Labor coalition Nagkaisa! yesterday said workers are expecting something good from the Labor Day breakfast meeting between President Aquino and leaders of various labor groups today, a press release from the group said.

Democrito Mendoza, president of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and one of the convenors of the new labor coalition Nagkaisal, said “We are hoping that President Aquino will announce something significant, something hopeful which will uplift the morale of the workers who are sinking deeply into abject poverty due to increasing prices of commodities and skyrocketing cost of services.”

Partido Manggagawa's Rene Magtubo, another convenor of the coalition, said, the coalition will submit to Aquino issues and concerns that address the worsening labor problems in the country today. These problems are not intractable. If Aquino doesn't act on these issues now, he faces the wrath of the workers, it said.

Pete Pinlac of Makabayan, meanwhile, said the coalition's request to Aquino is a “simple” act of presidential prerogative which will greatly benefit the workers and their families.

The group calls for an end to all contractualization by certifying as urgent the House Bill 4853, or the consolidated version of Security of Tenure Bill. The bill will strengthen union organizing and collective bargaining, the press release said.

Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo Tanada III, in a separate press release also called for a stop to job contractualization.

The group called for the Ratification the ILO Convention for Domestic Workers; enactment of Magna Carta for Domestic Workers which will ensure just compensation, benefits, and guarantees the right to organize, the group said.

The coalition will attempt to gather 20,000 workers and hopes to sustain it in Mendiola. The celebration will also attended by global union federations from countries abroad. They will speak in Mendiola and express solidarity with the coalition while simultaneous labor day mobilization will also be held in Cebu, Davao City, Bacolod Ciy, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato City, Iligan City, the press release said.

Most media workers work for substandard compensation, at times in locations and situations that often expose them to harm. Many are required to solicit ads to earn commissions in lieu of wages and often forced to accept additional sidelines to augment their take home pay, it added.

Many others are deprived of the right to security of tenure the press release said.

And this do not only include of the correspondents and stringers but also many of those who work for some of the largest media outfits, where contractualization and even outsourcing is fast becoming the norm, it added.*

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