VARIOUS labor groups will push for a P200-wage hike on Labor Day, citing what they claim as “years of ineffective wage determination by the Regional Wage Boards” and the rising prices of prime commodities which they said have eroded the purchasing power of their incomes.
A nationwide rally will be held on May 1 to be spearheaded by the Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Kilusang Mayo Uno to call for wage hike and job security to cope with economic difficulties.
Groups comprising the National Wage Coalition will assemble along various points on España Ave., in Sampaloc,, Manila then march at 7:00 am to Mendiola St. near Malacañang for a joint program.
PM and allied groups will assemble at Petron Blumentritt, also in Sampaloc, at 6:30 am.
Over in Cebu City, multiple groups will also converge at Fuente Osmeña at 9:00 am for a joint program.
Meanwhile in Bacolod City, sugar farm workers will lead a Labor Day rally, while in Iloilo City, the coalition of United Labor will assemble in the morning in front of UP Visayas, then march to the provincial capitol for a joint program.
In Iligan City, several big labor unions will likewise stage a rally in the morning at the plaza with the city’s tripartite industrial peace council
The workers are poised demand a legislated wage increase and reject the regional wage board system that keeps provincial rates “pitifully low,” calling for a nationwide wage hike, not provincial rates, regular jobs, not precarious endo contracts, fully funded public services as a right, not subject to patronage and respect for labor rights, including unionization and collective bargaining
In a related development, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urged President Marcos certify as urgent the proposed P200-legislated wage hike viewed as the “only hope for the vast majority of workers without unions and no collective bargaining agreements.”
“Workers need a chance to have three decent meals a day, rather than merely being referred again and again to the Regional Wage Boards, which time and again has consistently only provided workers with crumbs,” the TUCP said.