By GRACE S. UDDIN | Davao Today
DAVAO CITY — On their way to Davao city, workers from the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte braved road inspections, ‘surprise checkpoints’ before they were able to join the Labor Day rally to express their demands for the P125 across-the-board wage increase, for government to bring down prices of basic commodities, including rice.
Workers also called on government to lift the tariffs on fuel and basic commodities and for a just and humane condition in the workplace.
Over 3,000 to 4, 000 workers from Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Maragusan, Sta. Cruz, Digos, and from the Davao city areas of Toril, Calinan and Sasa converged at the Rizal Park on May 1, demanding that wages should be increased to allow workers’ families cope with the rising cost of basic commodities.
KRISIS DE MAYO. Alluding to the festive gala of ‘Flores de Mayo,’ workers say the worsening poverty they experience is exactly the opposite of what they traditionally expect from the merry month of May.(davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
In Southern Mindanao alone, the minimum wage of 250 pesos a day could not even cover half of the region’s prevailing cost of living, pegged at 600 pesos per day, according to Dodong Basilio, chairperson of the Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao.
Basilio also cited the unfair labor practices of some companies including the trucking company Davao Integrated Transport Facilities, owned by Dole-Stanfilco, which he said, dismissed close to 200 workers from their jobs last year; Lapanday Agricultural Development Corporation in Mandug, which laid off several workers, Franklin Baker in Sta. Cruz, which retrenched 140 workers, and Unifrutti banana company, which allegedly dismissed 150 workers illegally, he said.
“The workers said the May 1 rally allowed them the time and the venue to voice out their demands from the government,” Basilio said. So, despite the obstacles on the roads, the workers persisted, said Arman Blas, a worker of Fresh Banana Fruits Corporation of Sumitomo based in Compostela town of Compostela Valley province.
Majority of the workers came from the provinces of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley so when the workers were delayed for a long time on the road, their programs were affected.
WORKERS continue to demand for wages, work and rights on labor day: nothing more, nothing less. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
Because of the delay, only few mass leaders from different sectors can talk,” Basilio said.
Blas was among the 600 workers that left Compostela town at around eight ‘o clock in the morning of May 1 aboard five buses and five Elf vehicles. They expected to arrive in Davao city at 12 noon but the ‘surprise checkpoints’ that stopped them twice in Panabo delayed their arrival for two hours. Those checkpoints, which could not be seen on regular days, were put up only every time a big contingent of workers were expected in Davao city for a rally.
Blas, 35, said the checkpoints were not so strict this year compared to the previous years but they still delayed their trip. When they arrived at the Task Force Davao checkpoint in Tibungco at around 1:30 pm, Joel Virador, a former Bayan Muna Congressman and Basilio, were already there to ensure that the inspection will not delay them further.
