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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Speak out: Wage hike petition
By Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo
Kilusang Mayo Uno (AMA-Sugbo-KMU)
This is in response to Mel Libre’s column last May 13, 2006.
Indeed, the fight for fair wages should not be confined in May, neither should it be left alone to labor unions, as it is everyone’s business.
But the Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo–Kilusang Mayo Uno (AMA-Sugbo-KMU) begs to differ with Libre’s opinion on regional wage boards.
It is the workers’ strong clamor, combined with widespread protest actions and the people’s manifest support, that compels governments to raise wages.
Never was there a time in our history when unions like those represented by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), took the first definitive steps at demanding decent wages for the Filipino workers.
Rather, it was the unwavering call and militancy of the broad working masses that pushed the likes of TUCP to sing the popular chorus and regimes like that of Ferdinand Marcos to succumb to the demand for higher wages.
Wage boards
It should not come as a surprise that Congress delegated the task of setting higher wages to regional wage boards.
Being susceptible to public pressure, Congress would rather wash its hands off wages than get the ire of large businessmen--–their trusted political patrons.
The institution of the regional wage boards has since become the workers’ nightmare and manna for large businesses.
To this day, regional wage boards never faltered in tipping the scale in favor of the already wealthy businessmen.
To millions of workers, this setup can never be viewed as a work well done.
The huge gap between the minimum wage and the family cost of living is testament to how the regional wage boards aggravated the suffering of millions of Filipino workers.
In Metro Cebu, the minimum wage is pegged at P223 daily while the family cost of living is now at P719 based on the data provided by the National Wages and Productivity Commission as of April 2006.
Majority of the Filipino workers have seen the inutility of these regional wage boards and the Gloria Arroyo government.
Back to Congress
Instead of following TUCP’s mechanical filing of wage hike petitions to these boards, the broad mass of workers are now bringing their fight back to Congress.
With the resumption of the sessions in Congress, the passage of House Bill 345 or the P125 wage hike bill (with Rep. Crispin Beltran as principal author), will be pushed by the struggling Filipino workers.
The ceaseless pursuit of the workers for higher wages will finally shake Congress to act upon a bill that has been sitting there for five years.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 18, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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