Tag Archives: Partido Manggagawa

[Statement] Anti-terror Act to kill EDSA-like People Power actions | PM

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#HumanRights #TerrorLaw

Anti-terror Act to kill EDSA-like People Power actions

A moribund dictatorship finally ended in Edsa on February 25, 1986. That action was called people power – one which was hailed around the world as a bloodless, peaceful revolution. That was thirty-five years ago today, but absent celebrations during the past four years under the Duterte regime, that Edsa spirit has long been lost within the officialdom.

As to the disillusioned public, finding a reason to celebrate Edsa is as hard as finding new, competent post-Edsa leaders as the present regime has also failed their expectations.

Furthermore, it is needless to say that the Duterte regime is anti-Edsa. In fact, it was the failed #30YearsOfEdsa narrative that was utilized by the Marcos-Duterte troll-farms to discredit the so-called ‘yellow candidates’ during the 2016 and 2019 elections. That yellow-tagging narrative was proven effective during the last two elections. And now the shift to red-tagging, with the anti-terrorism law as the administration’s primary instrument.

Under RA 11479 or the anti-terrorism act of 2020 (ATA), it is not just the Edsa spirit that this regime aims to kill but the process itself. The ATA’s overbroad definition of terrorism clearly designates Edsa-like actions as an act of terror.

Had Edsa 86 happened today, Cardinal Sin would likely be charged with terrorist act for calling the people to swarm Edsa to protect renegade leaders such as Enrile and Ramos, while Cory Aquino who claimed the throne as well as protest leaders would also be charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act. So as Gloria Arroyo during Edsa 2, and the Erap supporters in Edsa 3.

However, for this administration, that historic event that inspired similar political revolutions around the globe is now irrelevant and worse, illegal under the ATA. It is because under Duterte, public order is higher than social justice; punishment is better than freedom and due process.

Accordingly, in ecozones the ATA assumes the name of the Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office (JIPCO), a detachment inside EPZAs that aims to insulate foreign investors from trade unions and other legitimate union activities. In schools it is open surveillance and red-tagging. In Cordillera there is now ‘tokhang’ which targets left-leaning activists. In Congress, it is the attempt to alter the 1987 Constitution.

Thirty-five years and counting and workers remain threatened with the same policies that sent throngs of people into Edsa to drive out a dictator. We are not seeing that kind of revolution happening today despite the severity of the current economic and leadership crises. But surely, people will get to recognize the fact that killing Edsa is not a mandate they have given to Duterte or to his heir apparent.

The Filipinos’ freedom and sovereignty shall never be surrendered.

PRESS STATEMENT
NAGKAISA Labor Coalition
25 February 2021
Ref: Atty. Sonny Matula
Chairperson

https://web.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/photos/a.312183494322/10158889442199323/

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[From the web] Labor group condemns arrest of PUP student leader -PM

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Labor group condemns arrest of PUP student leader

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemns the arrest of Rexon Aumentado, a PUP student leader and a volunteer in helping students stranded in PUP dorms when ECQ was declared on March 16.

Aumentado was detained at PCP #8 in Sta. Mesa Manila since yesterday is waiting for inquest proceeding at the city prosectors office today.

A post on the Facebook page of the student group, PUP SPEAK, disclosed that Aumentado, an engineering student, was arrested Saturday afternoon while on his way to the market to buy food for stranded PUP students. He was charged for violation of quarantine protocols and falsification of public documents.

The student group, however, claims that contrary to PCP #8’s report, Aumentado is authorized to go out as he carries valid and legitimate Home Quarantine Pass (HQP) verified by Barangay 587.

Apparently, it was Barangay 587 who made a mistake in issuing double-entry HQP. Barangay officials made an official representation to certify the mistake but police officers rejected their appeal.

Prior to the apprehension, Aumentado serves as a volunteer in aiding stranded dormers and service workers. Together with other volunteers, he also feeds cats within PUP vicinity.

“We call for Aumentado’s immediate release as helping fellow students in distress is not a criminal offense but rather a commendable act of bayanihan. The defense of his rights before a police officer is neither a crime,” said Judy Miranda, PM Secretary-General.

Miranda said the arrest of Aumentado is sending a wrong signal to volunteers who are willing to work side by side with our front liners in helping stranded people.

“It also gives the impression that persons in similar circumstances may be suspected as ‘lawless elements’ by security forces who rule the streets now in a martial law manner,” said Miranda.

She called on the government to implement a more humane response to this pandemic to avoid violating the rights of many people.

#FreeRexonAumentado
#MakataongTugonHindiMilitarisasyon

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[Press Release] PM to DOLE: Is number of affected workers downplayed to justify big gap in distribution of cash aid?

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PM to DOLE: Is number of affected workers downplayed to justify big gap in distribution of cash aid?

Is it true that only 3.57 percent of 28 million workers employed in the formal sector were affected by the lockdown? The labor group Partido Manggawa (PM) cannot believe so.

