Anemic response felt by Oro unions

LABOR groups failed to meet the targeted number of participants in Sunday's street demonstrations in Cagayan de Oro seeking to abolish Department of Labor and Employment's (Dole) policy on contractualization of workers in the private sector.

Joel Gabatan, president of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) in Northern Mindanao, said only around 500 workers have joined their march on the streets from the Mindanao University of Science and Technology (Must) School to the Magsaysay Park in downtown Divisoria.

APL spokesperson Karl Yngojo on Friday projected at least 2,000 workers to support the call.

Yngojo made the announcement along with the leaders of several labor organizations from different companies in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental.

The APL-led militant groups had earlier threatened a massive demonstration before Sunday's Labor Day celebration.

However, the APL said that with support from various labor unions, it has started discovering alternative moves to win the workers' alliance without being harassed by their employers for joining the protest which also calls on the implementation of the minimum wage law.

"By way of the signature campaign, we would be able to get more support and we're counting on the labor unions to take the lead in recruiting more workers to join their crusade," said Gabatan on Friday's exclusive interview with Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro at the VIP Hotel.

Meanwhile, Yngojo said the labor groups are targeting to hit 10,000 signatures by August this year, which would be used as the basis for House legislators to give up the contractualization policy.

Such policy, the labor leaders explained, is "pushing the existing and future company workers to the wall."

Under such policy, Yngojo said an ordinary worker will not be able to get paid by the benefits accorded by the government to regular workers.

"The workers' regularization in their companies will also be made difficult to grant under such claim," added Yngojo.