May I--Mayday for Pinoy Workers

This is a glorious day for all workers around the world. In the Philippines, May One is significant because it commemorates the sacrifices of workers every single day.

The worker situation in the Philippines is unique. Stats show that 50% of working people in the Philippines are young--between the ages of 15-24 years old--and are working in service, industrial and agro-industrial complexes. These sectors are usually the most oppressed in terms of benefits. Establishments hire people from this sector through contractualization---something considered illegal by the Constitution yet widely practised here. Most workers do not enjoy security of tenure. They work for six months or even less. They don't have other benefits enjoyed by a small minority of workers, around 40%. The top 10% of workers are those working in industrial complexes and enjoy benefits.

Among the oppressed, the most are those working in agricultural sectors where government intervention are far and less. They work like under neo-feudalist conditions. They are dependent on landlords who dictate their daily wage rates, which are usually lower than the average. They don't have non-wage benefits and they are not encouraged to become members of the SSS.

As the Philippines industrialize further, the worker base will expand horizontally and vertically. The need for organizing them becomes extremely important.

The problem is, the labor front is fragmented. Unlike during the Marcos era, labor unions right now are separated organizationally and ideologically. There are two distinctions---those considered to be "yellow" meaning sympathetic to Capital and those considered as "reds"--militant labor unions.

Labor organizing is a right enshrined by the Constitution. Our Labor Code is one of the freest in the world. The issue here is simply implementation. Companies know how to skirt the laws.

The good thing is that the National Labor Relations Commission and the Department of Labor and Employment are peopled committed with observing the tenets of the law. Though the government is there to protect the welfare and interests of workers, workers themselves should organize themselves to protect themselves from the things which Capital is doing.