“The problem can be poor or incomplete reporting or a more scheming form of it – an arbitrary downgrading to justify the huge gap in the distribution of cash aid,” stated PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday, said that based on reports submitted by its regional offices, there are 1,048,649 workers in the formal sector nationwide who were affected by temporary business closures or flexible work arrangements. Most of the affected workers, it said, came from the manufacturing, hotel, restaurants and tourism, and education sectors.

But according to PM, the number merely represents a small fraction of the wage and salaried workers in the country and therefore can be interpreted as ‘insignificant’ as far as the lockdown impact is concerned.

The group pointed out that as of January this year, 65.2% of employed persons are wage and salary workers. This is equivalent to 28 million workers in the formal sector out of the 42.6 million employed persons throughout the country.

“One million is just 3.57% of the 28 million wage workers. That means more than 90% of our workers in the formal sector are not yet affected by the one-month lockdown,” said Magtubo.

To be not affected, workers are either working continuously, at home but receiving wages from their employers, or in quarantine but with guaranteed income.

“Obviously that is not what we’re seeing at the ground level as most of our workers, except state employees and those in few large corporations who are still under payroll, are employed in unprotected and less monitored micro-enterprises,” said Magtubo.

The labor leader said he can only suspect that numbers are being downplayed here to justify a small number of target beneficiaries to be covered by its cash aid program.

DOLE is rolling out P5,000 cash assistance to affected workers in the formal sector under its COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP). The same amount goes for the informal sector under its temporary cash-for-work program called Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Displaced/Underprivileged Workers (TUPAD).

Partido Manggagawa, together with labor umbrella Nagkaisa!, is pushing for #AyudangSapatParaSaLahat demand. It also calls for the extension of government subsidies beyond the lockdown period as well as a more humanitarian rather than militaristic approach in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. ###

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[From the web] Workers ask gov’t to reopen factory to make facemasks -PM

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Photo from PM blog

Workers ask gov’t to reopen factory to make facemasks

Workers of a garments firm that has been shuttered for the past four months are asking the government to reopen the factory to produce facemasks. Sejung Apparel Inc., a Korean-owned firm in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas, was shutdown in December last year.

“The Bayanihan Act gave the government the power to direct the operations of a company to respond to the covid pandemic. Thus we demand that 315 Sejung employees be put back to working to make PPE’s that are desperately needed at this time,” stated Jopay Odchimar, president of the labor union of Sejung workers.

She added that “We want to help others even as we lift ourselves by our own efforts. The government should not think twice about our appeal to reopen the factory and retool it for making washable facemasks.”

Last April 10, officials of the FCIE padlocked the factory gates.

Read full story @partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

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[Press Release] Partido Manggagawa condemns dispersal of picketline using lockdown as alibi

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The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the dispersal of a picket line of economic zone workers in Dasmarinas, Cavite last night.

From 8:00 to 9:00 pm last night, two Dasmarinas police backed up with scores of tanods of Barangay Langkaan 1 and 2 and security guards threatened two workers in the picket line, Jackie Elorde, and Amer Taluba, with arrest if they will not leave the picket line.

Workers of Korean-owned Sejung Apparel Inc. in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) have been on picket-protest since December for non-payment of 13th-month pay and other violations.

“We condemn the forcible dispersal of the picket line of Sejung workers in the dead of Black Friday night by modern Roman centurions—police, barangay tanods and security guards—in blatant violation of the law,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He asserted that the DOLE-PNP-PEZA Guidelines of 2011 and the expanded version of 2012 which specifically includes barangay tanods prohibit interference by any security personnel in labor disputes. “The guidelines and labor rights are not revoked or suspended just because quarantine is in effect,” Magtubo insisted.

He added that “The dispersal is the culmination of a three-week-long attempt by FCIE to harass and starve Jackie and Amer into submission. Since March 27, all attempts to bring food and water to Jackie and Amer, the two workers at the picket line, were stopped by security guards allegedly upon orders of FCIE estate manager Raffy Malanyaon. Guards maintained a 24/7 cordon sanitaire around the picket line in violation of the guidelines which mandate that police, military and guards should be 50 meters away and not interfere in peaceful picketing.”

“For more than four months, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) provincial and regional offices did not act on the clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection. The case has dragged on for so long that the COVID pandemic and the resulting quarantine further aggravated the sufferings of the workers,” Magtubo explained.

The labor dispute is due to non-payment of 13th-month pay, last salary, and union-busting. Sejung declared a temporary shutdown for three times since October last year. The first shutdown occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won the certification election. The company reopened but once more closed in December and filed for an extension of shutdown in January.

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[From the web] Strikers being starved using covid lockdown as cover -PM

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Photo from PM Blog

Workers of garments factory Sejung Apparel Inc. have been on picket-protest since December. In recognition of the need to maintain social distancing, the number of people at the picket line was reduced by the union. From March 27 until today, all attempts to bring food and water to Jackie Elorde and Amer Taluba, the two workers at the picket line, have been stopped by security guards.

