Labor Day

The labor sector is one of the vital sectors of our country. Without the working class, the investments of multinational companies will be useless and the gears of the economy will not run. Given its importance, the labor sector is one of the neglected sectors due to the fact that its members come from the masses (the “powerless” and the poor members of the society).

 

Underemployment, insufficient salary, hazardous work environment, inadequate employment benefits, and the ever-present threat of being laid-off are few of the problems of the members of the labor sector. There is also the apparent reality that the government does not care about the laborers because of the lack of protection that the State gives to them. Thus, there is a strong concept among the labor force that the government is more willing to protect the employers than to aid them from their predicament.

 

Today is Labor Day and I hope the Labor Sector get the attention it deserves from the government, especially now that the prices of basic necessities are rising.

 

Sadly, my hope will just be an empty one. This year, like the past years, the laborers will receive empty promises from the Arroyo administration. They may get the raise that they demand but it will never be enough to cover the rising cost of living.

 

With the sorry state of workers in our country, it is no wonder that many of them are willing to risk their lives just to go abroad and work. In the Philippines, a day’s income of a worker is just enough to keep him alive so that he can work again the next day.

 

Woe to the Filipino laborers.

 

(This post was written yesterday but unfortunately, it rained hard so I did not go to an internet cafe due to a high probability of an electrical blackout)