Labor fed bares ‘unjust’ employer practices during pandemic

Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms - SUPER

March 28 at 9:39 PM

PRESS RELEASE MARCH 28, 2020

Labor fed bares ‘unjust’ employer practices during pandemic

Labor federation Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (SUPER) released March 28 its first list of employers who have engaged in “unjust” practices, such as “no work, no pay” schemes, layoff/retrenchment, and “endo” during the Luzon-wide lockdown arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a labor survey conducted between March 19 and 22 with verified complaining workers, SUPER gathered 318 reports of unjust employer practices of 160 companies during the Coronavirus crisis.

These reports include companies that are allegedly using the crisis to justify illegal termination of its workers (11 companies), workers made to work under the “no work, no pay” scheme but without transport being provided; (81 companies), flexible work arrangements but with reduced pay (28 companies), suspension of work without pay (98 companies) coupled with refusal to apply for the financial assistance programs being offered by the Department of Labor (56 companies).

“Malacanang’s only response to the COVID-19 pandemic is strict quarantine, without giving thought to the economic dislocation except that it gave a mere suggestion to employers to address their workers’ needs,” Luke Espiritu, National President of SUPER, said.

According to Espiritu, the survey proves that reliance on employer volunteerism is farcical because rather than cooperating with their workers in this time of crisis, employers tend to take advantage of the situation to deepen the precarious nature of work.

The Department of Labor has created financial assistance programs for workers affected by work suspensions such as the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), however, Espiritu said that it cannot be accessed directly by the workers and they have to wait for management to accomplish and file the necessary forms with the regional labor office.

“There are a lot of companies that simply refuse to apply even if the procedure for the program is simple. The amount of assistance is very little, only P5,000, but at least it could have helped our workers.” Espiritu added.

The list is currently being relayed in official correspondence to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and their respective local government units where the companies are located.

In addition, the list of companies practicing these policies will be updated regularly to increase public pressure and force companies to do their part to “flatten the curve.”

A second survey is being conducted starting on March 28 until April 5, which will include employers who are not issuing personal protective equipment (PPE) to their employees or practice social distancing, and refusing to pay unionized workers with paid emergency leaves provided in their collective bargaining agreements.

Emergency powers for COVID19: The same politics of plunder and patronage but dressed in surgical masks and protective equipment

PRESS STATEMENT

March 23, 2020

BMP - SANLAKAS - PLM

Emergency powers for COVID19: 

The same politics of plunder and patronage but dressed in surgical masks and protective equipment

Today, March 23, we are expecting Congress to hold a special session and grant emergency powers to Duterte as requested by Malacañang. 

The supermajority in both Houses will ensure that the president will have his way, not out of deep concern for a people who face uncertainty due to the COVID19 pandemic but from a deeply-ingrained SOP (standard operating procedure) of opportunism and political patronage.

The crux of the request is for the Executive to juggle funds and cancel appropriations made by Congress in the FY 2020 budget, in an attempt to immediately channel finance into decisive steps to address COVID19, which includes the take-over of health services and facilities. 

We would leave the determination of this usurpation of the legislative power of the purse to the lawmakers, or to the Supreme Court, if the request, once accorded, is taken to the judiciary for interpretation for violations to the Constitution.

For the toilers and the propertyless, the question is “ Would the granting of emergency powers, as requested, lead to expedient and effective measures to address the health crisis”? Not really.

The president does not need more power to address this issue. Much power and privilege is already concentrated in his hands as chief executive. 

Even without changing the budgetary appropriations, Duterte could easily initiate the massive mobilization of logistics, finances and personnel to diligently follow the procedures by global health experts on how to combat the COVID19 scourge. He had the power to impose a travel ban from Wuhan/Hubei from as early as January. He had the discretion to declare a health emergency as suggested by the Health Department in latter February. 

He could have done all this but he did not; downplaying the virus as a little fire to be put out by his urinary excretions.

Then, in early March, he hurriedly imposed a quarantine/lockdown for NCR then and Luzon, without preparing the prerequisites for the successful implementation of his drastic presidential order (transportation and protective equipment for frontliners, income replacement and subsidies for temporarily displaced workers from the formal and informal sectors, steady flow of basic needs, etc).

Too much power yet too lacking not just in political will and decisiveness but more so in genuine concern to the safety and welfare of the Filipino people.

The regime may counter that this request for “emergency powers” represents a sudden turnaround from its past blunders (though they are too egotistical and arrogant to admit to mistakes).

However, the Marawi case is a starker revelation to the devastating effects of granting “emergency powers” to Duterte. The so-called restoration of the war-torn city did not materialize. The billions of rechanneled funds and foreign aid now untraceable. Emergency powers ultimately lead to brazen and unashamed plunder since the normal procedures of transparency, audit, and accountability are deemed inapplicable in ‘emergency situations’.

The legislators, mostly in the House supermajority, would not oppose the reallocation of the budget for the COVID crisis, through the emergency powers of the chief executive. They know too well that it would be coursed to local government units “through the intercession of their good offices to their almighty Tatay”. 

This is the same politics of plunder and patronage. Though this time with Duterte in front, handing out relief goods, wearing a surgical mask to hide his blush of shame for past misdeeds and blunders.

Yet, for the sake of the people, we propose the following adjustments to two major measures in the fight against COVID19: (a) social distancing and proper hygiene: not by draconian measures that regard the masses as the problem but by encouraging mass participation and initiative to dispel the view that Filipinos are inherently undisciplined, (b) mass testing in critical areas and eventual isolation, recovery and treatment of patients (which necessitates a rejection of VIP testing for its wasteful use of scarce and much-needed test kits, testing should prioritize frontline workers due to their proximity to the deadly virus) and (c) requisition of private facilities such as hotels and hospitals to serve as quarantine or isolation centers for those who have tested positive for the COVID-19 where proper medication and care can be afforded to them.

However, we call on our kauri and kamanggagawa to stretch ourselves, go beyond narrow struggles for economic gain, and tackle the questions of politics and governance to the millions of Filipino workers, as they face the ineptitude of the ruling clique (which will literally kill us all), the weak rival elitist faction, the looming economic slowdown locally and globally, and a pandemic that highlights all the contradictions of the prevailing capitalist global order. #