Sejung Apparel is a Korean-owned garments factory at the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas, Cavite (part of the industrial region just outside the capital Metro Manila). Guards have maintained a 24/7 cordon sanitaire around the picket line in violation of the 2011 Guidelines on the Conduct of Security Personnel During Labor Disputes which mandate that police, military and guards should be 50 meters away and not interfere in peaceful picketing. It appears that FCIE wants to starve Jackie and Amer into submission so as to dismantle the picket line.

On the morning of March 27, the union president Jopay Odchimar was prevented by FCIE guards from returning to the picket line to bring food. The guards said that this was upon the orders of FCIE estate manager Raffy Malanyaon and alleged due to the COVID quarantine. However, workers continued to go in and out of the FCIE that day as the export processing zone was not shuttered.

After a standoff from morning to afternoon, the union president agreed not to proceed to prevent a further argument. That night, FCIE guards stopped water from being given by friends from nearby factories allegedly upon the orders of the estate manager.

Read complete story @partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

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[Press Release] Universalisation ang sagot sa kaguluhan sa anti-covid social amelioration program -PM

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Hindi pili (targeted) kundi panglahatan o yaong tinatawag na universal system ang dapat ipatupad bilang solusyon sa malawak na diskontento at kaguluhang nagaganap ngayon sa mga barangay kaugnay ng social amelioration program for COVID-19 .

Ito ang binigyang diin ni Ka Rene Magtubo, Tagapangulo ng Partido Manggagawa (PM) sa harap ng kalituhan at kaguluhang nagaganap ngayon sa ipinatutupad na social amelioration program for covid-19 sa buong Luzon at sa malaking bahagi ng bansa na ngayon ay pumapasok na sa ika-apat na lingo ng lockdown.

Kabilang ang PM sa Nagkaisa! labor coalition na nagtutulak ng nasabing kahilingan.

Ayon kay Magtubo, “Kakambal na problema ng targeted system ang trapik at inekwalidad dahil inuuri-uri muna ang benepisyaryo bago isakay sa ibat-ibang programa kung saan sila qualified. Kung universal ang sistema, lahat ng manggagawang apektado ng lockdown, pormal man o impormal ang hanapbuhay, kabilang ang OFW o kanyang pamilya ay dapat makinabang. ”

Ang mga bulnerableng sektor naman umano tulad ng senior citizen, PWD, solo parent at iba pa, ay may sarili nang listahan at programang sumasaklaw mula sa DSWD.

Ipinaliwanag pa ni Magtubo na sa ilalim ng umiiral na guidelines ay nakalista kung sinu-sino ang qualified na kung susumahin sa dulo ay lahat ng mahirap ay qualified. Pero dahil may exemption at maksimum na halaga lamang ang makukuha ng bawat household , may malaking bilang talaga ng mamamayan na maiiwanan.

Sa universal na sistema, ang exemption ay maari na lamang ikonsiderang ipataw sa mga VIP at mayayaman.

Naniniwala ang PM na kahit ma-extend ang lockdown ay kakayanin sa 2020 budget ang mas malaking halaga na kakailanganin para maging panglahatan (universal) ang ayuda dahil may kapangyarihan na ang Pangulong Duterte na galawin ang budget sa ilalim ng Bayanihan Act. Maari ding magpataw ng mas malaking tax sa kayamanan ng pinakamayayaman.

Ang P200B para kasalukuyang social amelioration ay katumbas lamang umano ng 4.8% ng P4.1 trilyon na national budget para sa 2020 kaya’t malaking bahagi ay maari pang ilaan sa ayudang panglahatan.

Sinabi pa ni Magtubo na mahalagang magkaroon na ng sistemang universal sa ganitong uri ng social assistance dahil ang istabildad ng ekonomiya sa panahon ng krisis ay nakabatay sa kapasidad ng manggagawa at mamamayan na makabili ng batayang pangangailangan.

“Ibig sabihin, ang ayudang panglahatan ay dapat mas mahaba rin kaysa sa itinakdang kalendaryo ng lockdown dahil ang economic recovery ay maaring umabot sa puntong imposible kapag nawalan ng trabaho at purchasing power ang mamamayan. ###
#AyudaParaSaLahat
#AyudaForAll
#WeHealAsOne

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[Press Release] Marikina also first to adopt Covid-19 labor-protection ordinance -PM

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Renato Magtubo. File photo source: flickr.com

Aside from being the first among the local government units (LGUs) to have Covid-19 testing facility, the city of Marikina is also the first to adopt a labor-protection ordinance aimed at mitigating the negative impact of the current pandemic among workers.

Sponsored by Councilor Renato Magtubo, City Ordinance No. 027 Series of 2020, also known as COVID 19 Pandemic Workers’ Welfare Ordinance of 2020, was adopted by the City Council last March 18, 2020. Magtubo is also the National Chairman of Partido Manggagawa (PM) and one of the convenors of the labor coalition Nagkaisa.

The ordinance aims to protect jobs and income for workers employed in companies and establishments operating in Marikina City and to help the city government in its effort to contain and effectively address the effects of COVID 19 pandemic to the population of Marikina City.

