Agriworkers on Labor Day protest: P750 national minimum wage, end of endo

Kasama ng mga manggagawa ang mga magsasaka, manggagawang bukid at manggagawang agrikultural sa kanilang panawagan para sa P750 national minimum wage, regular na trabaho at makataong kondisyon sa paggawa ngayong Pandaigdigang Araw ng Paggawa. (Photo: Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura/Facebook)

Wage increase, job security, and humane working conditions — these are among the concerns of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) as they joined thousands of protesters in Mendiola, Manila on Wednesday, May 1.

“We join the call of millions of Filipino workers for a P750 national minimum wage, an end to of all forms of contractualization, and the guarantee that they are safe in their places of work, especially in times of calamity,” Ariel Casilao, vice chairperson of UMA and Anakpawis Partylist representative, said.

“Millions of agriworkers in haciendas and plantations growing export crops, such as sugarcane, oil palm, cavendish bananas, pineapple, and tobacco, are one of the most exploited sector among workers,” he added.

According to UMA, the wage of sugarworkers only range from P80 to P150 when the sugar industry is said to contribute more than P70-billion to the Philippine economy every year.

Likewise, banana plantation workers in Mindanao only earn P234 to P335 per day for contractual workers although the banana export industry was valued at USD730-million in 2016. The said salary, UMA stressed, further reduced to P121 to P208 per day because plantation workers are hired through “fake” labor cooperatives that make “automatic deductions for capital build-up, cooperative savings, and loans, among others.”

Workers in the palm oil industry also get below the minimum wage and placed under contractual, depriving them of benefits that regular workers enjoy.

Casilao said they will not “cower in fear” of the government and instead continue their fight for the rights that every worker deserves.

“Organizing, mobilizations and protest actions continue among workers, peasants, urban poor, indigenous peoples, women, and the youth,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte called on Congress on Labor Day to consider passing needed legislative measures that will “fully” protect the workers’ rights, especially to security of tenure and self-organization.

While the Security of Tenure bill is still being discussed at the Senate plenary, Senator Joel Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources, had said he is optimistic that the upper chamber will be able to send the measure to the bicameral conference before the 17th Congress’ adjournment in June.

“The President certified this as urgent, and the entire institution would want to see this through. While there have been various positions on the nitty-gritty of the bill, we want a measure that will protect the overall welfare of our workers,” he said.