Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Raymondo Mendoza said.

MANILA, Philippines – As the country observed Labor Day yesterday, militant groups decried the low salary, poor working conditions and job contractualization that characterize the country’s labor situation.

“How can workers celebrate when they are persecuted by poor wages, irregular jobs, risky and hazardous workplaces and inadequate social protection,” Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Raymondo Mendoza said.

Mendoza said prosperity remains in the hands of the few and the upper class of the society.

He lamented the aspired inclusive growth remains elusive for workers because the control mechanisms for it to flow down to the rank and file are broken.

The TUCP said employers are not complying with general labor standards because DOLE has limited powers to monitor and conduct workplace inspections.

The failure to fully enforce basic labor standards created opportunities for wide-scale practice of contractual work or the so-called “Endo” scheme, Mendoza said.

He said abusive employers increase their margin of profits by creating dummy manpower agencies and cooperatives in hiring their staff and not paying the mandatory minimum wage and social protection insurance premiums.

According to Mendoza, the government’s rejection of the proposed tax reduction from 32 percent to 15 percent over several years is a blow to the middle working class.

“Workers also have to bear upon themselves the weight of unnecessary stress going to and arriving from work because of the traffic congestion challenge. If mass transportation is efficient, working parents could have spent quality time with their children every day,” Mendoza said.

There are also four million jobless people and eight million underemployed who complained of measly pay.

Militant workers’ groups in various regions nationwide also called for an end to job contractualization.

The groups led by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) took to the streets yesterday in Manila to demand an end to job contractualization.

“There should be an absolute prohibition on the contracting out of work that is ‘usually necessary and desirable’ in the normal operations of a business, as such work should be performed by a regular employee,” said Leody de Guzman of the Buklurang ng Manggagawang Pilipino. Read more

SOURCE: tucp partylisy