GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES DEMAND FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF SSL 3 IN 2010

Submitted by courage_phil on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 10:27.

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The militant national center of government employees held a protest
action today, along Elliptical Road, Quezon City to demand the full
implementation of the Salary Standardization Law 3 (SSL 3) for all government
employees in 2010.

 

“Our campaign for a significant wage hike has not wavered
even with the approval of the Salary Standardization Law 3 (SSL 3). The first
tranche of increases under the SSL 3 which was given last July was not enough
to alleviate the dire economic condition of the lowly-paid employees. The
saddest part is that not everyone in our ranks enjoyed the meager hike. The SSL
3 discriminates our colleagues in the local government units who are yet to
receive the first instalment of the increases in January 2010,” said Ferdinand
Gaite, COURAGE National President.

 

COURAGE has launched a nationwide signature campaign among
government employees. They said they will present these signatures to the
legislators to immediately enact a supplemental budget for 2009 to include
those who have yet to receive the salary adjustment. 

 

The militant group also said that it shall intensify its
campaign in time for the 2010 budget deliberations which already started on
last week of August. The state workers believe that the P1.54T budget should prioritize
projects which will truly benefit the marginalized sectors of our country
instead of useless ventures that shall only serve the campaign of
administration candidates.  “For so many
years, the biggest chunk of the national budget always goes to debt servicing.
If you come to think of it, the tax payers’ money is heavily spent on lop-sided
debts that probably financed dubious projects such as the Ginintuang Masaganang
Ani that only became beneficial to Pres. Arroyo’s election campaign in 2004,”
stated Gaite.

 

The government employees urged lawmakers to
earmark P55.2 billion which will be enough to realize the increases under the
SSL 3 for all public servants in 2010. They claimed that this will ensure that
part of the national budget shall directly benefit a marginalized sector, the
state workers. “Under the Arroyo administration, the interests of the
government workers have been neglected. It is about time that our lawmakers
heed our calls for a significant wage increase,” said Gaite.