The ordinance recommends several measures to adopt in the event a company or an establishment’s operation is affected by Covid-19 pandemic. These include a dialogue between workers and employers both in the unionized and non-unionized establishments. Parties to the dialogue may seek the assistance of the city’s LRPESO, the City Mayor, the Chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Capital Relations of the city council or from the representative of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on their impact assessment and determination of appropriate measures to undertake.

Magtubo stressed that impact assessment is very important at this point in time so that employers’ actions such as reduction of working hours, work rotation, temporary reduction of workforce or company shutdown would not be imposed without providing workers some level of protection such as paid leave, return to work assurance, and access to government assistance or subsidies. The ordinance also encourages work-from-home arrangements without diminution of wages and benefits. Personal protective equipment must also be provided by employers for workers who will remain in the frontline.

The ordinance does not yet cover workers in the informal sector whom Magtubo said are the ones needing a wide range level of social protection. But just the same, he urged the city government to conduct a city-wide impact assessment for this huge sector so that they get priority from national subsidies and LGU assistance.

“Emergency measures are always met by bureaucratic gridlock so that the more an LGU is prepared in knowing the problems down the line and getting the inputs of local communities which is a very important aspect of crisis response, the more it can respond quickly and effectively to their particular needs,” said Magtubo.

And in reaction to the Bayanihan Act, the labor leader echoed Nagkaisa’s call that the national bayanihan must be matched by ‘katapatan’ on the part of the Chief executive and his implementing agencies while the people should maintain ‘pagbabantay’ or a strong level of collective vigilance so that emergency powers are put in check.

“Karapatan nating makatanggap ng tulong mula sa gubyerno. Karapatan din nating hindi maabuso,” concluded Magtubo.

#KillTheVirusNotTheWorkers
#ManggagawaNaman

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[From the web] Both business and govt must act to avert a social crisis—labor group -PM

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The labor group Partido Manggagawa asserted that both business and government must act to avert the COVID pandemic turning into a social crisis. This was the group’s reaction to the call by 32 business organizations for deficit spending by the government for assistance to workers and the poor.

“Employers must bear temporary losses by paying wages to their workers during the lockdown. Businesses should go into deficit spending just like what they demand of government,” stated Rene Magtubo.

To illustrate, he added that “We know of a parts supplier to car companies abroad that stopped operating this week without granting quarantine subsidy to more than 8,000 workforces and instead is applying for the P5,000 DOLE assistance to formal workers. This is a giant company that can very well afford to bear losses by paying wages during the lockdown.”

“Big businesses that employ more than 200 workers should be mandated to grant quarantine subsidy to its workers. These large establishments employ more than a third of all formal workers.”

According to PM, even micro, small and medium enterprises can shoulder temporary losses by paying quarantine subsidy to their workers. A microenterprise with 5 workers and P1.5 million in capitalization—the median numbers for the category—will incur P50,000 in quarantine subsidy for one month which translates to losses since there is no revenue. This P50,000 temporary loss is still just 3.3% of its total capitalization and should not lead to bankruptcy. These microenterprises number 850,000 and employ almost a third of all formal workers.

Read full story @partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

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[From the web] Employers asked for paid leave as ecozones close in Cavite -PM

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The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on employers to grant paid leave to workers affected by the closure of ecozones in the province of Cavite. “Foreign investors should shoulder temporary losses due to the COVID pandemic,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The biggest export complex in the country, the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario, shuttered last night while the First Cavite Industrial Estate in Dasmarinas will close at 5:00 pm today. “We estimate that some 100,000 workers from the two ecozones are affected by the lockdown,” Magtubo said.

He added that “Employers have benefited from recent economic growth without sharing the bounty with their workers. This was revealed in a Department of Finance study showing labor productivity grew by at least 50 percent, yet real wages were stagnant from 2001 to 2016. Moreover, foreign investors in the ecozones enjoyed tax breaks and other privileges for years. Now that there is a crisis, employers are morally obliged not to pass on the burden to their hapless workers.”

Read full story @partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

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[Statement] Women’s Day demands: Job security, social protection amid COVID-19 outbreak -PM

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Photo by PM

As women workers marched today on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that workers are more secured when engaged in regular jobs instead of unemployed in times of crisis. The group demanded job security and social protection in response to the threat of massive job loss and health hazards from the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The capitalist system imposes a ‘no work no pay’ principle at work. So when women workers are fired from work or put on job rotation, they lose the means to protect their selves and their families. This is aggravated in third world countries where weak healthcare and social protection systems prevail,” explained PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.

PM members joined protest actions in this morning at the Timog Ave. cor. Scout Tobias in Quezon City led by World March of Women and with several women groups in a march to Mendiola before noon.

Miranda, who also heads the party’s women committee, said those mass layoffs should be the last in the menu of actions that can be taken in confronting the virus outbreak, fearing this health crisis can also be used by employers to implement labor flexibilization schemes like endo and downsizing.

