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Labor
Watch
Commentary
Labor
Moderates Prefer Cell
Cards To Workers’ Empty Stomachs
If
you can’t have wage hikes, better settle for cell cards. Moderate and
conservative labor groups made this call recently, eliciting reactions from
labor militants that the proposal is the high point of class betrayal and
collaboration.
By
Gerry Albert-Corpuz
Bulatlat.com
The
Philippines is today considered the text capital of the world. Tomorrow, it
could as well be the laughing stock of Asia if labor leaders identified with
moderate and yellow unions will have their way. They believe that if Filipino
workers cannot have wage hikes they might as well settle for cell card allowance
as an economic alternative.
The Trade
Union of the Philippines and Allied Services (Tupas), one of the moderate labor
unions in the country, recently asked employers to give their workers with
allowance for cell cards and have this proposal
included in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Its president, Vladimir
Tupaz, said the CBA can cover P10 per daily allowance for cell cards.
A loose
alliance of labor groups known as Labor Solidarity Movement composed of Tupas,
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Federation of Free Workers and
Alliance of Free Workers echoed the call for a reprieve from costs of cell cards
or call cards.
LSM
spokesperson Alex Aguilar said that the demand was right and legitimate
considering that 60 percent or about 18 million of the total labor force use
cell phones and consume cell cards or call cards. The labor
leader said
the LSM's concern is to cut down daily expenses instead of asking wage increase
because the present situation does not merit or is not conducive for wage
increments.
The
alliance's spokesperson even proposed the inclusion of cell cards in the
computation of Consumer Price Index (CPI) since their group considered cell
cards as a basic necessity of every worker in a vain attempt to water down the
call of militant labor alliance, Kilusang Mayo Uno, for P125 wage increase now
pending for deliberation before both chambers of Congress.
As expected, President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commended the decision of labor leaders to downplay wage
hikes. In return, the president's immediate circle announced it was considering
former Senator and Labor Secretary Ernesto Herrera for a cabinet post.
The LSM's
knee-jerk reaction to any pay increase as opposed to job tenure merited Arroyo's
attention to the extent of bringing back the moribund political career of
Herrera, seen as one of the most opportunist politicians and leaders in the
labor movement.
Malacañang,
perhaps, is just waiting for Globe and Smart, the biggest beneficiares of Tupas
and LSM's brainless proposal to issue their congratulatory messages to Tupaz and
Aguilar. That would seal the
appointment
of Herrera, the TUCP's ideological guru to the Macapagal-Arroyo cabinet.
But
these labor federations will not bat for this proposal without getting something
in return. Millions of pesos could accrue to these groups under a deal with the
cell phone giants where their thousands of member-workers would become their
captive cell phone and cell card consumers.
Betrayal
and deception
This
recent development in the labor front courtesy of yellow unions is one of the
most shocking events in the history of trade unionism in the Philippines.
Politically speaking, it fell to one of the highest forms of
class
betrayal and avant-garde deception of workers' right to wage increases.
The common
act shown by leaders of Tupas and LSM is a classic example of class
collaborationism in the labor movement. It was meant to divide Filipino workers
on the issue of wage hike and deviate working class attention from this
legitimate cause and economic necessity. In essence, the yellow unions' campaign
was aimed to weaken the workers' fight for higher wages and political power.
It was a
direct hit to the workers' legitimate fight wage hike, particularly the P125
across-the-board pay increase advanced by the militant labor group KMU (May
First Movement).
Workers need
pay hike and not allowance for text messages and cell calls. To say that the
present economic condition does not permit wage hikes and may imperil job tenure
is one big political understatement that fully serves the class interest of
corporate biggies and transnational clients of the Macapagal-Arroyo government.
The betrayal
and deception shown by leaders of yellow labor groups was meant to spoil the
battle for P125 pay increase. When KMU and other progressive trade unions
brought back the issue, yellow unions took an aggressive
stand against any pay hike at this time and they were obviously in cahoots with
the employers' associations in denouncing wage hike among public and state
workers.
Apologists
and saboteurs
The
ringleaders of Tupas and the LSM gamely played their old-time role as apologists
and saboteurs in the service of big business groups and the anti-labor
government of President Macapagal-Arroyo.
The likes of
Tupaz and Aguilar are perennial traitors to Filipino workers. Their rallying
slogan "cellcards over empty stomachs" underscore their bias for
corporate owners and employers' groups while attacking from within the labor
movement the legitimate demands for wage increase, jobs and trade union rights.
There's no
truth to this claim by the motley group of self-proclaimed labor leaders that
wage increase at this point in time would be detrimental to the economy. In
fact, the economy is expected to splash a buoyant turn in the event of wage hike
contrary to Tupas and LSM's views that any wage increase will imperil the
economy and kill jobs.
Even in times
of crisis, super monopolies are extracting large surplus from labor's hard work
because of their economic advantage and monopoly position. It is politically
correct to underscore transnational empires and monopolies’ immense capacity
to realize huge profits from corporate exploitation, downsizing of labor and
keeping labor costs six feet below ground even in days of economic chaos.
The doomsday
scenario whipped up by employers' groups and their agents and mercenaries in the
labor movement like Tupaz and Aguilar has no logical and sound basis. These
nursery tall tales about economic fiascos, absurd horror stories and nonsense
literatures had been abused right from the start to keep workers' daily wages
always at depressed levels.
Persist in
the fight
Militant
labor groups like KMU and its member unions and federations should persist in
their fight for P125 across-the-board wage hike, as well as the struggle for job
security and trade union rights and class emancipation.
In the
service of Filipino workers and the people in general, the public expects
militant and progressive labor unions to uphold the battle for higher wages in
all venues of struggles, including but not limited to
street
actions, congressional campaign and public opinion.
This is in
the light of the recent development where transnational lords and corporate
baggers have sent marching orders to their paid agents in the labor movement to
downplay the legitimate and just call for P125 pay increase. Bulatlat.com
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