It will be a very different Labor Day for the biggest labor federation in the country, the Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO). The 63-year old federation, which counts among its affiliates around a hundred labor unions in almost all industries all over the country, including transport, manufacturing, petroleum, mining, food, brewery, water distribution, electricity, racing clubs, steel, agriculture, poultry, garments and textile, OFWs and BPOs, chose not to join the usual Labor Day rallies and pickets, but instead to sweep the streets of Roxas Boulevard in Manila and nearby areas.  

 “PTGWO would be engaging in ‘Bayanihan sa Kalinisan’. With around 5,000 volunteer members, giving 4 hours of their time, to use walis tingting and sweep the streets of Roxas Boulevard and nearby areas, we would be donating a total of 20,000 manhours of actual work for Labor Day for the City of Manila.”, stated Atty. Arnel Z. Dolendo, National President of PTGWO.

The members of PTGWO would actually be marking Labor Day with a celebration of camaraderie. The event would not be marked by the usual angry mob of workers chanting anti-government slogans. The group would thereafter conduct a program and listen to their invited guests and partners from the City Government of Manila, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Metro Manila Development Authority at the Raja Sulaiman Park.

“Usually, after their labor day parade, the streets of the Metro are left dirty with the trash of the rallyists. With this group it is the opposite.”, said Tolentino. The MMDA Chairman. 

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz applauded the PTGWO for choosing environment clean-up as one of its highlight activities for the Labor Day commemoration.

“This is a different kind of Labor Day event for the PTGWO. I believe this indicates PTGWO’s high level of maturity in its fastidious effort to protect the welfare of workers. It’s a creative way to exercise its role as partner of management in maintaining industrial peace in the workplace, and as a good corporate citizen. The PTGWO has progressed to be a sincere ally of the government and the public in protecting the environment,” Baldoz said. 

“It is not that we are contended with what a majority of our workers receive in salaries and benefits. There is so much more left to be desired to uplift the welfare our workers. It is just that we feel that there should be a different, yet far better way, of expressing it. Through the bayanihan sa kalinisan, by being productive even on Labor Day, we feel that we may be able to pierce though the moral scruples of our employers, and make them realize their employees are their hardworking partners, justly deserving a tangible share in the profits that they reap.”, explained Dolendo.

An affiliate of PTGWO, the Association of Minimum Wage Earners and Advocates (AMWEA) was responsible for the recent minimum wage increase granted by the DOLE NCR Wage Board of P15. The AMWEA-PTGWO, which counts minimum wage earners comprising around 90% of the working class, as its members, appealed the said increase. The group argued that the minimum wage should match the declared living of P1,200 for a family of 5 members.

“AMWEA-PTGWO filed a proper petition with the Wage Board and the NWPC to try to achieve its objective for the workers. It presented its argument that the minimum wage should be a living wage. And, we believe that in the end, AMWEA-PTGWO will be upheld, as the grant of a living wage is a Constitutional guaranty.”

The PTGWO, the federation with the most number of registered labor unions with collective bargaining agreements (CBA) is recognized in the labor movement as a beacon of responsible trade unionism. We always try to resolve our issues with the management in a cordial and peaceful manner. We would like to bring this culture out so that industrial peace would be achieved throughout the country’s work environment.”, continued Dolendo.