SEVERAL groups of government workers gathered together on Monday to press President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Congress for a pay hike next year, citing the rising cost of living.
Meanwhile, members of the Alliance of Genuine Labor Organization (AGLO) and the National Confederation of Labor (NCL) staged a protest march at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila at the beginning of commemorating the 160th birth anniversary of the national hero Andres Bonifacio and demanded an increase in fair wages.
The state employees urged the lawmakers to prioritize passage of the proposed Public Service Labor Relations Act, as well as bills on new salary rates for public workers and on protecting the right to security of tenure of non-regular government workers such as job orders and contract of service.
The petitioners signed the joint statement embodying their demands.
They were the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), Public Service Labor Independent Coalition (PSLINK), Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawa sa GOCCs at GFIs (KAMAGFI), Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA), Kawani Laban sa Kontraktuwalisasyon (KALAKON), and the National Public Workers Congress (PUBLIK).
The groups also asked the Marcos Jr. administration to allocate enough funds in the national budget next year to support the pay increase of government workers.
“Government workers, like all our fellow workers and citizens, face harder times next year because of continuing rising inflation and long-standing unjust policies on salaries, benefits, and union rights especially for lowly paid state workers and hob order/contract of service workers in government,” the groups said.
The groups explained that the proposed P94-billion Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund (MPBF) in the National Expenditure Program for 2024 was reduced by the House of Representatives to P24 billion.
“The MPBF is a standby fund for increases in salaries, benefits, and staffing positions. The P70-billion budget cut reduces all the more the chances for government workers to have any salary increase next year,” the groups said.
The groups said that the majority of government workers earn less than the estimated family living wage of P1,100 per day or P33,000 per month.
“Napag-iiwanan na ang sweldo ng mga guro (The teachers’salary has been left behind),” said ACT chairperson Vlad Quetua.
The workers wore kamino chinos and touted hammers. They also carried a banner with the slogan: The struggle of Andres Bonifacio is a continuation of the struggle of the working class until now. They denounced the military intervention of the American nation in the Asia-Pacific region in response to China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea, which could only lead to war eventually.
The workers marched from Plaza Sta Cruz to Liwasang Bonifacio and held a short program where they discussed the issue of low wages, contractualization, and literacy in basic social services.
According to lawyer Ernesto Arellano, the action they took was just the opening of a larger action to be held on November 30.
The core of the labor movement will gather in Liwasang Bonifacio and they will march together in Mendiola to convey to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the demands of the workers.
Members of the Alliance of Genuine Labor Organization (AGLO) and the National Confederation of Labor (NCL) held a protest march at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila as the beginning of commemorating the 160th Birth Anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacio and demanding an increase in fair wages. to the workers.