Church People–Workers Solidarity

celebrates the

anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s

Laborem Exercens

in a National Conference of Church People and Workers

“

Church People and Workers in Solidarity, Reclaiming the Dignity of Human Work!”

September 12-15, 2011, CebuCity

A COVENANT STATEMENT

“Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night (Leviticus 19:13).”

We, church people and workers, have gathered in a NationalConference to celebrate the 30

anniversary of

Laborem Exercens

,Blessed John Paul II’s encyclical on the dignity of human labor inCebu City, the cradle of Christianity in the Philippines, on September12-15, 2011.

Invoking the Spirit of the Lord for enlightenment to engageourselves in crucial dialogue we have recognized and felt the need toaddress 4 priority concerns of Filipino workers – contractualization,unjust wages, and the violation of the workers’ right

to organize

, andthe forced migration of Filipino workers.

Contractualization

Ignoring its inherent immorality, the legalization of contractualization allows capital to violate the workers’ basic right tosecurity. Regular employees are now terminated summarily and thencoerced to re-apply as contractual laborers together with newapplicants, in total disregard of their many years of service.Contractualization deprives workers of the benefits of tenure and

prevents them from organizing themselves into legitimate laborunions. This maneuver of unrestricted capitalism is tantamount to amodern version of slavery, with contracting agencies simplyreplacing the slave traders of old.The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church tells usthat “Work is a good belonging to all people and must be madeavailable to all who are capable of engaging in it. ‘Full employment’therefore remains a mandatory objective for every economic systemoriented towards justice and the common good.” (CSDC, 288)

Unjust wages

It is common practice for workers to sign vouchers certifyingthat they are paid the minimum legal wage when, in fact, they havereceived less, under threat of termination. In a palm plantation inAgusan, a laborer is paid PhP90 for harvesting 30 kilos of palm fruits,easily sold for PhP

7,900. Would it be redundant to conclude thatdeath wages translate into dehumanizing poverty?Blessed John XXIII’s encyclical

Mater et Magistra

remindsus to “consider it our duty to reaffirm that the remuneration of work isnot something that can be left to the laws of the marketplace; norshould it be a decision left to the will of the more powerful. It must bedetermined in accordance with justice and equity; which means thatworkers must be paid a wage which allows them to live a truly humanlife.” (MM, 71)

The right to organize

The incumbent government continues to implement the sameanti-labor policies as the previous administrations. The unwrittenincentive for foreign investors: “Come to the Philippines ‘where laboris cheap, docile, not unionized.” The Mactan Export Processing Zone(MEPZA) might as well be the example. It continues to boast of nounions since its operations started in 1979. In practice they simplyterminate workers suspected of organizing themselves.Blessed John Paul II’s encyclical

Laborem Exercens

isemphatic in asserting that “Labor unions grew up from the struggle of the workers — workers in general, but especially industrial workers— to protect their just rights

vis-à-vis

the entrepreneurs and the

owners of the means of production… Such organizations are an

indispensable element of social life

.” (LE, 20)

Migrant Filipino workers

Both past and present administrations have called OFW’s asthe country’s modern heroes, as indeed they are. However, thesepraises ring empty considering the government’s unwillingness tostanch the staggering outflow of 4,500 Filipinos leaving daily insearch of employment abroad, and the deathly inflow of six to tenbodies of OFW’s repatriated every day. (cf. Migrante International)Focused on increasing the remittances to prop up a failingeconomy, the government has put in place exploitative labor policiesto avoid facing up to the basic need of generating employment for itscitizens. The social cost of forced migration to Philippine society isequally staggering.As the repression of Filipino laborers, both here and abroad,they are ever more left to fend for themselves. The number of organized labor organizations continues to decline. Only 1.7 M of the19.5 M wage and salaried workers (3 out of every 23) are organized.Only 230,802 out of a total of 1.34 million labor union members arecovered by a collective bargaining agreement. They are forced tosustain an economic system that oppresses them. (cf CTUHR 2010Yearend Report)It is imperative for Church people to help in the empowermentof workers for them to be able to organize themselves.

Resolutions

The Spirit of the Lord who brings good news to the poor andthe consequential social teachings of our Churches impel us, workersand Church people gathered in solidarity, to address and attend to thecries of our brothers and sisters in the work force. We resolve,therefore, that the participants of the 1

CWS National Conference:1.

Approve the Conference Covenant Statement including theresolutions herein;2.

Constitute the Church People and Workers Solidarity as apermanent organization to serve as an instrument to assist workersin their struggle for dignity and rightful recognition as partners inthe pursuit of peace and progress in the country;