050207: Economic gains do not filter down

t.u.c.p. says workers still mired in poverty

By Estrella Torres

Reporter

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Tuesday said that while the Arroyo administration boasts of landmark economic improvements with strong peso, stable stock market and other key indicators, the gains do not filter down to millions of workers. TUCP president Democrito Mendoza said that indeed, “business is great” as shown in the record-strong peso, resilient stock market and with plush restaurants that are always full, and electronic shops and stores that are making a killing. “But many are jobless, a significant number of families remain homeless, and a lot of Filipinos are hungry,” he said. He said that workers who are the key drivers of the business sector deserve to benefit from the improvement of the economy. Mendoza reiterated the group’s call for a P75 across the board daily wage increase filed at the Department of Labor and Employment during his annual Labor Day address to the group’s 27 labor federations nationwide at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila. “A good economy must benefit the people not only to recoup their eroded purchasing power but more importantly for the country to repay them for their long years of sacrifices,” said Mendoza. He also stressed the TUCP’s demand to provide tax exemption for workers earning 15,000 and below so they could better provide for the health and education needs of their families. Mendoza also urged senatorial candidates to bare their platform for the labor sector and how they intend to make ordinary people enjoy improvements in the economy. “Many claim that there is no labor vote,” Mendoza said. “Let us show the might of our sector.” He also asked Mrs. Arroyo to support TUCP in its candidacy as a party-list group. “It’s about time that the real agenda of the workers are heard in Congress,” Mendoza said. “Enough of the hype and drama of other groups who claim to represent the labor sector.” The TUCP led other labor groups in submitting a labor manifesto itemizing the sector’s needs in the areas of production, benefits and competitiveness.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/05022007/nation02.html