As sessions resume, workers picket House for P125 wage hike bill

As Congress resumes its session today, eight days after Labor Day, workers led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno picketed the Batasang Pambansa to call for the immediate passage of House Bill 375, which seeks to legislate a P125 across-the-board wage hike for private-sector workers, saying Congress should act now to give workers a relief amidst increasing prices of goods and services.

Taking inspiration from the recently-concluded Pacquiao-Mosley fight, the workers staged a boxing match between Pres. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and workers in the ring of the regional wage boards. With big capitalists as referee, the president emerged as a victor, earning the belt "Champion of Big Capitalists." HB 375 was filed by Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Rafael V. Mariano.

"We are calling on Congress, as well as the Senate, to compare and contrast workers' starvation wages and capitalists' soaring profits and give workers a much-deserved economic relief in the soonest possible time. In particular, we are calling on the House Labor Committee, headed by Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong, to immediately take up and pass House Bill 375," said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general.

"Approving HB 375 is the single biggest move that the House Labor Committee can undertake to uphold the interests of the Filipino workers who are suffering from unabated increases in the prices of basic goods, especially petroleum products. Given the statements released by the president and big capitalists, we know that workers won't get a substantial wage increase through the regional wage boards," said Soluta.

The president recently made it clear that his government will not be supporting a legislated wage hike. The National Capital Region wage board is holding deliberations for a wage increase in Metro Manila, which could signal a round of hikes across the country. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines, meanwhile, said that employers could only afford a P13.35 wage increase -- a far cry from the P125 that workers are clamoring for.

"Workers want a legislated wage hike because it is only through legislation that we have the chance of getting a substantial wage hike, like the P125 across-the-board wage hike that HB 375 seeks to legislate. Any wage hike that is smaller than P125, especially if it is very meager compared with the latter, won't give workers a genuine relief," Soluta said.

"We will continue with our rallies outside Congress and we will step up our lobbying efforts within Congress. Workers across the country want a significant wage hike and members of the House of Representatives should listen to their constituents. Failure to pass HB 375 will further ignite the Filipino workers' and people's outrage directed at the Aquino government," he added.