The Asian Development Bank on Friday said the Philippine economy could lose between $669 million and $1.94 billion as well as lose 87,000 to 252,000 jobs across five sectors due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We can’t just wait in grief for these things to happen as pro-active measures can be prepared. Thus we demand that the government flag down any plan by employers to implement flexibilization schemes and mass retrenchments without going through a process of negotiations with affected workers. And for those who need to face the inevitable, a stronger package of social protection must be put in place,” explained Miranda.

Read more @partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

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[Statement] Kabuhayan ng Angkas motorcycle taxi drivers, ipaglaban! -PM

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Photo credit: from FB page of Yob JB Bolanos and Don Pangan of MRO. Ongoing unity ride of Angkas and organized riders.

Nagpapahayag ng suporta ang Partido Manggagawa (PM) sa pakikipaglaban ng halos 20,000 drivers ng ANGKAS na nakaambang mawalan ng hanapbuhay pagsapit ng Bagong Taon. Bunga ito ng naging desisyon ng Technical Working Group ng LTFRB na bawasan ang kasalukuyang bilang ng pumpasadang ANGKAS at hatian ng kaparehong alokasyon ang dalawang bagong kompanya na nais pumasok sa industriya ng motorcycle taxi.

Ang naging desisyon ng LTFRB ay hindi makatwiran. Lalong hindi ito makatarungan para sa mga manggagawang dumaan na sa ilang buwan nang pagsasanay at praktikal na karanasan sa pamamasada ng motorcycle taxi. Hindi mali ang prinsipyo ng kompetisyon sa industriya. Pero may inhustiysa kung ang resulta ng kompetisyon ay dislokasyon sa libu-libong manggagawa.

Ang Partido Manggagawa ay matagal nang nakikipag-unayan at sumusporta sa pakikipalaban ng ating mag riders laban sa diskriminasyon sa lansangan at iba pang mapaniil na patakaran na ipinapatupad ng mga ahensya ng pamahalaan, lokal at nasyunal. Kabilang dito ang isyu ng plaka vest, doble-plaka at ang ligalisasyon ng motorcycle taxi.

Ito ay sa kadahilanang 99% ng gumagamit ng motorsiklo sa buong bansa ay mula sa uring manggagawa. Ang sektor ng transportasyon ang second biggest employer sa service industry na may total workforce na 3.2 milyon o o 7.8 per cent ng total employed persons noong 2018.

Bago pa magkaroon ng motorcycle taxi sa pamamagitan ng ANGKAS ay una munang gumagamit ng motorsiklong pampasada ang mga manggagawa kapwa sa pormal at impormal na sektor. Hanggang maging popular na sakayan na ito ng kapwa nila manggagawa dahil sa praktikal na ekonomikong konsiderasyon at bilang tugon sa krisis sa mass transport system sa bansa. Gamit nila ito para dalhin ang kanilang mga sarili sa trabaho at ang iba naman ay gamit mismo ang motorsiklo sa paghahanapbuhay sa ibat-ibang delivery services na popular na sa ganitong panahon.

Ayon sa tala ng Philippine Statistics Authority, mayroon nang 6.2 milyong registered motorcycles and tricycles noon pa lamang 2013. At napakabilis ang kanyang naging pagdami. Sa katunayan, mahigit 2 milyong motorsiklo, ang nairehistro sa unang 10 buwan lamang ng 2018.

Samakatwid, ang motorcycle taxi ay dapat nang kilalanin ng pamahalaan bilang karapatan at kabuhayan para sa libu-libong manggagawa. Pag-unlad din ito mula sa impormal patungong pormal na industriya kung kaya’t ang regulasyon para dito ay hindi na lamang ilapat sa usapin ng negosyo kundi pati na rin sa general labor standards.

Nananawagan ang PM sa LTFRB na bawiin ang naging desisyon para sa kapakanan ng 17,000 manggagawang mawawalan ng hanapbuhay sa Bagong Taon. Hinihikayat din namin ang DOLE na masagawa nan g kaukulang pag-aaral at maglabas ng kaukulang patakaran sa employment relations ng mga manggagawang nagtatrabaho sa TNVS companies, kabilang ang motorcycle taxi. ##

Photo credit: from FB page of Yob JB Bolanos and Don Pangan of MRO. Ongoing unity ride of Angkas and organized riders.

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[Press Release] Labor group condemns killing of union organizer in Cavite -PM

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The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemned the killing of the vice chairperson of its Cavite chapter. The group called on the authorities to investigate and solve the killing.

Dennis Sequena was shot and killed earlier today in Brgy. Bunga, Tanza, Cavite while meeting a group of workers. He was shot by a gunman who arrived riding in tandem on a motorcycle. The gunman and his accomplice escaped using the same motorcycle. Sequena was brought by his PM colleagues to the General Trias Maternity and Pediatric Hospital but doctors failed to revive him.

“We call on the police to act with dispatch and catch the perpetrators of the crime. Dennis is a community leader and has no personal enemies. We believe this is an extra-judicial killing for Dennis’ work as a labor organizer,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Sequena was a union organizer and partylist nominee of the group in the just concluded elections. He was active in assisting Cavite workers facing labor problems and advising workers who are unionizing as a means to improve wages and working conditions.

