Workers cry for aid: ‘Morning meal should last till dinner’

“Jessica,” a saleswoman in a Metro Manila mall, was jobless for most of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic raged.

She and her husband are contractual workers who earn minimum wage. The initial hard lockdown put them, along with millions of others, out of work.

When the mall reopened, Jessica was given fewer workdays. And she had to give up her job when illness hit her family.

In time she was able to find work again, in another mall with a different manpower agency.

Before the pandemic, Jessica worked six days a week. Not anymore. Some of her coworkers have even fewer workdays, she said, “but they take it because it’s better than nothing.”

Not enough to eat

“Food is not enough. Our meal in the morning should last until dinner. Our problem is how to pay the bills because if we have no work, we don’t get paid,” she said..

Jessica and her coworkers received cash assistance from the mall management in 2020. They got nothing of the P5,000 emergency aid promised by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) for displaced workers.

“We did not receive anything from Dole last year. Our agency said Dole did not approve its application [for the workers] because we were not qualified. That money would have been a big help to us,” she said, adding:

“I hope I get more days of work. We are thankful that at least the malls are open because their closure affected us very much. We have no money to buy food.”

Wood factory

“Hernando,” a family breadwinner, makes do with what he earns as a contractual worker and minimum wage earner in a wood factory outside Metro Manila.

Like Jessica, he reports for duty only a few days a week, and does not get paid if he does not work..

His employer advances a portion of the workers’ weekly salary then deducts it from their pay. “That’s why we’re buried in debt. We owe the factory, different stores, loan sharks,” he said.

His teenage children have quit school; they look for any part-time job to help the family.

He did not receive cash aid from Dole last year despite his agency’s application on behalf of workers like him who had lost jobs.

During the interview, Hernando said a nearby factory was on lockdown because a worker had tested positive for COVID-19.

If he or any of his coworkers show COVID-19 symptoms, the company will pay only for the swab test and basic medicines, he said. Those infected will not be paid while recuperating.

“I wish they will increase our wages. What we get is not enough for the strenuous work we do,” Hernando said.

Dress shop

“Norma” is a regular employee but she also found herself out of work for months in 2020 when their dress shop in Metro Manila closed—due first to the lockdown and then the lack of business.

The shop has since reopened but Norma and her fellow employees now have few workdays. There are stretches when she works for only a day a week.

Before COVID-19 hit, she and her coworkers were making enough for their families.

“The pandemic changed so many things in our life. We encountered so many problems and many of us went hungry. We didn’t know where to get the money for food and essentials and our everyday expenses,” said Norma.

“I did not expect to be out of work. It’s so disheartening that we can’t go back to our regular work,” she said.

No cash assistance from the company or from Dole came to Norma and her coworkers, again because they were “not qualified” for it, she said.

Work, that’s what we need,” she said pleadingly.

COVID-positive

“Tess” was able to return to work as a business process outsourcing (BPO) employee after the lockdown.

For days she had to walk home before dawn because there was no public transport and her house was off the company shuttle’s route. Eventually she was able to work at home.

Tess’ ordeal with COVID-19 began when she felt a lump behind her ears. She had fever, headache, burning eyes, cough and body aches. Soon she lost her senses of smell and taste. Then she had difficulty breathing.

But she kept working for the sake of her children, whom she had taken to live with her relatives before the lockdown.

This was how Tess recalled the way it was: “When I made calls, I spoke very slowly. After each word, I had to catch my breath. Every time I moved when lying down, I had to catch my breath. I could not sleep or eat. It reached a point where I felt that at any time, I would not wake up.

“It was very difficult. At the same time, I was confused. I could not decide to go for a checkup because the hospital might force me to be admitted. I was working because it was ‘no work, no pay’ for me. I was afraid I was going to die.”

After about a month, Tess approached the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) and went for a swab test. It confirmed what she had known all along.

“I can’t say I was able to overcome COVID,” she said. “I just had no choice. I’m still breathing, but my mind and emotions have shut down.” INQ

Editor’s Note: All the workers interviewed for this report asked not to be named for fear of reprisal from their employers or service agencies.