Trade Union Congress of the Philippines President Raymond Mendoza. (Photo courtesy of the House of Representatives)
DAVAO CITY – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has expressed its full support and cooperation to the vision laid out by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday.
“It is clear to us now that the President has a vision for our country and people. The TUCP unions and informal worker-members are with the President full steam ahead,” TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency Tuesday.
Mendoza said TUCP is prepared to partner with the Marcos administration to “create a better life for Filipino employees.”
As the country’s biggest workers group, he said TUCP will push for more jobs and economic recovery to help solve the problem arising from the three million unemployed and seven million underemployed Filipinos.
“The ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program should lead to the creation of four million decent jobs with living wages in 2022 to 2023. Construction jobs will have multiplier job creation effects,” Mendoza said.
Meanwhile, Mendoza said infrastructure developments such as railways, agri-industrial hubs, and farm to market roads must be pursued to accelerate employment and generate economic activities.
Mendoza said he will propose the passage of the Magna Carta of Informal Workers, pushing to end “endo” in the private sector.
He will also urge the National Wages and Productivity Commission Regional Wage Boards to target scheduling of providing minimum wages of at least 5 percent above the poverty threshold.
He said TUCP supports Marcos being on top of the Department of Agriculture to bring down rice prices, review the rice tariffication law, and negotiate with China to “ensure our fishermen can fish freely in the West Philippine Sea."
“TUCP hopes we can all give the President the time to address the nation's problem. TUCP is prepared to partner with the current Administration and to give him necessary breathing room,” he said.
In his first SONA, Marcos said he expects the Department of Migrant Workers to ensure aid for overseas Filipino workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Mendoza co-authored the Republic Act 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers And Overseas Filipinos Act Of 1995, which seeks to protect and promote the welfare of migrant workers. (PNA)
