“Of low wages and ‘global competitiveness’,
‘knowledge work’,
and the worker’s right to unionise in the ‘New Digital Economy’”
(Thoughts on the worker’s struggle
in the “Business Processing Outsourcing” and “Gig” sectors)
People have been hearing these words for years: that wages must remain low in order for the Philippines to remain "globally competitive."
Keeping wages low, according to a well-known oligarch, is all about encouraging more people to work, more profits to increase, more businesses to open, and remaining competitive with its neighbours in an era of globalisation and neoliberal capitalism.
With its apologists believing that low wages mean more investment and thus more businesses to set up and compete, that "great idea" that's driven by interests rather benefits the well-off at the expense of the have-nots: undereducated and unskilled workers at the mercy of both corrupt bureaucrats and despotic bosses, scrimping on lower wages in the face of rising living costs and low purchasing power.
And this includes "sunshine industries" like the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) sector, which, while claiming to be keeping the country "afloat," exposes its workers to the same conditions as others: enduring hours of hardship for a pittance and unjust contracts, or be booted out.
That this continues to impede working people even today, as commodity prices continue to rise—contrary to apologists' claims that "food is cheap"—and is still somewhat wishful thinking. In retrospect, those who work hard are concerned about the "fruits of their labour": will their work be sustainable in the face of unjust pay, unfair policies, and threats of suspension or dismissal? Of course, they enjoyed their jobs from the start, but the reality of hardship and forced contentment in the face of threats has made these workers realise that there is a serious need for fairness and justice.
“For the Union makes us strong- even in ‘Knowledge work’”
The rationale for this anti-union policy towards BPO employees was the realisation that even the most junior employees in these firms performed Knowledge Work or, for that matter, were better paid in comparison to manufacturing firms and were White Collared, which meant that these employees did not need to be members of unions.
For it was believed that while White Collar workers, who were often better paid and had degrees and other credentials, were seen to be members of the elite and so did not need to be unionised, it was assumed that Blue Collar workers may join unions. This practise of the administrative and executive elite do not belonging to any unions while the rank-and-file workers in many areas are unionised is still in place today.
However, one would therefore wonder, given this assertion, which category BPO employees fall under? Even though the majority of them possessed degrees and do “knowledge work” like those of teachers and government employees, they were nevertheless required to work for hours as those of skilled workers. There are even situations where basic protections are denied to workers and mass layoffs occur. So why deny them the right to organise a union and make their legitimate demands?
Some would even dismiss altogether the idea that BPO employees, as well as freelancers alike can form unions, as they would claim establishments where they’re working offer better packages and therefore doesn’t need to create unions! If not since every employee in these companies was a part of the “New Digital Economy,” which was expected to usher in a new era in the way labour was performed, unionisation is accepted as being incompatible with these businesses! Even freelancers also downplayed their right to organise all because “they could set their own hours” and “choose their employers”, in addition to being dispersed, and therefore was not feasible, neither in terms of organising them nor in terms of them not being workers in the first place.
“For a just wage, better working conditions,
and the right to organise in the New Digital Economy”
But still, as opposed to the views taken by the establishment would say that workers, including those in the “sunshine industries” should unite in order to assert their just calls ranging from just wages to better labor practises. True, a BPO employee or a freelancer is paid more than the average worker, but in reality, greedy foreign companies or scrupulous clients are taking advantage of the country's "cheap labour," ensuring profits for the companies that entice people to work with promises of above-average pay, signing bonuses, and incentives for good work performance- and this make a concerned wonder if, because companies promised such things, it meant that these employees were truly satisfied while being stabbed from behind by these scrupulous “employers”. Meanwhile, lawmakers remain silent in their situation, while muttering phrases like "a just wage for a just work"!
"A just wage for a just work," while agreeing with an oligarch that says "wages should be kept low"? What a bummer! The desire for global competitiveness is what the economist Krugman described as a “dangerous obsession”- with nations compete against each other like big corporations as it skews domestic policies. No wonder these well-offs, both bureaucrats and compradores, consider food and commodities to be "cheap" while ordinary people are forced to make do on meagre wages and are duped by promises of bonuses. And to maintain their illusion, apologists for this goddamn system would completely downplay, if not ignore, these facts.
But damn their ill-conceived ideas because they downplay the reality that workers, whether white collar or blue collar, demand fairness and justice, especially at a time when interest-seekers continue to exploit them for their own gain, forcing them to work long hours for a pittance, having “pizza parties” instead of better wages and benefits, and dismissing their hardships as "knowledge work" with "perks" and thus "incompatible" with the need for worker unity.