The Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives on Friday slammed the “no work, no pay” policy that will be imposed in the special non-working holidays in the National Capital Region during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leader’s summit to be held in Manila from Nov. 17 to 18.
“It is so easy for the Aquino government—that has displayed extraordinary callousness and apathy towards the common people—to say that workers will not be receiving pay for two days or more during the Apec meeting. The unfeeling government fails to see how the daily wage earners are already struggling to make ends meet with today’s wages and high cost of public goods and services,” House deputy minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said.
On Wednesday, the Department of Labor and Employment announced that “no-work, no-pay” principle shall apply in the special holidays.
Contractual workers will suffer the most in this policy, Colmenares complained.
“About 22 percent of the government work force are contractual workers, and that is even higher in the private sector. Since contractual workers are paid for a day’s work, a two-day halt in getting their pay could mean meals that their family will not eat, they will not be able to buy medicine, and they will not be able to afford transportation fares.”
“The Aquino government does not comprehend the difficulty our workers are facing to gain a decent life, and how they hang on to every peso they earn,” he added.
Rep. Carlos Zarate, citing data from the independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, said minimum wage is at P466 per day, while the daily cost of living in Metro Manila is at P1,088.
“The government has allotted P7.9 billion of the people’s money to primp the country for the Apec summit. Street dwellers are being swept off. The government is hard at work to cover-up the crippling poverty in our country. Government forces are on red alert to disperse protests against Apec. The public is paying for the full price of this high-level meeting in every sense of the word,” Zarate said.
Zarate also criticized the Apec meeting and agenda, saying that the gathering will further entrench “neoliberal” policies of deregulation, privatization, liberalization, and denationalization of industries that has caused the high cost of public utilities and goods, contractualization and low wages, and the underdevelopment of industries, among others.
“It is ironic that these governments are supposedly talking about how to improve the economies and welfare of the people in the Apec, but President Aquino and DOLE are eliminating pay for workers during the meeting. It is revealing of what the Apec is for: profit for corporations, not for the people,” Zarate said.