Workers call for safe, secure jobs

📷Kilusang Mayo Uno | FB

On the occasion of the International Workers Memorial Day on April 28, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) mounted a protest-exhibit at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila in remembrance of all the Filipino workers who died on the job, or who met fatal accidents due to unsafe working conditions safety and delivery workers forced to meet impossible productivity targets imposed under a system of algorithmic exploitation.

KMU joined millions of workers worldwide to remember the many workers who died on the job, those who contracted diseases because of unsafe working conditions and those who perished as factories burned, like the fire that killed hundreds of women workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City on March 25, 1911. an apparel company before the advent of the 20th century. Located on three floors of a building, the fire killed 146 mainly immigrant garment workers—123 women and girls and 23 men. The capitalist owners had closed the stairwells and exits of the factory to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft. There were no sprinklers in the entire building. Furious at the tragedy that could have been prevented, workers demanded safety standards and won them. The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) expanded its membership because of the tragedy.

Jerome Adonis, KMU secretary general and a senatorial candidate of the Makabayan Coalition said hundreds of Filipino workers have died on the job, many of them due to the cavalier treatment of safety standards, including the failure to implement fire control measures in factories. Adonis explained that in 2015, a fire broke out at Kentex, killing 72 workers in a factory that manufactures rubber slippers. Capitalist negligence has been blamed for the many workplace incidents, Adonis added, with the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Development (IOSHD) reporting that from January to March this year, a total of 94 workplace incidents were reported, with 56 deaths and 115 injuries. Two construction workers perished when they were buried alive when a building collapsed, two housekeepers also died in a condominium fire and two ship welders were trapped and burned to death in Navotas.

“Maraming manggagawa ang napipilitang tumanggap ng mapanganib na trabaho para lang may mapakain sa kanilang mga pamilya. Krimen dapat ang pagsasangkalan sa buhay ng manggagawa para sa tubo. Dapat ligtas at disente ang trabaho, at may nakabubuhay na sahod ang lahat ng manggagawa!” Adonis argued. He criticized the Marcos Jr. administration for not intensifying inspections of all factories and workplaces and ensuring that fire hazards are eliminated, ventilation is maintained and all exits are not blocked. KMU also slammed the government for flaunting its “job creation” programs, which the labor group asserted has been exposed as tokenistic and eventually meaningless in the face of the soaring self-rated poverty rates nationwide, with 63% of Filipino families saying they are poor. “Hindi mapagtatakpan ng Trabaho Para sa Bayan ni Bongbong at ng Job Fairs ng DOLE ang totoong danas ng manggagawa’t mamamayan. Dumarami ang nalulugmok sa kahirapan dahil walang nalilikhang trabaho, at kung meron man ay mapanganib, kontraktwal, walang benepisyo, at mababa ang sahod,” Adonis added.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) also reported the case of 19-year-old delivery rider Jasper Dalman, who died while working for Foodpanda. His union, Riders-Sentro, won recognition and insurance rights after Dalman’s death dramatized “the deadly consequences of algorithmic exploitation that set impossible productivity targets.” Dalman’s case came as the KMU called for stiffer penalties for violators of rules covering occupational safety and health, demanding that such violations be criminalized in time for the 10th anniversary of the Kentex fire. Moreover, Adonis said workers are pushing for a decent wage increase, calling for the approval of a legislated P1,200 family living wage nationwide. KMU noted that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been puny regional wage increases that are easily wiped out by real inflation rates. Worse, some groups linked to big corporations do not even want a minimum wage, arguing that capitalists should negotiate for wages at the firm level. Wages do not comprise 7% of operational costs for many corporations.

Both the ITUC and the Institute of Economic Rights (IER) also warned about the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in workplaces, claiming that far from lessening workloads, AI and digitization inflict more burdens on workers. “AI is transforming the world of work at unprecedented speed. But behind the promise of innovation lies a darker reality: algorithmic management, constant surveillance, impossible productivity targets, and dangerous working conditions. Technology is being used not to improve working conditions and safety, but to exploit them — putting lives and health at risk,” ITUC explained. AI-driven management is already intensifying pressure on 427 million workers worldwide and 80% of large employers use AI to track individual worker productivity. This has led to workers facing burnout, injuries and unbearable stress from non-stop monitoring, unrealistic targets and zero input on how technology is used. “Too often artificial intelligence is being deployed not as a tool for progress but as a weapon against workers,” ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle argued.

IER noted that every year, more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic “accidents.” They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn’t that important a priority. “Today is Workers’ Memorial Day around the world – an opportunity to highlight the preventable nature of most workplace incidents and ill health and to promote campaigns and union organization in the fight for improvements in workplace safety. The slogan for the day is Remember the dead – Fight for the living,” IER added. The celebration puts focus on the impact of A) and digitization on occupational health and safety. “Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) can clearly be used to mitigate monotonous work, AI at work is increasing work intensification, monitoring and surveillance, generating negative impacts on mental and physical well-being, as workers experience the extreme pressure of constant, real-time micromanagement and automated assessment,” IER stressed. Last year, the IER published an in-depth report on Algorithmic Management, written by Prof. Philippa Collins and Dr Joe Atkinson, and offered recommendations to regulate Algorithmic Management.

KMU argued that AI is also being utilized to slash the number of workers in many corporations, with dead labor replacing living, thinking labor despite the fact that AI is mechanical, cut-and-paste reasoning trained under large language models. As proven in the case of the Elon Musk AI, the app can be controlled by those who manage the algorithm and they can mechanically lie or report well about Musk. The boast about AI being superior to its creator is a myth. All the AI models have been found to be subject to the wishes of their creators. In China, AI is not expected to criticize Xi Jinping. In the case of the Musk model, the AI spoke badly of Musk and was promptly replaced. Worse, the impact of AI at the workplace will be to increase the profits of capitalists and technology owners as they kick out workers. In the end, super profits will line the pockets of plutocrats and worsen global inequality. (DIEGO MORRA)