LABOR WATCH
Courage, KMU Assail
Arroyo's Silence on Wage Hike Demands
The national
leadership of a militant group of government employees and a labor group
in the Cordillera, on separate occasions, assailed the anti-labor stance
of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that keeps mum
on clamors for P3,000 across-the-board salary increases for government
employees and P125 daily increase for workers in the private sector, and
for retrenchments in government.
BY LYN V. RAMO
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BANGUED, ABRA – The
national leadership of a militant group of government employees and a
labor group in the Cordillera, on separate occasions, assailed the
anti-labor stance of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
that keeps mum on clamors for P3,000 ($60.41 at an exchange rate of
$1=P49.66) across-the-board salary increases for government employees and
P125 ($2.51) daily increase for workers in the private sector, and for
retrenchments in government.
Confederation for
Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage)
national president Ferdinand Gaite said Arroyo is the “fiercest” president
because she has kept workers' wages at their July 2001 levels. Gaite was
in town for the first death anniversary of Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) employee Albert Terredaño, on Nov. 29 here.
Gunned down last
year, Terredaño was president of the Department of Agrarian Reform
Employees Association (DAREA) in Bangued at the time of his death.
Meanwhile, during a
workers’ forum on political repression in Baguio City, the Kilusang Mayo
Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement)-Cordillera also hit Arroyo for
“anti-labor policies and worsening economic crisis,” saying that in her
five-year reign workers have not seen any hope of alleviating their
plight.
No wage increases
“Mula 2001,
nanatiling walang pagtaas sa sahod ng mga kawani sa gobyerno at manggagawa
sa pribadong sektor” (Since
2001, there have been no increases in wages of government employees and
private sector workers), Gaite said during a forum on human rights that
coincided with Terredaño's death anniversary. He disclosed that while
Arroyo raised the salaries of highly-placed government officials to as
high as 200 percent, she has ignored the five-year clamor of rank-and-file
employees for increased wages.
What Arroyo did was
to increase the wages of the lowest paid employee by a measly P700
($14.09) such that the lowest government pay is now P5,782 ($116.43),
Gaite said. In contrast, the president’s monthly salary, according to
Gaite, is now some P140,000 ($2,819.17) from P57,000 ($1,147.80) in 2001 –
or a 231-percent increase.
“Walang
kakonse-konsensiya niyang itinaas nang mahigit 200 porsiyento ang sahod ng
mga opisyal, samantalang ni hindi sumayad sa tiyan ang pagtaas ng sahod
ng ordinaryong kawani” Without
a conscience, she raised the salaries of officials by more than 200
percent, while the raise in the ordinary workers’ salaries did not even
reach the gut) Gaite disclosed.
Courage-Cordillera
coordinator Cez Peta said that employees paid by the local government
units in the provinces receive even lower salaries than their national
counterparts.
Cordillera private
sector workers receive P235 ($4.73) daily but the Kilusang Mayo Uno-Cordillera
said this is only equivalent to P176.77($3.55) because of the continuous
hikes in oil prices and the weakening value of the peso.
In its Bonifacio Day
statement, KMU-Cordillera said that some 2.93 million Filipinos are
unemployed this year from 2.8 million last year. KMU-Cordillera cited some
300 retrenched miners from Philex Mining Corporation this year and 100
miners from Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company who lost their jobs last
year.
KMU-Cordillera also
notes that thousands are lured into labor-only-contracting (LOC) citing
that 65-75 percent workers in the export processing zone are contractuals.
“Hindi na tayo
magkandaugaga sa kaiisip ng paraan para mabuhay nang matiwasay at malayo
sa panganib” (We are relentlessly thinking of ways to live peacefully
and free from danger), KMU-Cordillera said in its statement.
Hitting government
employees
Gaite also hit the
government’s rationalization program saying it is actually a retrenchment
scheme for some 30 percent of government employees. He said the
rationalization of government offices and similar schemes as merger of
government offices, and abolition of some departments only means no work
for many government employees.
Gaite also criticized
Arroyo for not sparing government employees from her policy of liquidating
her critics. “We are not insulated from government-inflicted violence he
said as he cited that aside from Terredaño, a Department of Agrarian
Reform employee, and two more government employees were killed, one from
Samar, and another from Leyte,” Gaite said.
Private sector
workers on the other hand have lost 64 union leaders and supporters due to
Arroyo's war against her critics, according to KMU-Cordillera.
“Mismong mga
empleyado ng gobyerno ay target na rin ng pamamaslang”
(Even government employees are targets of
killings), Gaite said during the forum as he said his highest tribute to
Terredaño, who, the Courage leader said, “truly served the people.”
Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.