Around 10,000 workers are set to join the Labor Day protest on Saturday to call for the resignation of President Rodrigo R. Duterte for his “failed pandemic leadership.”
This despite the looming completion of the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS), the government’s aid program for workers displaced by the pandemic.
“A ruined economy, massive destruction of jobs, rising prices of goods and services, inadequate aid, poor health response, intensified repression of trade union and human rights, endless disrespect of women, and the surrender of the West Philippine Sea to China, the the point of view of workers, sum up and represent Duterte’s failed leadership,” labor coalition Nagkaisa said in a statement on Friday.
Paritido Manggagawa (PM) chairperson and Nagkaisa member Renato Magtubo said the said the plight of Covid-affected workers would not be addressed by the NERs.
Duterte failed the labor sector multiple times, he said, the most notable of which was his veto of the bill outlawing contractualization.
PM together with other members of Nagkaisa are set to conduct simultaneous protests on the streets and online on Saturday to push for their call for the resignation of Duterte.
Duterte is expected to deliver the keynote address during the Labor Summit organized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which aims to finalize the NERS.
It is expected to serve as the highlight of DOLE’s Labor Day celebration, which has more activities compared to that of last year.
Aside from its online job fair, where over 52,000 job vacancies are expected to be up for grabs, DOLE will also be deploying 3,000 informal sector workers who qualified to become contact tracers under Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
DOLE together with the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 and Department of Health (DOH) will also be holding the ceremonial vaccination of at least 5,000 workers.
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