Laboring Poor

“In recent times the working people of the capital have become impossible to deal with, because they have read in our books truths too potent for them.” -          Restif de la Bretonne, quoted from the Enlightenment by Hampson

The renaissance of labor unrest in the cities especially Metro Manila in the Philippines evinces the long standing workers’ universal struggle for recognition of their rights to living wage, humane working condition, collective bargaining, and security of tenure. It is universally accepted that a strike is a legitimate weapon of the workers to push for their rights. Or else they will be left at the total mercy from capitalists.

While recognizing the right to strike, the Constitution has laid two conditions for a strike; it must be peaceful and it must be in accordance with the Labor Code has supplemented the conditions, that it must be consistent with the national interest. A peaceful strike is a strike all right but how can a message get across? I know that a heavy man leaves a deep footprint and that of the light man is wiped by a sweeping wind. Like the cases LRT, Meralco, manila hotel workers, through organizing they became big brick but they were facing bigger wall. As a result, they got laid off. A strike in accordance with the law is preposterous in the intent which is rooted in the injustices of the capitalists---violations of the same law which is supposed to protect the workers. The consistency with the national interest is never a question in the event of the strike since labor issues are always of national interest. Therefore any inconsistency with the labor sector’s concerns become inconsistent also with the national interest.

In a country where workers are overwhelming and capital is scarce, coupled with the aggression of globalization in the system, the government is rendered powerless in the might of capital. Government policies seem to sympathize with the capitalists’ problems especially in times of crisis but not the labor problems. It is easily swayed to favor the employers and readily willing to sacrifice the labor side. This was manifested in the pal crisis, LRT, Meralco, and manila hotel labor disputes. And now it is evident even in the proposed emergency or special powers asked by the President where there will be a moratorium in the CBA. The labor sector is found battling against two formidable enemies – the unjust capitalists and the capitalist government that is supposed to protect and promote the rights of the workers because they do not have the means to protect themselves. Generally the labor groups are offered a compromise which is short of selling their souls to the employer or make them bite the bullet. They are forced to accept harsh conditions which are unjust but made legal by the state.

Commonly the capital always inequitably claims the profits and products and leaves the smallest minimum to labor. The minimum wage law that could have appropriated a just share of labor in the production becomes stagnant even in depressed times. The Regional Wage Boards are set up primarily to determine the just and fair wage in each region but it becomes a ploy to divide and conquer the labor sector. The undying P125 nationwide wage increase is a dead-end in the RWBs so the advocacy efforts are geared toward the legislated process. But Congress cannot accommodate this since election is just around the corner. What more can the laboring poor do in the midst of plain injustices happening before their justice-seeking eyes? I dread the portent of Bastille. Even the Son of a laborer who was once denied of justice can find heaven in the earth of the struggle of the working class.