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Women’s Month celebrations kick off with call for equal pay, job security


Leaders of various women’s groups on Monday called for equal job opportunities and equal pay for women workers to mark March as National Women's Month.

At least 10 leaders of women’s organizations made the call during the Purple Action Day: Call for Accountability/Women Against Impunity hosted by the Commission on Human Rights.

The leaders, who represent women workers in the agriculture, manufacturing, and retail sectors as well as migrant workers, noted that while women have been a huge part of the labor force, their working conditions in factories, farms, markets, and domestic work are far from what they deserve since regional wage boards put women in the countryside at a disadvantage, while majority of contractual workers who do not enjoy social protection are women.

 

 

“Dumami man sa bilang, di disenteng trabaho ang lahat ng ito. Kulang sa minimum na sahod ang natatanggap ng maraming kababaihan, at lalong kapos sa nakabubuhay na sahod,” the women's groups said in a joint statement.

“Mayroon pang gender wage gap o mas malaking sahod para sa kalalakihan kumpara sa kababaihang manggagawa sa bawat pisong sinasahod ng kalalakihan. Tinatayang 37 sentimo lang ang sinasahod ng mga kababaihang manggagawa sa bawat pisong sinasahod ng kalalakihan,”  they added.

 

 

Having said that, the women leaders reiterated their call for the abolition of the regional wage board and establishing a national minimum wage rate.

“Dahil kulang sa sahod, ang mga kababaihang kadalasang taga-badyet ng gastuin ng pamilya ang pangunahing namomroblema sa nagtataasang halaga ng bilihin, lalo na ng pagkain at bigas, na bunsod ng kontra-magsasaka at kontra-mamamayang Rice Tariffication Law. Napagkakaitan ng disenteng pamumyuhay ang mga kababaihan at kanilang pamilya, lalo’t wala namang mga bagong proyekto para sa murang pabahay sa mga manggagawa,” the women pointed out.

The Rice Tariffication law allows unlimited rice importation in the country, an initiative that was supposed to stabilize rice prices.

“Pareho-pareho lang naman ang batayan sa paggawa at pare-pareho tayong apektado sa pagtaas ng presyo ni bilihin. Kaya hindi na dapat iba -iba ang sahod sa bawat rehiyon,” Gabriela representative Emmi de Jesus added.

In closing, the women leaders urged the government to allow women to form unions to ensure that the workers will not be at the mercy of the employers’ whims, especially as there are employers who tend to veer away from hiring women due to the recently passed law expanding paid maternity leave from 60 to 105 days.

“Tanging sa pamamagitan ng unyon lamang makakaasa ang mga kababaihang manggagawa sa patas na laban para sa karapatan sa pangaea, upang masupil ang kontraktwalisasyon, karahasan sa paggawa at di makataong kondisyon sa paggawa,” they added.

The women leaders who made the call alongside de Jesus and Commission on Human Rights spokesperson, lawyer Jacqueline de Guia include:

  • Joms Salvador of GABRIELA
  • Judy Ann Chan Miranda of PM Women-NAGKAISA
  • Avic Villanueva ofKilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan
  • Nitz Gonzaga of KMU-Women
  • Jhen Pajel of Kilos Na Manggagawa
  • Jean Enriquez of CATWAP-World March Of Women (WMW)
  • Ellene Sana of Center for Migrant Advocacy-WMW
  • Amparo Miciano of Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan-WMW
  • Nice Coronacion of Sentro ng mga Nagkakisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) NAGKAISA and
  • Jesica De Ocampo of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union

— BM, GMA News

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