Various groups will mark Labor Day on Saturday, May 1, with a “tribute to the struggles and sacrifices made by workers, unions, working-class movements in advancing dignified labor.”
San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, chairperson of Churchpeople and Workers in Solidarity, said: “unions have achieved extraordinary victories in terms of promoting workers’ rights. But in the past few decades, neoliberal economic policies have aggressively trampled on these rights. Anti-labor policies such as privatization, trade liberalization, contractualization, deregulation, and denationalization continue to wreak havoc on people’s lives especially the working class.”
He also said, “Filipino workers are among the most affected by the onslaught of COVID-19. Government apathy and inefficiency have failed to protect workers’ safety and health. In the guise of ‘reviving the economy,’ workers’ safety and lives are put in jeopardy. Every day, millions of workers continue to suffer from the ever-worsening socio-economic conditions brought about by record-high unemployment rate, skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, and lack of income.”
“We believe that workers are the bloodline of the society. To keep our economy thriving, we must keep our workers protected and alive. Hence, CWS joins progressive organizations and workers’ unions in demanding mass testing and aggressive contact tracing in workplaces, free and safe vaccine for all workers, a substantial cash aid for all, and the passing of the Paid Pandemic Leave Bill,” he said.
Roland de la Cruz, president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP), said workers need to be paid quarantine leave benefits.
Most of the workers who were exposed to COVID-19 and forced to go on isolation and quarantine for 14 days were on a “no work, no pay” setup unless there were favorable company policies or collective bargaining agreements beneficial to the affected workers.
“We just cannot sit down and watch thousands of Filipino workers who are on quarantine with no income to sustain their families, they need the same income protection and assurance from the government,” he stressed.
The House of Representatives passed House Bill No. 7909 or the Paid Pandemic Leave Law of 2020 which provides 14-day paid quarantine leave for workers who are confirmed, probable, or suspected to have the Covid19 virus, in short, those who are isolated and quarantined because of exposure to a confirmed Covid19 positive individual. However, this house bill is not yet certified urgent, se la Cruz said.
Another venue to push for passage of this policy is through the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council or the NTIPC of the Department of Labor and Employment, he said.
“We need to provide full security of jobs and income protection to our workers who are suffering the adverse economic brunt of this COVID-19 pandemic, whether they are confirmed COVID-19 positive or not,” de la Cruz added.
Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of General Alliance of Workers Associations, will launch the Workers Solidarity- Defend Sovereignty West Philippine Sea on Saturday “to defend our sovereignty and our territory against all forms of aggression, tyranny and conquest of our national territory by China or any foreigners.”
“This is our call to action. Sound the loud drumbeat of the nationalism and the trumpets of justice to proclaim far and wide, that with all our lives and with all our conscience to defend our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.*