Ka Leody favors 4-day workweek proposal but sans wage cut

The proposal of the economic sector to reduce the workweek into four days should not come with a wage cut, labor leader and presidential candidate Leody de Guzman said on Wednesday.

He made the remark following the recommendation of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Karl Kendrick Chua for the government to impose a four-day workweek to conserve energy and alleviate the public’s expenses amid the series of big time oil price hikes.

De Guzman stressed that this plan may lead to a reduction to the workers’ income and the labor policy to shift to a “no work, no pay” instead of “no loss in pay.”

“Paalis na nga lang sa pwesto, nagawa pang mamerwisyo. Imbes na tulungang dumagdag ang kita ay binawasan pa,” he said in a statement.

(You’re about to leave your post yet you still want to be a bother to the workers. Instead of helping to increase the workers’ wages, you want it reduced.)

Thus, on top of the four-day workweek, De Guzman reiterated his proposal to also reduce the number of working hours from eight to six hours without a wage cut.

According to him, this will help generate more jobs for Filipinos and lessen the physical strain of the workers who often work overtime.

“Ang aking panukala para sa shortened workweek, na maaring 6-hour working day, nang walang kabawasan sa sweldo, ay naglalayong magdagdag na isang shift para sa karagdagang empleyo habang binabawasan ang physical depreciation ng katawan ng manggagawang nalalaspag sa pag-oobertaym at pagtarabaho,” he said.

(My proposal for the shortened workweek, which may be a 6-hour working day, with no pay cut, aims to add one shift for additional employment. This will reduce the physical depreciation of the worker who is tired from working overtime.)

De Guzman earlier noted that the two hours that would be made available would allow the hiring of 11 million more workers.

He however acknowledged that this proposal could not be implemented immediately as the economy is not yet stable.

“Imbes na pinapalitan ng makina ang pagkaempleyo ng tao, ang pag-unlad sa teknolohiya ay dapat humantong sa pagbabawas ng hours of work, nang hindi binabawasan, bagkus ay dinadagdagan pa ang sweldo,” he added.

(Instead of machines replacing human employment, advances in technology should lead to a reduction in hours of work, and increase their wages, not the other way around.)

GMA News Online asked De Guzman's camp if employers would not lose income if he would push for a four-day workweek with six-hour shift per day—-practically 24 working hours per week—-and without wage cut, but has yet to receive a response.

The Partido Lakas ng Masa standard bearer earlier vowed to increase the daily minimum wage of workers all over the country to P750, should he win the May 9 polls.

Aside from this, he also said he will prioritize making the wages of the employees in provinces the same as those in Metro Manila, stressing that he does not see the essence of varying salary rates when the prices of the goods and services, as well as the value-added tax, in the provinces and in Metro Manila are just the same.—LDF, GMA News