Bigong Pilipinas is the true State of the Nation

It’s been proclaimed before the global stage by no less than President Marcos, Jr. himself during the numerous foreign trips he made in the span of one year that the Philippine economy is doing good if not the best in the world in terms of performance.

But the state of Filipino workers disproves this claim. The President’s “Bagong Pilipinas” narrative is fake news. “Bigong Pilipinas” remains the appropriate representation of the true state of the nation today as far as the working class is concerned.

The post-pandemic Philippine economy may have recovered and businesses regained their profits, but the token P40 wage increase in NCR failed to recover even half of the wage value lost to inflation this year. And having no intention of pursuing a new anti-endo policy in the private and public sector, the Marcos administration is clearly on the path of keeping the status quo by affirming contractualization to be the best deal for local business and foreign investment to keep wages low and labor rights suppressed.

Moreover, the administration’s unsympathetic treatment of the ILO-High Level Tripartite Mission recommendations to address killings and red-tagging in the labor movement and to strengthen the mechanisms to protect freedom of association explains why DOLE slacks to undisturbed mode despite the continuing labor rights violations. The fact is without or with weaker unions, workers in their millions cannot negotiate with their bosses for improvements in their living standards.

Poverty, violence, and harassments continue to oppress women inside and outside their workplaces, yet the government works very slow in enacting measures to enhance protection for women. Convention 190 (elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work) has been waiting for Senate ratification since the last Congress but no move to that effect has been initiated by the Palace the way it did strongly for the Maharlika Investment Fund.

The state of COVID-19 public health emergency was lifted two days before the SONA, yet the state of the country’s healthcare system remains saddled with age-old problems. The brain-drain in the health sector continues while the local workforce suffers neglect and deteriorating working conditions due to low wages and irregular work arrangements.

Many administrations have failed workers in many aspects, thus, to be promised another “Bagong Pilipinas” under the same conditions of low wages, endo, and trade union repression surely won’t get accolades from the working class.

- Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

STATE OF LABOR ADDRESS 2023

Ahead of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA), All Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) held the 2023 State of Labor Address (SOLA) on 19 July 2023 to shed light on issues faced by working Filipinos and their families and amplify calls for: (i) better wages; (ii) ending contractualization; and (iii) the full and free exercise of workers’ freedom of association and right to organize.

APTU, comprised of the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and trade unions affiliated with the Council of Global Unions, was established in January 2023 when these workers’ organizations came together to submit their report to the International Labour Organization High Level Tripartite Mission (ILO HLTM), on the state of freedom of association in the Philippines. Since then, APTU has been working together to forge a common position on various issues that concern the labor sector, such as the issues of Sahod, Trabaho, at Karapatan, expressed in its mobilization during the May 1, 2023 workers’ rally.

The ₱40 daily minimum wage increase in NCR is too little, too late. It is not even half of the purchasing power lost to inflation, a loss valued at ₱89, based on the June 2023 consumer price index (CPI). It cannot even add a kilo of well-milled rice to a working family’s table for each working day. The ₱610 new NCR minimum wage is nowhere near the daily family living wage – a right enshrined in our Constitution and the Wage Rationalization Act, estimated by the IBON Foundation at ₱1,163. The struggle in Congress continues, in legislating towards true wage recovery and living wages. Through recent economic crises, workers sacrificed so much, and continue to sacrifice. In economic recovery, Government and employers must share in these sacrifices, as we work towards better policies to realize more decent work and a more equitable Philippine society.

APTU supports all proposed legislated wage increase measures currently pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate. These include the ₱150 across-the-board wage recovery increase filed by House Deputy Speaker Mendoza (TUCP) and Senate President Zubiri, as well as the ₱750 across-the-board wage hike towards family living wages, filed by the Makabayan Bloc. Congress should immediately hear and pass these bills to save working families from being a class of the permanently working poor trapped in precarious work and poverty wages. The regional wage boards outside of Metro Manila should immediately conduct consultations and hearings and issue substantial wage increase orders with urgency and dispatch.

Contractualization continues to be a bane for a majority of workers in precarious work arrangements. In the absence of stronger security of tenure legislation and decisive policy action by the Executive, precariousness is further entrenched by the continued implementation of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Department Order 174. More often, workers are forced to accept jobs that pay below minimum standards. Although government statistics claim a reduction of unemployment, in practice, current conditions likely tend towards workers taking on any job, even low-paying, poor-quality jobs, just to make ends meet.

APTU called on Government to immediately end the pandemic of contractualization by passing the Security of Tenure (SOT) Bill for both private and public sector workers, and the Public Service Labor Relations Act for the public sector. The Government must focus all its attention, resources, and energy on a comprehensive, yet sustainable labor and employment program.

