Eager to provide, she said, “As long as I am physically capable, I wish to continue being a sweeper if that’s how I can provide for my family.”
Another city sweeper, Nanay Elena Redoble, also had to sacrifice her meals just to save for her family. “I bring rice and viand (at work), so I don’t have to buy here. Then I just use my snack money for fare instead,” Nanay Elena shared, saying that at most times, she would just gulp down the water she brings to sustain herself during long afternoons.
For these workers, every day on the job is crucial, leaving them little room to call in sick or take days off. “Even when I’m down with the flu, I still have to go to the office to clock in for the day because if I don’t, a bad record could cost me my renewal,” Nanay Elena explained.
What deeply troubles them is that, despite dedicating their lives to their jobs, uncertainty looms over contractual workers who receive no government benefits. “When emergencies arise, we don’t have any insurance—neither life insurance nor health insurance,” Nanay Norberta lamented. “It feels like there’s no value in our long service because our children cannot benefit from it. We can’t leave anything for them when we pass away.”
Nanay Elena echoed the same fears and sentiments, as she worries for her children as a solo parent with no means to cover potential emergencies.
There are times when their salary payments are delayed for two weeks. Barely surviving on their minimum wages, they are often forced to borrow money from neighbors.
The labor department had increased Davao’s minimum wage by 29 pesos a day. Dabawenyo Senator Christopher Bong Go has filed a priority bill of implementing a 100-pesos across the board daily wage hike. The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives has filed for a 1,200-pesos minimum daily wage for private sector workers.
“I only hope that the government could approve the wage hike for laborers and that we contractuals could have a chance to be casuals,” said Nanay Norberta.
With time and age not on their side, Nanay Norberta and Nanay Elena share the same wish: better wages and benefits to improve their lives and the futures of their families. (davaotoday.com)