Magtubo also called on Congress to launch a congressional investigation on the extra-judicial killing of labor organizers and union activists.

Press Release
Partido Manggagawa
June 2, 2019
Contact Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

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[Statement] PM condemns vigilante style killing of a leader

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PM condemns vigilante style killing of a leader

Photo from partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

Photo from partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) condemned the killing of one of its leaders in Talisay, Cebu today. Orlando Abangan, a community leader of PM-Cebu, was shot at close range by a lone gunman around 8:00 am while he was on his way home in Sitio Lawis, Barangay Maghaway in Talisay City.

“We condemn the vigilante-style killing of Ka Lando and call on the authorities for a thorough investigation of his murder. Justice for Ka Lando and other victims of extra-judicial killings,” declared Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Abangan, 35 years old, is survived by his wife and two children. He was a full time organizer of PM in the province of Cebu since 2001. During the last election, he built an organization of persons with disabilities in Talisay that campaigned for social protection and social services for their sector. Recently he was engaged as informal sector organizer of the labor center Sentro.

Fortaleza added that “In calling for justice for Ka Lando, we are also assailing the culture of impunity that has resulted to the spate of slayings everywhere. Labor rights and human rights are an indivisible whole. Before he was killed, Ka Lando was vocal in criticizing the extra-judicial killings in our country.”

PM is a member of the coalition In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDefend) which advocates that human rights and due process cannot be sacrificed in government’s ongoing war against drugs and criminality.

PM is joining iDefend  and other human rights groups in a rally in Manila on Wednesday, September 21, on the anniversary of the declaration of martial law. Justice for Abangan will be one of the demands of the forthcoming protest.

September 17, 2016

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[Press Release] Labor group demands that DOLE relax rules on tardy workers -PM

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As cabinet meets to deal with traffic problem:
Labor group demands that DOLE relax rules on tardy workers

With the cabinet meeting today to deal with the grave traffic problem in Metro Manila, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) demanded that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issue rules to protect workers who are late for work due to traffic.

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“With employers seemingly cool to our proposal not to penalize tardy workers stuck in traffic, we petition the DOLE to mandate new rules so that employees are not punished for a problem that they have no control over and the government has no solution yet,” insisted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Last week PM proposed the following steps:
1. Grace period of 30 minutes
2. No warning or infraction if three or more workers are late due to traffic
3. No pay cut, offset through additional time worked
4. Shuttle buses for establishments with 200 or more workers

Magtubo averred that “It is well within the powers of the DOLE to issue rules on tardiness due to traffic as it also makes industrial regulations in times of power or economic crisis. Traffic is no less a pressing concern for workers as it impacts on their work-life balance and also employers as it affect their productivity.”

He added that “At the very least DOLE should call a tripartite conference of representatives of workers, employers and government so that the parties can agree on concrete steps to deal with the industrial implications of traffic congestion, including protection for workers who are late due to traffic.”

Media reported that officials of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines were opposed to the proposals of PM. “Since employers are unwilling to meet our sensible proposals, we encourage unions to negotiate with management for such measures in their collective bargaining agreements or table them in grievance procedures. We also call on employees without unions to directly petition their management. Until traffic congestion is substantially reduced, such remedial steps must remain in place to protect workers,” Magtubo argued.

PM is proposing that government provide for green, cheap, public mass transport system in Metro Manila and major cities as a long-term solution to the issue of traffic. Among other strategic solutions, the group insists that government invest and subsidize in efficient electric rail networks that must remain in public hands.

Press Release
September 1, 2015
Partido Manggagawa
Contact Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

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[Press Release] PH labor hails Greek vote against IMF bailout -PM

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PH labor hails Greek vote against IMF bailout  

Left groups in the Philippines, including the Partido Manggagawa (PM), greeted the jubilant Greeks for casting a historic vote against the third austerity package that is going to be imposed upon them by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission (EC) or what is commonly referred to as the “Troika”.

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“The Syriza government should be congratulated for subjecting a major economic agenda to a political decision via a referendum where people can directly express their position to the issue.  And now that the great majority of the Greeks voted in clear defiance of the troika, the European Union (EU) is faced with a fundamental question on whether to push further with austerity measures decided by the banks and a small circle of UE technocrats, or yield down to democracy which principles also formed the basis of European integration,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

Fortaleza said the Greeks voted “no” despite their full knowledge of the consequence that there shall be no IMF/EU rescue money coming to Greece after their rejection of the bailout package, “Yet they have solidly defied the blackmail as they believed the new bailout package imposes the same program of deep budget cuts and more taxes while the country plunges deeper under the mountain of unpayable debts.”

The Greek people have been fighting the Troika-imposed austerity measures since 2010 as the country battled against the highest unemployment rate in Europe and the collapse of its welfare system.  At least 25% of the labor force is unemployed, with more than 50% belonging to the youth.  The price of education also soared, the cost and quality of healthcare significantly suffered, while the elderly keep a long wait for unreleased pensions.

The general rejection of anti-austerity measures led to last year’s election of a left coalition party Syriza under the leadership of Alexis Tsipras.

