MANILA - Thousands of government employees nationwide affiliated with the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) today joined the May Day Protests to reiterate their demand for a substantial wage increase.
“Elected on a campaign premised on change and good governance, Noynoy has proven to be a monumental failure. His administration has done nothing to ease the plight of impoverished employees and workers who are increasingly alienated, displaced and deprived of their right to live decently. Workers and employees from both the public and private sectors are still subsisting on starvation wages, threats to job security and tenure continue unabated and numerous human rights violations committed against labor leaders remain unresolved,” COURAGE National President Ferdinand Gaite said.
“From Day One onwards, Noynoy and his economic advisers have prioritized the interests of big capitalists and foreign investors. Privatization, liberalization, deregulation and state abandonment of social services remain as pillars of this administration’s economic policies, all at the expense of the workers and the people. In so doing, the Aquino administration has revealed itself to be no different from its’ anti-people predecessors. Walang pagbabago sa ilalim ni Aquino!” Gaite asserted.
“Our call for a P 6,000 increase to the minimum pay of all government employees and a P 125 across-the-board wage hike for workers in the private sector has been proven legitimate and necessary. We consider it a great insult that the government instead attempts to pacify us with a circus composed of non-wage benefits, job fairs and farcical consultations with yellow union representatives from PGEA, on the very same day that is supposed to commemorate the historic struggle of the working class around the world,”
“Noynoy’s Labor Day announcement regarding the salary hike for government employees on June is empty rhetoric: it is merely the advanced implementation of the third tranche of Salary Standardization Law 3, originally set to be implemented on July. It will not amount to any substantial increase for rank-and-file employees. We have said it before and we have said it again: SSL 3 is insufficient to cover the basic needs of government workers. Ultimately, Noynoy’s declaration is nothing but a meaningless pronouncement aimed at boosting Aquino’s declining ratings.Niloloko at iniinsulto lang ng administrasyong ito ang mga kawani na nananawagan para sa makabuluhang dagdag-sahod!” Gaite added.
“Faced with such a situation, workers and employees have no recourse but to strengthen our ranks and persist in our struggle for security of tenure, humane working conditions and decent living wages. If Aquino continues to disregard the needs of the people, the public’s discontent over his dismal performance could very well translate to widespread protests in the next few days,” Gaite concluded.
COURAGE leaders and affiliate unions vowed to continue in reiterating their demand for a substantial wage increase and to condemn the government’s complicity regarding the escalating costs of basic commodities. (CouragePhil)
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