The injustice is very glaring but nothing much could be done by workers. They remain beggars at the low end of the bargaining table. Given the doomsday scenario of losing jobs and everything due to closure of the businesses where they work, the poor worker would bend to agree to the option that will sustain his daily subsistence even at so low a wage.
The setup is always for workers to sacrifice so the business may thrive for them to have a source for a living. Workers are always called to sacrifice so that both business and their jobs will survive. They are made to understand that pressing for higher pay even if just and equitable is a wrong option to perdition. Without opportunities for employment, workers will always accept the sad reality of being underpaid just so they may live.
But reality appears differently than that portrayed by business and employers. Against the claim of being pushed to the brink of collapse if wage increases are forced, employers display a lifestyle of wealth and luxury. They get even richer by the day while workers sink deeper into the irreversible pit of indebtedness.
And their advanced wages are considered debts from their employers that earn interest. They pay the cost of money that is supposed to be theirs in the first place. Delayed salaries and wages do not earn interest for the poor workers. It is always the employers who rake in the profit of the toil of the poor working man.
Nonetheless, workers deserve a pat for obtaining a pittance of an increase in their daily wages. They have somehow gained something before the wage board. Their submissive stance to the offer of employers is a heroic act that ought to be recognized. Their humble position to accept the wage increase that is pegged keeps businesses growing and going. They have the option to reject the amount and press for their demand but to do so would break the peace in the workplaces.
When else would workers obtain the just wages they deserve nobody could tell. But while workers are bound to receive the pittance granted, its realization remains a big question. Many times such increases had been followed in the breach than in the compliance. And workers in the fourth estate are left wondering if there is pittance too.
comments to alellema@yahoo.com
