OVER 2,000 workers in Northern Mindanao will take to the streets to demand from the government the P750 nationwide minimum daily wage in time for the Labor Day celebration around 9 a.m. on Monday, May 1.
Led by the militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno-Northern Mindanao Region (KMU-NMR), workers from the agriculture, industrial, service sectors, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and other support groups such as the urban poor communities will march from the Provincial Capitol grounds passing the Cogon public market to Magsaysay Park in Divisoria.
Wildon Barros, secretary general of the KMU-NMR, said the P750 minimum daily wage is only 70 percent of the P1,119 family living wage nationwide.
He said the current P318 minimum daily wage in Cagayan de Oro City is no longer enough due to the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.
“Grabe ang pagsaka sa presyo niaging semana gibalita nga mosaka ang presyo sa karne unya last month nisaka na pud presyo sa canned goods (Last week, the price increase was high and it was reported that the price of meat will increase and last month, the price of the canned goods also increased),” Barros said.
Barros said workers should get an increase in their wages so they can cope with the high cost of commodities.
He added that wages should be uniformed nationwide and should have not been “regionalized.”
“Mosulti sad ang mga OFWs sa ilang problema sa gawas atol sa programa (The OFWs also shared their problems about the program from abroad),” Barros said.
Barros said they will also pressure the Duterte administration to end the prevailing contractualization in the labor sector.
He said workers under contracts have long been exploited by their employers.
“Gusto nato mawagtang na ang pagpahimulos sa mga contractual workers ug masilotan ang mga labor agencies nga gapangontrata (We wanted to stop the exploitation of the contractual workers and to penalize labor agencies that offer contracts),” Barros said.
The KMU-NMR sent more than 200 delegates to a similar activity in Davao City on Monday to where President Rodrigo Duterte is set to meet the protesters.
“Diri sa CDO ang regional formation sa rally ug nagpadala ta 220 ka mga delegates sa Davao aron ipaabot kang presidente Digong ang nagkadaiyang problema sa mga mamumuo sa region 10 (The regional formation of the rally is in Cagayan de Oro and we sent 220 delegates to Davao in order to inform President Duterte about the problems of the public in Northern Mindanao),” Barros added.