"What the working man sells is not directly his Labor, but his Laboring Power, the temporary disposal of which he makes over to the capitalist." — Philosopher and Writer Karl Marx
- Labor workers comprise the second largest percentage of Filipinos after agricultural workers; however, they (as well as agricultural workers) are taken advantage of.
- The working class sells their labor to the capitalists who, in turn, exploits the working class for their own benefit.
- The working class is not compensated for their labor; they are not paid enough, and they do not face ideal working conditions. However, what returns to the working class is discrimination and violence if they stand up for themselves.
The State of the Working Class
Construction workers, factory workers, drivers, janitors or cleaners, and the like—they are the laborers. They are the backbone of the industry. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, laborers had struggled in the Filipino society—in a capitalistic society; the pandemic only made it worse for them.
During the pandemic, the working class lost their livelihood as buildings and workplaces closed down. More than 5 million Filipinos lost their jobs during the pandemic according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) since May 2020. (Rappler, 2020) The unemployment rate in the Philippines peaked at 20.9% in July 2020, equivalent to 8.69 million Filipinos. A year passed, and in July 2021, workers lost hope in finding a job; thus, several Filipinos left the labor force, and its participation rate went down to 59.8% or 44.74 million Filipinos. For the PSA did not count those who said they were not looking for a job anymore, the unemployment rate went down to 6.9%. “Pagod sila, feeling nila wala nang work na available (These people are tired, they feel that there’s no work available.),” National Statistician Dennis Mapa expressed what the working class felt. (Rivas, 2021)
The working class lost their livelihood which sustains their life and provides them food—but one could argue that even before the tragedy of the pandemic, the urban poor struggled to put food on their plate.
The daily minimum wage varies from region to region, ranging from 316 pesos to 537 pesos in 2021. These were set by tripartite regional wage boards in every region. (Medina, 2021) Workers and experts alike call the Philippines the worst country to live in for minimum wage workers.
According to the study of the e-commerce firm Picodi (2020), the Philippines was one of the worst countries for minimum wage earners. The Philippines placed 39th out of 54 countries in terms of the rate of increase in minimum wage year-on-year. Workers’ monthly net pay is only 3.2% higher than the previous year’s pay which is incredibly low in comparison to nearby countries like Malaysia at 9.1% increase and Hong Kong at 8.7% increase.
That 3.2% increase still wasn’t enough for Filipino workers to live a comfortable life since 62.3% of their monthly salaries are spent on basic food items alone—it was clearly not enough. In the ranking of the countries that use the highest percentage of their minimum wage for food necessities, the Philippines ranked 4th with Nigeria and Uzbekistan at a higher rank where minimum wage does not cover the costs of even the most basic shopping basket. (Picodi, 2020)
Various labor groups have called that minimum wage in the Philippines is no longer enough for Filipino families. This February 2021, labor group Defend Jobs filed a five-page petition which sought a 100 pesos wage increase for workers nationwide to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC). Defend Jobs expressed that the current minimum wages are insufficient for decent living and noted that the prices of essential commodities are at an all-time high which the minimum wage could not keep up with. Their spokesman, Christian Lloyd Magsoy, said, “It is more urgent than ever and high time in this period of economic and national public health emergency crisis for the government to ensure that the poorest working class do not suffer needlessly … It is imperative that the minimum wage increase be given.” Furthermore, Magsoy urged other labor groups to file a similar petition seeking a pay hike for workers in other regions and continue protesting until it is granted. (Felipe and Jaymalin, 2021) Their petition was later junked by the wage board. (Defend Jobs Philippines, 2021)
Low pay is a form of how the capitalist exploits the laborer, among many other forms of exploitation such as undesirable work conditions, harmful treatment, and endo-contractualization.
The Capitalist and the Worker
The capitalist or the bourgeoisie and the workers or the proletariat are in constant class conflict, for the former exploits the latter.
Amidst the many natural constraints that people had, the population established systems and new technology to counter the constraints; however, amidst this progress, equality vanishes as social constraints are established. In the middle ages, feudalism became a system that the people followed; feudalism divided the people into classes such as the nobility who didn’t have to worry about their meals thrice a day and the peasantry who continued to make food for the nobility. Overproduction was rampant, yet the surplus was not distributed equally among the people. Society was set up wherein the upper class or the 1% didn’t need to labor while the majority had to work others. (CrashCourse, 2017)
The way labor was organized during the middle ages led to massive inequalities—under feudalism and the up-and-coming economic system of capitalism. Karl Marx and his long-time collaborator Friedrich Engels viewed the world through historical materialism which sees the changes over time concerning the material reality of production. They saw the economy as the basis of understanding politics and religion which were built on top of material reality, modes of production or the stages in history, and economic classes. (CrashCourse, 2017)
Thus, Karl Marx saw the world that runs under capitalism as the conflict and the division of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. These classes were not defined by law but by their relation to the means of production—the bourgeoisie owns and controls the means of production (i.e. land and materials) and the proletariat simply works for the factories and the production. The difference between them in relation to the means of production fuel exploitation as Marx argued, “If the proletariat lack access to the means of production, then they only have one thing they can sell: their labor.” (CrashCourse, 2017)
Indeed, the working class does sell their labor—they must or else they will starve, but they are never compensated enough for it—their labor is exploited for profit. Marx would argue that, although they are paid, they are only being paid to live on and they are being paid less than the work that they produce. He argues that the profit of the capitalist class itself is exploitation, and the low wages that the workers receive are even worse exploitation. (CrashCourse, 2017)
Listen to Professor Richard Wolff's 4-minute discussion:
In March 2016, Richard Wolff was interviewed by Abby Martin regarding Marx’s labor exploitation theory. He explained through an example, “The employer, when I [the capitalist] hire you for 20 bucks an hour, I know that for every hour that you give me your work, your brain, your muscles, I’m gonna have more stuff to sell at the end of the day because you’re added to my workforce, [and] you’re gonna help me produce more goods, more services, or better quality goods or services than I would have if I didn’t employ you. So I’m gonna say to myself, hm, ‘It cost me to get Abby [the worker] 20 dollars an hour. What do I get out of it? I want— I’m gonna have the output that Abby [the worker] adds by her labor. Now, that has got to be more than 20 bucks. So the only way I'm gonna hire you for 20 dollars an hour is if you produce more in the hour than I give you.’ So when you feel in a vague way, at the end of the day as you walk home, that you're being ripped off, you're absolutely right—or in Marxist language: exploited. So what does the capitalist say? ‘I earned it.’ No, you did not. You just ripped people off.” (Nolita Werrett, 2016)
Marx argues that the focus of capitalism on profit drives exploitation because they are always paid less than the value of their work for the capitalists to profit. However, the workers’ salaries are not enough because of profit-maximation. One may argue that capitalism fosters higher wages for workers because it fosters competition among companies. However, that is not reality because the bourgeoisie is monopolizing and working together to hold their socioeconomic and political power. Moreover, the bourgeoisie does not treat the workers, especially the poor working class that sells their labor, as important assets of the company—they are simply disposable commodities since there are many “fish in the sea” with the unemployment rate being unreasonably high in the Philippines.
