GOVERNMENT UNFAIR TO LGU EMPLOYEES

Submitted by courage_phil on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 23:30.

“As much as we laud
the DBM’s effort to provide an additional bonus to national government
employees, we are also saddened by the fact that our colleagues in the local
government units will not have a ‘merry’ Christmas,” said COURAGE National
President Ferdinand Gaite.

 

In a picket held
today by the employees of the local government of Quezon City, COURAGE
supported the LGU workers’ demand to include them in the implementation of the
additional Christmas cash gift. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM)
has already announced last week the release of the additional benefit but will
only cover employees in the national government agencies (NGAs). The League of
LGU Employees (LEAGUE) slammed Malacañang’s seeming bias against LGU employees
who were already discriminated in the implementation of the Salary
Standardization Law 3 (SSL).

 

“We are always
treated as second-class employees. We also badly need the additional bonus.
Like our counterparts in the NGAs, we are also recovering from the adverse
economic effects brought about by the recent disasters. Paano naman ang pasko namin?” asked LEAGUE Spokesperson and
KASAMAKA-QC President Erwin Lanuza.

 

The leader echoed the
LGU workers’ clamor for equal pay for equal work done. “Most of us were not
able to receive the P7000-Christmas cash gift that DBM guaranteed last year and
other benefits mandated by law. While we perform the same amount of work, our
wages are much lower than the employees in the NGAs, government-owned and
controlled corporations (GOCCs) and the government financial institutions
(GFIs). We are always left out when it comes to benefits,” stated Lanuza.

 

He also pointed out
that 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th class
municipalities may not have the financial capacity to grant their employees
Christmas bonuses. “The national government should subsidize LGUs so that their
employees can also enjoy the additional cash gift. We believe that the DBM can
easily pull resources to extend the benefit to LGU employees if Malacañang will
only allow,” said Lanuza.

 

Meanwhile, COURAGE
vowed to join the LGU employees in their future mass actions to pressure the
Arroyo government to allocate a substantial amount for their Christmas cash
gift.   #