30/04/2023
PMSA - PLM Statement on Labor Day
The working class has been chronically plagued by exploitation, and health workers are not exempt from such. Medical students recognize that a liveable wage increase is a step towards financial security. It is also in the right direction to health for all. This Labor Day, the Philippine Medical Students Association - PLM calls on fellow medical students and professional colleagues, especially Occupational Health Physicians, to stand up for workers’ rights and join the ongoing fight for people’s health.
I. Chronic Disease
The advent of the industrial revolution ushered in the appearance of workers who utilize manual labor for production. Technology progressed and production grew more efficient but profits are being barely felt by those who made them. In the National Capital Region, worker productivity increased 42% from 2012 to 2021 [1]. However, the nominal minimum daily wage in the same region over the same period only got a hike of 18%, now at P537 [1]. Health workers comparatively receive a monthly pay of P12,000 with a Salary Grade 1 government item, and P17,000 for private employment [2]. On the other hand, the net income of the top 1,000 corporations and the net worth of 40 richest Filipinos went up by 68% and 89% respectively [1].
Workers are also burdened with occupational risks and hazards especially those from microfirms and the informal sector [3][4]. Most common occupational diseases enumerated were musculoskeletal disorders, hypertension, and occupational asthma [3]. Occupational accidents vary per job and include trauma such as lacerations and abrasions, foreign bodies in the eyes, and hearing loss.
Other long-standing problems of Filipino workers include worsening poverty, high unemployment, increasing prices and costs of living, and widening social inequalities [5].
II. Acute Injury
On top of these unfavorable conditions, workers further suffer with the economic decline in the country. Inflation for the 1st quarter of 2023 was averaged at 8.4% [6]. This compounded the higher consumption taxes resulting from the TRAIN Law, further burdening the poorest 75% of the population [7]. With these, the real value of daily minimum wage is at P482, further decreasing the people’s purchasing power [8]. Meanwhile, the family living wage nationwide for a family of five is estimated to be at P1,165, around two and a half times of the real minimum wage [8]. Thus, Filipinos have a more difficult time surviving with this acute injury on top of a pre-existing economic condition.
III. Organ Failure
The sorry state of our workers exacerbates their already poor health-seeking behavior. From cheap yet unhealthy food choices to delaying medical consultation and treatment, health becomes even less of a priority. Furthermore, patients are being forced to spend out of pocket for their health as even public hospitals remain underfunded and less capable of holistic management. This further makes health inaccessible to the majority of the Filipino people.
On the other hand, health workers are also being affected. With low salary, undercompensation and inadequate staffing, they remain to be overworked and underpaid. It is then unsurprising why healthcare professionals choose to leave the country and work where they are adequately compensated. In 2021, health human resources was found to be at 17.1 per 10,000 population, a far cry from the standard of 44.5 per 10,000 population [9]. Regretfully, health workers are disproportionately distributed with less in impoverished areas where healthcare is more needed [10]. Furthermore, this declining health human resource ratio results in inhumane working hours and overloaded work especially for hospital doctors.
With this economic reality, Filipinos are dying in poverty and the state of the Philippine health care further becomes in failure.
IV. Resuscitation and Replacement
The case of Filipino workers today is that of an emergency necessitating immediate resuscitative measures. Now more than ever, a nationwide wage hike is of utmost importance. Infusing wage increase to workers would ensure adequate financial supply for Filipino families. This can be sourced from the super-profits being amassed by capitalists taken from the sweat of the workers themselves and from the never-ending price increases imposed on consumers. Hence, sustainably addressing the workers’ long-standing demand for wage increase. In addition, this would have a positive feedback loop as it would enable workers and their families to be able to purchase more which would spur local economic activity, small businesses, and job generation [8]. Furthermore, economic security would also enable Filipino families to have the financial capacity to attend to their health and wellbeing.
Once stabilized, it is now time to address the underlying cause of this pathology. Decades of suffering show how the current system is failing our workers. As in some patients with Chronic Kidney Disease requiring Renal Replacement Therapy and Kidney Transplantation, this chronically failing economic paradigm also needs to be replaced. Our fight for wage increase must extend to the fight for a society where workers adequately receive compensation according to their work; and where health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being is attained by the people.
[1] https://www.ibon.org/wage-hikes-are-harmful-kung-ayaw-maraming-dahilan/?fbclid=IwAR0tretMiE9dQhV1CztjhT5N4GMV9BzJrxtmX0-eApPUlJwFC2-HYW0Sunw
[2] https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1697680/health-workers-press-call-for-p33k-basic-pay
[3] https://actamedicaphilippina.upm.edu.ph/index.php/acta/article/view/3865/3082
[4] https://www.ilo.org/manila/areasofwork/safety-and-health-at-work/lang--en/index.htm
[5]https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_742567.pdf
[6] http://rssoncr.psa.gov.ph/article/summary-inflation-report-consumer-price-index-2018100-national-capital-region-march-2023
[7] https://www.ibon.org/how-do-the-senatoriables-fare-train-law/
[8] https://www.ibon.org/growing-clamor-for-wage-hike-echoes-urgency-justness-and-doability-ibon/?fbclid=IwAR2ct2PGweNhA6LAclcxxwWw-jr84bE6ZuhcOvdzPPjJRdU0ra7baGFLHIk
[9] https://www.facebook.com/IBONFoundation/photos/a.470669475161/10167415291780162
[10] https://www.facebook.com/IBONFoundation/photos/a.470669475161/10167415291835162
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