And as capitalism continues to dominate the world, the proletariat is continuously exploited by the bourgeoisie.
Endo-contractualization
The capitalist class treats the workers as disposable commodities to the company—they exploit the workers through endo-contractualization. Labor contractualization, better known as endo or “end-of-contract,” are five-month contracts that deny workers a pathway to permanent employment or regularization. With workers under endo, they are in constant fear of losing their jobs and cannot receive the benefits that permanent workers have such as 13th-month pay, health insurance, and annual leave. (Ku, 2021)
Even though President Rodrigo Duterte promised to end endo-contractualization, endo did not end. Despite the calls of many labor groups, labor leaders, and the working class, endo hasn’t ended and even rose in popularity during the pandemic. “Contractual workers are the most vulnerable during the pandemic because they have no unions, they are unorganized and [have] no collective bargaining agreement with principal business owners. Endo workers are easily dismissed without due process and separation pay and benefits,” Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman Alan A. Tanjusay expressed. (Ku, 2021)
Therefore, some politicians are suggesting government benefits for contractual workers (Ku, 2021) which does not solve the root issue of the problem and the lack of job security that laborers face.
Violence Against Dissenting Workers
The military and the police also harm the working class, especially those who express their dissent.
Recently, on December 16, 2021, workers under Soft Touch Development Corp., the manufacturers of Ideal Spaghetti, protested against the laying off of 50 workers who were also part of the workers’ union. After years and years of contractual work, those who worked to bring spaghetti and macaroni on the Noche Buena of many families are set to lose their jobs on the 24th of December. (Espiritu, 2021)
It did not end with losing their livelihood; they were also harmed by police officials and arrested. They were taken and hit using truncheons by the Valenzuela City PNP while firefighters sprayed water cannons at them. After the violent dispersal, the protesting workers were put in a police van and brought to the Valenzuela City Hall. (Espiritu, 2021)
Ka Leody de Guzman, a labor leader, also expressed disagreement with how the working class was treated. His Tweet that included a photo of the workers behind bars read, “Ganito trinatrato ng kasalukuyan pampulitikang sistema natin ang pinakaproduktibong pwersa ng ekonomiya at pinakatapat magbayad ng buwis sa gobyerno. (This is how our current political system treats the most productive forces of our economy and the most honest in paying their taxes to the government.)” (De Guzman, 2021)
Violence against workers was not a one-off situation, for prior to the arrest of Soft Touch workers, various labor leaders and people of the working class were arrested as they protested for their rights. On Labor Day, they protest, and the cops arrest them. In 2020, labor leaders from Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino staged a protest in a subdivision in Rodriguez, Rizal where they called for job security and better social protection; since it was during the pandemic, they observed proper social distancing. The police used this as grounds for the arrest of two labor leaders who were then detained. (Rey, 2020) In the following year, the police force arrested 34 protestors on Labor Day—a yearly occurrence. 8 miners from Carmen Copper in Toledo City, 12 fishers from Talisay City, and 14 members of urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) were arrested and detained until labor groups paid the P500-fine for each worker. (Sitchon, 2021)
The Support
Various unions and organizations of workers and laborers have been fighting for their rights, and we should continue to support those who are taken advantage of in the Philippine society. There are over a hundred organizations, and the most prominent among many are the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) (International Labor Organization, n.d.); they fight for decent work for job seekers and job preservation for the employed.
We can stand by them. We can join mass organizations to learn more about Philippine society and fight with the working class. For the coming elections, we must vote for politicians who support them, is smart, and is ultimately people-oriented. Our little efforts would also be appreciated even if we just use social media to raise awareness and debunk misinformation.
We, as fellow Filipinos, must continue to amplify their voices and use our voices for progress.
Summary
- Labor workers suffer from the low minimum wage that even varies from region to region, endo-contractualization that treats them as disposable commodities to the capitalists, undesirable work conditions, and unjust violence.
- Labor groups, unions, or organizations that protest to the government against injustice have been continuously fighting for workers’ rights; however, they are the main target of violence from the powerful and the police force. They are hit and arrested unjustly.
- The capitalist class or the bourgeoisie and the working class or the proletariat are in constant class conflict because of how capitalists take advantage of the workers.
- We need to amplify the voice of the workers and fight with them against injustice in Philippine society.
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