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Bulatlat gathered the wage orders issued by RTWPB Northern Mindanao in the past years and found out that the most recent wage hike is the lowest increase to be implemented since 2018, specifically in the non-agriculture sector.
“Ayroso has long been the target [of management] because of his willingness to fight for their Collective Bargaining Agreement, Occupational Safety and Health inspections, and other workers’ rights,” Kilusang Mayo Uno said in its statement.
“Instead of addressing the just and reasonable demands of the workers, their response is union busting,” NAFLU-KMU said in a statement. “Their goal is to force the workers to accept the very low offer of a P17-wage increase, which is not enough to support a decent living amid rising prices of goods and services.”
“Time and again, we’ve proven that the union is the strongest weapon and shield that we have against exploitation.”
Invisible Labor's director Joanne Cesario said that the documentary’s success was a collective effort by the workers’ movement and advocates dedicated to preserving labor history. Reflecting on a 2022 gathering of labor rights advocates, Cesario shared how they recognize the urgent need to mainstream labor history, even within the workers’ movement itself.
Platform workers often fall into debt either as a result of working or in the process of getting into the industry. Dr. Cheryl Ruth Soriano noted that in many cases, workers took out loans to use as initial capital, usually to purchase motorcycles, fuel, shoulder maintenance costs, and so on.
“Like most victims of extrajudicial killings, the police used the story line that he resisted arrest and was killed. But our initial findings reveal that he was killed on purpose. He was considered as ‘enemy of the state’ under the Marcos Jr. administration."
Since its launch in June 2017, several groups have continuously protested against the government's public transport modernization program (PTMP). In Cagayan de Oro, a few jeepney operators were forced to sell their units, losing interest in the program.
"If the LTFRB only knows about extensions, what’s stopping the government from just scrapping the whole program instead of repeatedly deceiving and playing us around?”
From previously having 500 personnel, only 23 were retained for the monitoring unit. Sixty of the retrenched employees filed a complaint to the regional office of CSC in the Western Visayas, which BACIWA responded by declaring their positions “redundant” through an office order. On August 21, 2021, the CSC ordered the reinstatement of 60 employees “without loss of seniority and shall be entitled to full pay from the time of their separation until actual reinstatement.”
“There is nothing new for workers in Bongbong Marcos’ ‘Bagong Pilipinas’. Workers still face repression, illegal retrenchment, and other forms of exploitation.”
"Many of the dismissed employees had been with the company for years, contributing to its growth and stability," said Fajardo, emphasizing that "the layoffs are a clear attempt to weaken the union and silence workers' voices."
For a breadwinner in a five-member family in Metro Manila, this falls short of P686.49, as the family daily living wage in NCR is P1,190, according to the economic think tank IBON Foundation.
Minimum wage earners in five regions earned less than P300 a day in January 2023, and less than P310 in 2024, after inflation.
It has been more than a month since his disappearance but Lariosa remains missing. The effect of his abduction rippled down to other organizers in the Southern Mindanao region. The United Nations (UN) has identified that enforced disappearance is a frequently used strategy to spread terror, not only to the close relatives of the disappeared but also to their communities.
Jao Clumia of the AHW said, the prolonged delay in receiving these benefits affects the morale and service of healthcare workers. They feel disheartened, leading to the exodus of frontline workers.
“Peaceful and justified,” these are the words of Azrael de Guzman, one of the six arrested youth activists during the May 1 protest, in an open letter to the public, calling for their immediate release.
Jeepney drivers and operators group Piston said that those who refuse to join the unjust public transport modernization program are being "designated as illegal, or colorum, by the very same government entrusted to safeguard the rights of the working class."
Gabriela Secretary General Clarice Palce said, "The police prevent us from getting near the US Embassy but American troops freely occupy our land and seas," she said in Filipino, referring to the Balikatan exercise with the US.
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