But for Partido Manggagawa, the Troika’s unyielding stand against Tsipra’s counter proposals for debt condonation, no new taxes and the revival of basic public spending programs, is not meant for the Greeks alone as it also showed how the EU would deal with other EU countries facing the same debt problems such as Italy, Spain, Ireland and Portugal. Anti-austerity movements are also growing fast in these countries and in other parts of Europe.

“Clearly the Syriza victory last year and the Greeks’ popular rejection of IMF bailout is something that the Troika wouldn’t consider as a triumph of democracy but more as a threat to their hegemony,” said Fortaleza.

The Philippine left could easily connect with the issued faced by the European people as the country had also been battered by IMF-imposed policies since the 80’s.  It was the IMF that imposed the policies of deregulation and privatization of public utilities which led to the escalation of prices of basic services in the country.

NEWS RELEASE
Partido Manggagawa
06 July 2015
Ref: Wilson Fortaleza
09053732185

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[Press Release] Labor group challenges business sector to speak on Kentex tragedy -PM

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Labor group challenges business sector to speak on Kentex tragedy

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today challenged the business sector to speak on the fire at Kentex Manufacturing Corp. that killed at least 72 people, almost all of whom were factory workers and many of whom were women.

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“Compared to the prominent role of employers in support of the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law, they are noticeably absent in the calls for justice and reform in the wake of the tragic Kentex fire. Would Jaime Zobel de Ayala and Manny Pangilinan link up arms with labor leaders to call for jailing the immoral owners of Kentx and the criminalization of workplace safety violations?,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

Yesterday, PM together with labor groups affiliated to the coalition Nagkaisa! trooped to the Kentex factory to hold a site inspection and spray paint the gutted factory and nearby establishment with the message “Sweatshop ito: NAKAMAMATAY!” The action was part of PM’s campaign to seek justice for the Kentex workers and demand labor reforms.

“Employer groups have been deafeningly silent on Kentex in contrast to their noisy opposition to wage hike demands. We dare them to denounce Kentex for its violations of workplace safety and labor standards. We call on them to support calls for criminalization of breach of occupational safety and health,” Miranda argued.

She noted that the recent statement by Employer Confederation of the Philippines that it does not condone labor law violations and it supports penalizing Kentex if found guilty is “too little, too late given the concrete facts that have been uncovered about the sweatshop conditions at the factory.”

PM is demanding that business groups spell out detailed mechanisms for self-regulation among it employer members to ensure compliance with labor rights and standards.

Miranda explained that “Even big companies and multinational corporations, which are generally compliant with the minimum standards set by law, benefit from sweatshop labor because small companies are subcontractors in their supply chains. For example, global garment brands even employ homeworkers toiling under the exploitative piece rate system not as direct employees but as laborers in layers upon layers of subcontracting arrangements. No wonder the business sector is quiet and absent in the outrage over Kentex since the capitalist class benefit as a whole from sweatshop labor.”

Press Release
May 21, 2015
Partido Manggagawa
Contact Judy Ann Miranda @ 09228677522, 09175570777

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[Press Release] Labor enforcement reforms needed in wake of Valenzuela factory fire -PM

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Labor enforcement reforms needed in wake of Valenzuela factory fire

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection in response to the deadly fire at the Kentex factory in Valenzuela that has already claimed the lives of 72 people. “Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths and injuries to workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

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PM lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards. The deaths of Kentex workers comes on top of the loss of lives in several construction sites amidst the current real estate boom. “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” Magtubo elaborated.

He averred that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increased several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved,” Magtubo recommended.

He noted that the DOLE’s “Labor Laws Compliance System” (LLCS) inaugurated in 2013 and the hike in the number of labor inspectors to almost 600 is still not working. An audit by the International Labor Organization in 2009 revealed that with only 193 labor inspectors to inspect 784,000 companies, an establishment gets inspected only once every 16 years.

“A big loophole in the so-called LLCS is the focus on ‘voluntary compliance’ and ‘self-assessment’ by employers. Voluntary compliance and self-assessment means that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep get slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.

He added that “The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job. DOLE must review contractors and their principals for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Contractual workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are unorganized.”

News reports have cited survivors as saying that agency workers at Kentex had below minimum wages, were not given hazard pay and social security contributions were not remitted.

Press Release
May 15, 2015
Contact Renato Magtubo @ 09178532905
Chairperson, Partido Manggagawa

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[Press Release] Strike at Korean factory reveals myth of APEC’s “inclusive growth” -PM

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Strike at Korean factory reveals myth of APEC’s “inclusive growth”

Photo by PM

Photo by PM

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today slammed the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) theme of “inclusive growth” as a myth as it cited the strike at a Korean factory in Cavite as microcosm of labor’s plight. An APEC senior officials meeting just concluded last weekend in Clark, Pampanga.

