[In support of PAL workers] Women workers picket vs. contractualization

Women workers led by labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno held a picket today in Quezon City to call for an end to contractualization and show support to Philippine Airline workers battling mass layoff and contractualization, saying the employment scheme is a menace to workers and has to end.

Coming from a forum in Saint Theresa’s College in Quezon City this afternoon, the protestors, majority of whom are women, marched to the corner of Banaue Street and Quezon Avenue to hold a noise barrage.

The workers carried enlarged copies of contractual employment contracts and tore these during the protest.

“Women workers, who compose the majority of contractual workers in the country, are speaking out against contractualization. We express our full support to the workers of PAL who are struggling against mass layoff and contractualization,” said Nenita “Nitz” Gonzaga, KMU vice-chairperson for women affairs.

“Contractualization has long been a menace to women workers and to Filipino workers in general. We are intensifying our campaign for its eradication, which is long overdue,” she added.

No maternity benefits

KMU also slammed the exclusion of contractual women workers from the coverage of maternity benefits such as maternity leave and maternity pay.

“That shows you how evil this anti-worker scheme is: contractual women workers are not receiving maternity benefits. That is on top of the lower wages, heavy workloads, no job security and no union rights that go with being contractuals,” Gonzaga said.

The labor center also condemned the common practice of retrenching women contractuals who get pregnant while on the job.

“Capitalists want their women contractuals young and without children so the latter can be exploited more in the workplace. The common practice of removing women contractuals who get pregnant is most deplorable,” she said.