Negros Occidental labor, church groups unite to call for end to ‘endo’

BACOLOD CITY – Labor groups in Negros Occidental have united under the Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS) to call on President Rodrigo Duterte to end the practice of labor contracting.

As a show of unity, the Bayan-Kilusang Mayo Uno-National Federation of Sugar Workers protestors would converge with the Partido ng Manggagawa-Negros and other labor groups at the Fountain of Justice at Araneta Street about 9:30 a.m. on Labor Day to air their joint call to end “ENDO” or end of contract, which refers to a contractualization scheme that offers short-term and unprotected temporary work arrangements.

The Bayan- KMU-NFSW group would then proceed to the Bacolod Public Plaza for a 10 a.m. rally.

PM-Negros and its allied groups would stage its rally at the Foundation of Justice in the afternoon.

“Today, 24 million Filipino workers are employed under different schemes of contractualization that government itself has tolerated and approved,” the CSW statement read by Fr. Cris Gonzales, CWS convenor and head of the Social Action Center, in a news conference on Monday.

“The President has not made any move or even plans to increase the national minimum wage,” the CSW said.