Today, the Philippine labor rights situation is under the global spotlight. In January 2023, we welcomed the ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission to the country, which recommended actions to address its findings on persistent anti-union violence, political profiling, impunity, and lack of substantial progress in compliance with labor rights and standards. In June 2023, during the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, the Philippines was included in the shortlist of 22 countries in persistent violation of ILO Conventions on fundamental labor rights. For the seventh straight year, the Philippines had been ranked by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) as among the top ten worst countries for workers. By working together as social partners with the Government and employers, we can correct our troubling track record in workers’ rights and labor relations to reduce risk with an economic and employment impact, such as on trade benefits in relation to the renewal of EU and US Generalized Sytem of Preferences (+) and potential free trade agreements and foreign direct investment.

APTU called on the Government, especially DOLE, to comply with all ILO HLTM recommendations, beginning by amending or replacing Executive Order No. 23 to establish the Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association, which should include tripartite representation for both workers and employers. With the September 1, 2023 deadline set by the ILO for submission of the Philippine’s action plan for compliance fast approaching, DOLE should immediately address the finalization and adoption of the Roadmap on Freedom of Association in a tripartite manner.

APTU reminded the Government that all trade opportunities, such as the US GSP, EU GSP+, and free trade agreements, are tied to the Philippines’ compliance with fundamental labor standards and the full and free exercise of workers’ rights.

For decades, women workers, in particular, have also been on the losing end of concerns with security in workplaces. It is appalling how the wage gap based on gender continues to persist, and women workers have been subject to precarious and informal work, most of them contractual. Violence in the workplace and in the larger world of work continue to hound women workers and put a heavy burden on their shoulders that can only be alleviated by decisive policy interventions.

APTU asserts the importance of women workers’ participation in campaigning for reforms in labor concerns, such as in increasing the minimum wage, ending contractualization, and reinforcing observance of trade union and labor rights. APTU called on women workers to campaign for our Government’s ratification of ILO Convention 190 on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work.

APTU believes that a dialogue between Philippine labor and the President is long due, which should place workers’ rights and their welfare front and center in the Administration’s labor, employment, and economic policies.

APTU will continue to build the strongest and broadest unity among Filipino workers and their organizations, forging ahead in the struggle for living wages, decent work, and the full observance of fundamental labor rights.

All Philippine Trade Unions
Press Statement
19 July 2023

APTU Statement in the Decision of the ILO Committee on Application of Standards (ILO CAS)

Committee on Application of Standards of ILO Urges PH Govt to take "Decisive and Effective" Action on ILO Convention 87 Compliance Measures; Significant Economic Repercussions Loom; ILO sets Sept 1 Deadline for Upgraded Compliance Report

June 15, 2023 – The Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) of the International Labour Conference (ILC)  headquartered in Geneva effectively rebuffed the Philippine Government compliance report addressing  the earlier recommendations of the ILO HIGH LEVEL TRIPARTITE MISSION to Manila that took place on January 23-26, 2023.

 The CAS sent the Government back to the drawing board, as it expressed "deep concern on the numerous allegations of murders of trade unionists, systemic violations of the right to freedom of association as well as lack of investigation". Further, the CAS sharply pointed out the "failure of the Government to submit a joint implementation plan" with workers and employers, as recommended by the High-level Mission, with the clear implication that the Government submission was both unilateral and not tripartite.

Considering the Philippines is in the CAS "shortlist" of countries indicative of the possible gravest violations on freedom of association, the decision of the CAS bears grave implications for the larger interests of the Philippine nation, our economy, and efforts to restore and renew key trade preferences with the United States and Europe under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and GSP+ respectively, as well as free trade agreements with those two economies.

Successful compliance with these ILO recommendations, particularly in relation to the observance of ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively, is directly tied to these major international objectives. The potential gain from such compliance is significant - providing tariff-free access for about 9,000 Philippine product lines to the U.S. and European markets, attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), and creating hundreds of thousands of decent job opportunities for Filipinos. 

Just yesterday, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. announced the launching of the Philippine Export Development Plan (2023 - 2028), targetting the creation of one million new and decent jobs, by doubling and tripling Philippine exports.  The  unequivocal rejection by the CAS of the DOLE compliance report now raises serious questions on how these employment targets will be met as the key determinant to entry of Foreign Direct Investments to the Philippines is our acccession to tariff-free access to the American and European markets. With the failure of DOLE to obtain a positive finding on Philippine compliance with ILO C87, the matter of the Philippines meriting accession to the GSP and Free Trade Agreements with the US and the EU is now fully in doubt.

This will be a serious setback to Philippine job creation and the All Philippine Trade Union (APTU) delegation in Geneva, including the affiliates of the  International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), namely the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), the  Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expressed disappointment with the response of the DOLE in Geneva,as the focal agency of the Philippine Government, as falling far short of the mark set by both by the workers and the ILO HLTM.

Far from achieving an international seal of good housekeeping, the Philippine Government was instructed by CAS to re-engage with Workers and Employers to ensure compliance through "decisive and effective measures to promote a climate of non-violence", emphasized the need for the Government to "put an  immediate end to any act of violence and intimidation against union members for the legitimate exercise of their rights", which includes the unabated red-tagging of trade union activists by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC); and make a new submission to the ILO CAS by September 1, 2023.

