“I own this business. I can do whatever I want!”

“Yung cashier girl na iyan, sobrang replaceable naman iyan eh. Maghanap ka na lang ng bago.”

“Bagger ka lang! Anong ‘benefits, benefits’ ka diyan?!”

Statements and scenarios like those above, while harsh-sounding, are very real. Workers, for employers like that, are nothing but breathing moneymakers, not legitimate human beings who deserve care, and who, by the way, have legal rights according to Philippine law.

As a working student, I experienced a sense of injustice in the workplace. For two months, a company I worked for was paying me one-fifth less than what we had signed in our memorandum of agreement (MOA). It could have been an honest mistake, and my employer apologized. But according to Article 113 of the Labor Code, deducting a worker’s salary is forbidden unless there is a valid reason. There wasn’t any.

After my MOA with the company expired, my employer said he would renew it “in the coming days” because they were just finalizing “internal changes.” The renewal never came. Honest mistake again? Who knows. I wish I stood up for myself more.

Recently, we’ve been hearing about the case of Russel Mañosa, a former employee of Next Green Factory. His wage came in the form of heavy bags of coins. It went viral. People were horrified—and rightly so—that an employee would be treated in such a manner. Eventually, government officials stepped in, and very angry netizens expressed their outrage.

Unjust labor practices

But why? Why the anger toward unjust labor practices?

This is why: People work so hard to make money to feed their families. They wake up at who-knows-what-time in the morning to commute for who-knows-how-long to work for again who-knows-how-long. If they’re working virtually, they have to look at a screen all day.

(Back in an immersion opportunity in 2016, I witnessed how workers of a big business had to have stitched pockets on their pants to “prevent them from stealing.” Their pay was really low. They weren’t regularized.)

And then, after all that, workers are not paid right or not paid on time for no valid reason? It’s a no-brainer: It’s downright unjust.

Sure, from a business perspective, one would want to make as much profit as possible. But business is not just about profit. It’s also a social activity between an employer and employees.

Suppose that workers are paid what is legally right. Good. But in many cases, the minimum wage in the Philippines is not really enough to support workers. They don’t just live for themselves—in fact, it’s the poor who usually support people like a sick parent, a sibling who’s in school, and of course, themselves, too. That’s something to reflect on.

I’d like to point out, however, that employees also do have the obligation to work hard. They have responsibilities, too, and it makes sense that one is fired if he or she doesn’t show up to work for no valid reason or doesn’t do the job.

However, my point is also this: Give credit where credit is due. If an employee successfully does his or her job, employers have no right to defraud them of their wages, which is both legally and morally illicit. Employers should not just aim to make profit, but also aim to give employees a chance to have at least some sense of financial security so that they, too, can get a chance to empower themselves. No, this is not communism or socialism. It’s basic respect for the dignity of workers.

Workers, stand up for your rights! Know your worth!