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Statement in support of the
Global Union Campaign and Day of Action against Precarious Work
Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines
7 October 2008
As the largest concentration of industrial workers in the Philippines,
metal and machine industries workers under the Metal Workers Alliance of
the Philippines (MWAP) join all fellow workers and supporters as we
declare in unison on today's global day of action our outright opposition
to precarious work. We commend the International Metalworkers' Federation
and the European Metalworkers' Federation for taking the reins in bringing
upfront and centre our clear position against all forms of irregular and
precarious employment which has become all too-common around the world.
Surely, our collective participation in this global union campaign and day
of action will send an unmistakable indicator of shame to employers and
governments across borders that metal workers stand united against the
precarious work we are forced to endure and stand for the promotion of
employment that ensures all workers' dignity to life. MWAP adds its
assertion to the international campaign to immediately end the all-out
expansion of precarious work, for decent wages and working conditions, job
security, and against the array of flexible labor schemes which has reared
its ugly head everywhere from auto industry factories in China, to
electronics supply chains of Mexico, to Turkish shipyards, to aerospace
facilities in the U.S.
Precarious work is a sharp piece of the economic assault of capitalists
bent on plucking every morsel it can out of workers. Wage levels are
pushed down, and full-time regular jobs are replaced by part-time and
precarious work, while benefits and social services are cut back or cut
off. The real incomes of the working class continue to drop and are
intensely felt right now with the global financial meltdown and huge
economic crisis generated by the U.S afflicting the entire world economy.
Underdeveloped countries are all the more victimized by the tightening of
credit and decreased orders from rich countries for raw materials and
semi-manufactures which have a heavy bearing on the metal and machine
industry and its workers. In the name of more and more profit, competition
between multinational companies drives down costs, including cheaper labor
under the most precarious conditions.
With the current "neoliberal" globalization policy of denationalization,
liberalization, privatization and deregulation, the Philippine economy has
become more vulnerable to the worsening crisis of the world capitalist
system. Temporary and precarious employment schemes aggravate unemployment
in the Philippines by destroying regular or permanent jobs while
relegating temporary workers to sub-humane and sub-standard conditions at
work. These schemes in turn weaken trade unions by not only the getting
rid of permanent workers and the decline of union membership, but also the
elimination of workers' benefits with long-term employment.
Honda Cars Philippines workers for example, are only allowed to work a
total of nine hours and 15 minutes per week or four days per week which
saves on the company's overhead expenses. To compensate for non-working
days, workers are slapped with more duties having to perform five
procedures in the assembly line (usually done by five workers) in a strict
time frame. For Hanjin Shipyard construction workers, the names of
subcontracting firms under Hanjin are placed on their identification cards
and pay slips which in effect eases expense cutbacks and labor turnover
for the company while maintaining a stable core of workers.
Because of inadequate wages, unstable working conditions, and massive lay
offs, workers in the Philippines contribute largely to the International
Labour Organization's predicted increase in global unemployment by an
estimated five million people this year. The unbearable absence of decent
work and livelihood in our home country push more than 3000 people, every
single day into even more precarious work which is typically dirty,
difficult, and dangerous in countries all over the world. The Philippines
has become the flagship nation for the backward and anti-worker model that
migration leads to the development of poor nations which in fact
intensifies the dependence on overseas worker remittances to keep their
sinking economies from complete collapse. As the Philippine government
prepares to host the 2nd United Nations Global Forum on Migration and
Development from October 27 to 30 this year, MWAP joins the broad range of
grassroots organizations set to challenge the cruel reality that forced
migration has only led to more cheap labor and exploitation of migrant
workers from maldeveloped nations.
With the Philippine economy and society hit hard by the worsening global
economic crisis plunging from one level of crisis and depression to
another, metal workers in the Philippines stand united with the struggling
ranks of the working people of the world that are mobilizing and are
preventing the neoliberal agenda of globalization from easily pushing
through. This strengthens our ability to face greater challenges in our
shared struggle against the oppression and exploitation that capitalist
schemes of precarious work feed off.
MWAP therefore takes inspiration from all the metal workers in unions and
workplaces from all the countries that have been fighting against the
dangerous trend of precarious work and are participating in today's global
day of action. We stand solid and proud in contributing to the
international solidarity work that is integral in stubbornly challenging
and mounting tireless pressure against the overall and systematic
violation of workers' rights that precarious work incessantly entails. We
have high hopes that with continued unity and solidarity, metal workers of
the world can be an important force in achieving decent wages, work, and
rights for all working people.
Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines
7 October 2008
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