Workers, Enough of illusions! Struggle for a just society!
A message for International Workers Day
1. 5. 2018
At first, this post salutes all struggling workers in this occasion. Known for commemorating their labours and harvesting their fruits of their hardships, International Workers Day was and is itself a day recognising these forgers and tillers of the society as a driving force for change, despite the fact that they are still bounded by the chains led by those who exploit in the name of interest.
Sounds centuries old this so-called exploitation by the profiteers and struggle from the workers; and despite the fact that there are times profiteers obliged or compelled to observe and enact the concessions meant to uplift the have-nots, this doesn't stop the desire for the working class to assert for freedom and social justice- some if not most are even paid by blood because of this desire to fight for.
And if to look at the experiences such as the Paris Commune of 1871, the Russian Revolution of 1917, or the victory of the Chinese people in 1949, these shows that even blood at its price, the struggle to break the bonds of exploitation and injustice, to reap the fruits of hard work from the interest-driven profiteers, and to forge for a just society, all these will remain fresh in the hearts and minds of every labourer no matter how others will insist that "radical change" is nonsense as they favour mere piecemeal "reforms".
And in the case of the Philippines, laws like TRAIN tries to appear "for the people", with promoses of take home pay for the lowest paid and the taxes collected be allocated to government projects and forms of welfare, but, with the increasing prices of commodities and people still enduring low wages, will that law truly benefit the labourer? So is contractualisation which profiteers agrees to it because it "saves money" as they increase profits at the expense of the labouring class's hardships followed by disposing afterwards; the government may have disagreed from it, they even created an "executive order", but will it truly stop that goddamn contractualisation or just trying to stop labourers from asserting a call?
And in the case of the Philippines, laws like TRAIN tries to appear "for the people", with promoses of take home pay for the lowest paid and the taxes collected be allocated to government projects and forms of welfare, but, with the increasing prices of commodities and people still enduring low wages, will that law truly benefit the labourer? So is contractualisation which profiteers agrees to it because it "saves money" as they increase profits at the expense of the labouring class's hardships followed by disposing afterwards; the government may have disagreed from it, they even created an "executive order", but will it truly stop that goddamn contractualisation or just trying to stop labourers from asserting a call?
Anyway, as the struggle rages with protests and statements, expect modern-day versions of Samuel Grompers trying to negate the social aspect of this occasion and insist limiting workers' desires to just economic issues, or how the system, playing "for the people" creating proclamations and orders enough to please; but as long as wages remain low and prices high, that unjust contracts remain even substituted with "correct terminologies", and people be silenced because of their beliefs for a just society, then perhaps it is just to say "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"- if one desires peace, prepare for war.
That's all for now. Workers will continue to struggle for their rights and to contribute for the redemption of their society from its sordid existence. Time will come that in a society that is free and just, so is the worker.