Globalization not wage hike massacre jobs

Donald Dee the Doomsayer at it again

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Labor Center slammed the statement of Donald Dee, Chairperson of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Inc. (PCCI) that an increase in the minimum wage would “trigger massive displacement of workers” and reiterated the need for an immediate wage hike to ease the burden of growing number of working poor.

According to Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, National Chairperson of the KMU, Globalization and not wage hike is the main killer of jobs. “Donald Dee keeps spreading lies and misrepresents wage hikes as the cause for lay-offs. Workers are losing their jobs because small and medium enterprises are closing down due to dumping and smuggling of cheap imported good brought about by the entry of the Philippines to the WTO."

“Many garment workers were laid-off due to local firms losing to cheap imports after quotas were removed starting January 1, 2005 under the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA). Because of the MFA, 100,000 workers from the garment sector lost their jobs and this massive job-cut is happening to workers across the globe. As you can see, even without wage hikes, massive lay-offs continue," said Labog.

“Donald Dee is using the small and medium enterprises to defend his self-interest and that of big business. The main problems facing our local business are the flooding of the market of cheap imported goods and low demand coupled with the high cost of electricity, poor infrastructure and corruption. According to Ibon, the time of Arroyo saw the highest recorded increase of residential, commercial and industrial electricity rates," opined Labog.

“The necessity for a wage hike is very clear. In 2003, the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) pegged around 68 million or 83% of Filipino families living under $2 (Php 100) a day. Despite this high incidence of poverty, substantial wage hike continues to be denied to workers and their families,” stated Labog.

“In 2006, 2.4 million children dropped out of school due to poverty and this underscored the worsening poverty of ordinary Filipinos and reiterated the need for a substantial wage increase and the creation of more jobs. Workers are still pushing for a P125 across the board wage hike and once Congress starts, the bill seeking for this will be re-filed,” ended Labog.