The DOLE has much to answer for. Foremost among these is the unaddressed killings of 68 worker, worker intimidation and  harassment, and a continuing and unabated culture of impunity. Issues of thehuman and trade union rights violations and worker protection remain unresolved, tarnishing our image and international reputation.

The sad  performance of DOLE at Geneva, where obtaining a positive finding of our compliance with ILO C87 was crucial to our economic objectives, is a serious setback. We urgently need those trade preferences to create much-needed jobs in an economy battling persistent double-digit underemployment numbers.

The DOLE must now answer to the Economic Management Team and President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Genuine efforts from labor and employers to reach out  and to collaborate with the DOLE were met with inertia, indifference, and a fixation on holding on to outdated and obsolete policies.

As we navigate the path ahead, our immediate demands are clear:

1. STOP the killings and harassments. End the mechanisms that enable this.

2. Solve the past cases to ensure peace with justice.

3. Replace E.O. 23 with a Presidential Commission on Freedom of Association (FOA) featuring genuine labor and employer representation. Launch it fully funded and fully staffed.

4  Appoint a body of eminent persons to address accountability issues related to killings and matters of compensation.

5. Transform existing protocols on how state security forces engage with labor into Executive Orders.

Hold DOLE accountable for its failed vision, ensure its leadership demonstrates the political will to comply with ILO C87.

With the unified voice of the APTU and ITUC affiliates, it is of paramount importance that we bring this dark and bloody history to an end  before September 1, 2023.

Nagkaisa debunks business group’s arguments against legislated wage increase

The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition refutes strongly preposterous and misleading argument put forth by certain business groups that only a minority will benefit from the proposed legislative wage increase and as a result, raising wages will send 50 million workers begging for ayuda. 

The business groups recently claimed that increasing wages would only benefit a small percentage of the total workforce, stating that approximately 16 percent or about eight million workers in the formal sector out of the total 50 million Filipino workers would be eligible for the wage hike. 

This line of argument tries to draw a trade-off between workers in the formal and informal sector to diffuse employers’ direct accountability to their workers, hoping that by painting this ‘little-to-no effect’ and hyperinflation scenario, lawmakers would reconsider passing a legislated wage measure. 

We contend that the miserable state of the 50 million workers or more, which is a bigger agenda than a wage hike, is not for the workers to solve but for the government and the capitalist class which failed to address problems of chronic poverty and inequality in the country for decades. 

And certainly, keeping minimum wages at starvation level perpetuates the problem, thus, telling minimum wage workers to sacrifice further on behalf of their poorer brothers and sisters in the working class does not solve anything except the comfort of businesses to keep their profit margins when wages are kept at bare minimum. 

The business’ arguments fail to consider the broader economic effects and undermines the crucial role of fair wages in driving sustainable growth. Contrary to their claims, raising wages will have a significant positive impact on the economy and the majority of Filipino workers.

It is vital to recognize that the well-being of workers and economic growth are interconnected. By ensuring fair wages for a significant portion of the workforce, we can create a positive ripple effect that stimulates economic activity, increases consumer spending power, and fosters social progress. The 16 percent of workers who will experience increased wages will contribute to a healthier economic climate, benefiting businesses and workers alike.

In addition, the economic benefits of wage increase can help address the persistent issue of malnutrition in the Philippines. UNICEF data reveals the severity of malnutrition in the country, with devastating consequences for the future of Filipino children. Every day, 95 children die from malnutrition, and twenty-seven out of 1,000 Filipino children do not get past their fifth birthday. Shockingly, one-third of Filipino children are stunted, meaning they are short for their age. Stunting after the age of 2 can have permanent, irreversible, and even fatal effects. Needless to say, that malnutrition is the culprit behind the country’s dismal below-average IQ ranking of the Philippines in the World Population Review 2023 (WPR). 

These distressing statistics underscore the urgent need for action. A significant wage increase plays a crucial role in combatting malnutrition by enabling families to afford nutritious food, access healthcare, and provide a better quality of life for their children. By addressing the root causes of malnutrition through improved wages, we can protect the future generation of Filipinos from the devastating effects of undernutrition.

We maintain that the first key advantage of higher wages is that workers have more money at their disposal. With increased purchasing power, workers are empowered to spend on essential goods and services, thereby driving consumer demand. This heightened consumer spending not only benefits businesses directly but also stimulate overall economic activity, contributing to a positive economic cycle.

Secondly, higher wages can foster employee loyalty and motivation. When workers are fairly compensated for their efforts, they feel valued and are more likely to be engaged and productive in their roles. This improved productivity can enhance business efficiency and output, further bolstering economic growth.

Likewise, a workforce with higher wages projects stability and helps attract investments. Investors are drawn to countries or regions where workers have decent wages, as it signifies a stable and growing consumer base. Such countries are viewed as favorable investment destinations due to the potential for increased sales and profitability. By implementing higher wages, nations can position themselves as attractive markets for both domestic and foreign investment, spurring economic development and job creation.

Therefore, it is crucial for policymakers and businesses to recognize that investing in workers through higher wages yields significant long-term benefits. The positive effects cascade throughout the economy, generating a multiplier effect that contributes to overall prosperity.