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“APEC, which includes the Philippines and South Korea, is all about investor rights and none about labor concerns. Thus its call for inclusive growth is just a marketing gimmick in the face of worsening inequality amidst economic development. A case in point is this Korean investor in the Philippines which refuses to share productivity gains to its struggling workers,” insisted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

The strike at Tae Sung Philippines Co. Inc. in the Cavite economic zone entered its second day. A marathon mediation meeting yesterday failed to break the deadlock in negotiations. The union Tae Sung Employees Association asserts that management remains intransigent in bargaining and refuses to meet workers demands halfway. Another mediation session is scheduled this afternoon.

Fortaleza explained that “Tae Sung is earning more than USD 14 million (PhP 600 million) annually since 2011 but it is merely offering its 250 unionized workers a pittance of P3 million in wages and benefits or just half of one percent of the fruits of their employees’ labor!”

He added that “Tae Sung is the rule not the exception among investors in Philippine export zones and all across the industrial areas of Asia and the Pacific. Cheap labor and precarious work means a regime of exclusion and belies APEC’s lip service of inclusive growth.”

Production at Tae Sung remains paralyzed as regular workers are outside the factory picketing. Aside from bad faith bargaining, the union alleges that Tae Sung is attempting to weaken the union by firing eight union members, including one union officer, and suspending others including the union president and vice president. Workers have set up tents and a picketline outside the Tae Sung factory.

“Most of the Tae Sung workers earn just the floor wage of P315 plus allowance of P25.50 which is not even half of the cost of living in Calabarzon, which hardly differs from Metro Manila which we estimate is at least P1,000 per day for a family of five,” Fortaleza argued.

Press Release
February 12, 2015
Partido Manggagawa
Contact Wilson Fortaleza @ 09225261138, 09053732185

[Appeal] Resolution Condemning the Brutal Murder of Rolando Pango and Requesting Concerned Government Authorities and Human Rights Organizations to Conduct Immediate Investigations of the incident- PM

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Resolution Condemning the Brutal Murder of Rolando Pango
and Requesting Concerned Government Authorities and Human Rights Organizations to Conduct Immediate Investigations of the incident

Justice Rolando Pango

Justice Rolando Pango

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) Negros Chapter through a 3rd Provincial Congress resolution dated November 30, 2014STRONGLY CONDEMNED IN THE STRONGEST TERMS POSSIBLE THE BRUTAL MURDER of  Rolando Pango in Hacienda Garrason, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.

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Rolando Pango is a Labor Leader in Brgy. Payao and Biao in Binalbagan town and a PM Organizer in Isabela and Binalbagan areas of the province.

Last November 29, 20014 after meeting PM farmworker-members, in preparation for Gat Andres Bonifacio Day activities, Kaupod Lando, accompanied by his cousin stoppedby Binalbagan town proper. Past 9:00 PM when they decided to go home by motorcycle but were blocked by another motorcycle rider and a black sedan at the crossing of Hacienda Garrason. Two unidentified armed men dragged Ka Lando and shot him on the head. His cousin was spared and heard one of the armed men said to Ka Lando,“kasabad sa imo, pati duta ginaentrahan mo”.

Kaupod Lando had organized the farmworkers of Hacienda Salud – a135 hectare sugarcane plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela – leasedand managed by Manuel “Manolit” Lamata.

Last year, the  Farmworkers Association of Hacienda Salud through the aid of Ka Lando wrote the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to include the hacienda in the Carper Coverage.And in June 30, 2014, DAR issued a Notice of Coverage (NOC) for Compulsory Acquisition of hacienda that was owned by Pedro Garruchari.

September 2014 when Manolit Lamata together with several armed men went to Hacienda Salud and forced farmworkers to signed a blank white paper. The workers refused to sign and hid in order not to be forced to sign under duress.

As a result, more than 40 hacienda workers were summarily and illegally dismissedthe following month.  The workers viewed this as an injustice, that after more than 20 years of working in the Hacienda even before Manolit Lamata took over the leased property in1995 they were the original and regular workers.

Forty-one hacienda workers then filed an illegal dismissal complaint against Manuel Lamata before the National Labor Relations Commission(NLRC)-Bacolod City.The First Mandatory Conference was scheduled in December 3, 2014.

A week before the scheduled Hearing at the NLRC, a representative of Manuel Lamata, through his daughter Maricris Lamata, offered half a million pesos (P500,000) to settle which the 41 workers rejected outright.

Then the brutal killing of Rolando Pango followed.

In lieu to the brutal murder of our comrade Labor Leader Organizer, the 280 delegates of the provincial congress representing 2,800 active Partido Manggagawa members hereby resolved:

1.    To ask the Provincial Government in Negros Occidental to take the summary killing seriously and to stop the culture of impunity in the province;
2.    To urge the Provincial Police Office to conduct a thorough investigation of the case until the culprit is punished and justice given to Kaupod Lando, his family, and to the oppressed and exploited hacienda workers that he had served.
3.    Seek the assistance of human rightsgroups and advocates, the Department of Justice and the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an independent investigation of human rights abuses inside Hacienda Salud.

Partido Manggagawa-Negros Chapter                                                     November 30, 2014Bacolod City, Philippines

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