KMU to Noynoy: If there’s a will to hike wages, there’s a way in legislation

“Kung gusto may paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan!”

This was labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno angry response to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s statement that he cannot do anything about proposals for a wage increase because these are beyond his powers.

“Of course he can do something. He has swiftly implemented policies that increase the burden of the Filipino workers and people, like his Private-Public Partnerships and Oplan Bayanihan. He can do something to increase wages in a substantial way – that is, if he really wants to and wills to defy big capitalists,” Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson, said.

“If there’s a will to hike wages there’s a way in legislation! The P125 wage hike bill, House Bill 375 by Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Rafael Mariano, has already been filed in Congress. All Noynoy has to do is push the House of Representatives to act on it in the same way that he rallied congressmen to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez,” Labog added.

KMU said that workers can no longer expect any substantial wage increase from the regional wage boards and that the Aquino government must go beyond the RWBs if it really wants a substantial wage hike implemented.

“If the president really wants a substantial wage hike implemented, he has to go beyond the regional wage boards – which have been a tried-and-tested mechanism for giving us workers crumbs, instead of substantial wage hike. Workers don’t need coins from the wage boards. We want a legislated across the board wage increase!” Labog said.

“The regional wage boards can’t really be called tripartite because these are composed of representatives from the government, the capitalists and the pro-capitalist trade union center – everyone favoring capitalists. On May 1, Labor Day, our day, Aquino will witness the outrage of the Filipino workers and people over his move to relegate our struggle for a substantial wage hike to the regional wage boards,” he added.

“Aquino has used his immense powers to serve the interests of the big capitalists and landlords in the country. Now that workers are calling for a substantial wage hike, he is publicly refusing to use his power to provide immediate relief to the Filipino workers and people. If he persists in this framework, workers will sooner or later find him of no use as president,” Labog said. ##