As of April 2024
Partido Manggagawa (PM)
Labor Party - Philippines
Monday, April 1, 2024
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Wage clustering is better than regionalization but one national minimum wage is best
According
to Partido Manggagawa (PM), the proposal of Representative Joel R. Chua (3rd
District of Manila) to replace the current wage regionalization scheme with a
wage clustering system is welcome in the sense that it founded on a recognition
of the failures of the existing wage fixing system and thus opens a window for
a discussion of a better mechanism. “Wage clustering is better than
regionalization but one national minimum wage is best,” Rene Magtubo, PM
national chair, explained.
He
added that “We agree, as Rep. Chua asserts, that wage regionalization has led a
huge gap between wages of regions that are not substantiated by differences in
cost of living, and also has led to complexity in implementation as the DOLE
has to monitor almost 50 minimum wages across the country.”
For
this reason, PM is pushing for a national minimum wage as a floor. Differences
between actual wages should be based on seniority, skills and productivity,
according to the group.
“Also,
while we insist that a replacement to the wage regionalization mechanism is
also overdue, let us not lose sight of the immediate demand for a P150
across-the-board legislated wage recovery,” Magtubo emphasized.
PM
is advocating for an “Apat na Dapat” in regard to the wage issue at the moment:
1.
Php 150 across the board wage increase to recover wage loss due to inflation
(immediate);
2.
Non-wage benefits to enhance take home pay (for example: suspension of
Philhealth contributions, reduction in withholding taxes for fixed income
earners, social security subsidies, etc.);
3.
Review and amend RA 6727 with the end in view of having uniform wage rates and
satisfying the constitutional mandate of granting workers a living wage;
4. Enhance wage and benefits setting through collective bargaining negotiations by implementing the recommendations of the International Labour Organization’s High-Level Tripartite Mission so that workers can exercise freedom of association without harassment and intimidations, and unwarranted regulations.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
MEDIA ADVISORY: Anti-mining rally at Batasan tomorrow
ALYANSA TIGIL MINA (ATM)
invites you to a
CREATIVE ACTION
Pagkaswapang ng Minahan, Wakasan!
Pagkamkam ng Kapangyarihan, Pigilan!
Unahin Tao at Kalikasan, ChaCha Ibasura!
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
9:00 AM – Assembly at Kasayahan St. cor Batasan Road
9:30 AM – March to South Gate of Batasang Pambansa
Important Note: The Program is targeted to be at South Gate
of Batasang Pambansa. But, in case of dispersal, the contingent will proceed to
the North Gate and hold the program there.
Various groups led by Alyansa Tigil Mina will march to the
Batasang Pambansa to demand a stop to destructive mining operations and a
rejection of proposals to change the 1987 Constitution.
Specifically, the groups will denounce the machinations of
House Speaker Martin Romualdez to amend the charter and serve his vested
interests as they charge him of amassing wealth through his and his family’s
mining companies.
Media coverage is requested.
Contact person:
Andrew Palangdao – +63 920 9845702
Friday, March 8, 2024
It takes decades for pro-women laws to get Congress’ nod compared to only 2 weeks for RBH 7
Haste doesn’t just make
waste; it also bears a dubious agenda. This is according to women leaders in
the labor movement who are celebrating International Women’s Day today.
Partido Manggagawa (PM)
Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda, said they were referring to the Resolution
of Both Houses No. 7 (RBH 7) that was swiftly approved by the House of
Representatives’ Committee of the Whole with only six days of marathon hearing.
In an earlier statement,
Miranda said the lightning approval of RBH 7 “is equivalent to a political hack
which is unthinkable for a huge political body known for being laggard and
protracted in its lawmaking process, especially when it comes to women and
other social development agenda.”
Miranda cited as an example
the lengthy years of enacting the reproductive health bill, which took 14
years, and now the proposed divorce law, as well as the right to safe and
affordable abortion even for special cases, may even take longer. The same
is true, she added, when it comes to the proposed wage hike as the last act of
Congress in legislating the wage hike was in 1989.
Photos of women’s rallies yesterday that includes demands against charter change and for public services can be accessed at PM FB: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/
08 March 2024
Thursday, March 7, 2024
The biggest hack is amending the Constitution via RBH 6 and 7 – Partido Manggagawa
Filipinos may have kept guard protecting their Facebook
accounts from possible hacking, a day after Meta confirmed there was a global
outage in its system. What we failed to prevent, however, was the biggest
political hack when the House of Representatives’ Committee of the Whole passed
Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 (RBH7) Wednesday.
Partido Manggagawa (PM) Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda,
said the haste in approving RBH 7 at the House of Representatives, “Is
equivalent to a political hack which is unthinkable for a huge political body
known for being laggard and protracted in its lawmaking process, especially
when it comes to important social development agenda.”
Miranda cited as an example the lengthy years of enacting
the reproductive health bill, which took 14 years, and now on the proposed
divorce law, and right to safe and affordable abortion even for special
cases.
“Kapag para sa kababaihan, history book ang trato sa amin ng
mga mambabatas. Pero kapag charter change para sa dayuhan, para silang
Facebook, Twitter, o Tiktok sa pabilisang gumalaw,” lamented Miranda, as PM
joined protest actions in the Senate with the World March of Women, and in
Manila with In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity (iDefend) Movement, which is
all part of the celebration of the International Women’s Day.
The same is true, she added, when it comes to the proposed
wage hike legislation, with the last legislated wage hike enacted by Congress
was in 1989. “When it comes to another agenda like charter change, which is an
alien concern to most Filipinos, our lawmakers get fast and furious.”
Like RBH 6 now pending before the Senate, RBH 7 proposes to
amend several economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution, particularly on
areas covering public services, education, advertising, and land ownership,
among others.
Once approved separately by both houses through a ¾ vote,
the “unless otherwise provided by law” shall be added to all the sections under
several articles of the Constitution that Congress so decides to be amended,
particularly Article XII (Section 11), Article XIV (paragraph 2 of Section 4),
and Article XVI (paragraph 2 of Section 11).
But Mirada emphasized, “changing those sections and articles of the Constitution won’t alter the age-old problems of poverty and discrimination confronting women today, which are more of an outcome of society’s capitalistic structure where social wealth is appropriated among the tiny few while governance is run under a dynastic political rule.”
07 March 2024