Educators demand salary increase ahead of Labor Day celebration
Public and private educators reiterated their calls for wage increase less than two weeks before the nation commemorates Labor Day.
In a press conference held Tuesday, April 18, public and private educators gathered to demand wage increase, stressing that the provision of decent salary to Filipino educators is already “long overdue.”
“The salary of teachers and other public staff is really not enough. We have what is called the Salary Standardization Law, but it only contributes a meager amount,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines Chairperson Vladimer Quetua in a mix of English and Filipino.
(Photo courtesy of DepEd)
ACT National Capital Region (NCR) Union President Ruby Bernardo lamented the situation of public school teachers, saying that they are “overworked, underpaid, and under attack.” “Hindi makatarungan ang kasalukuyang antas ng sahod kumpara sa tindi ng [trabaho] namin [kasama na diyan] ang malaking class size, teaching and non-teaching duties (The current salary level of teachers is not fair compared to the intensity of our work which includes the large class sizes and teaching and non-teaching duties),” said Bernardo. The educators said there are 58 pending bills in the Lower House and 21 more in the Senate pushing for wage increase for the Filipino workforce. ACT Philippines then urged the Congress to look into it and legislate the “much-needed” bills to ease the suffering of Filipinos.
(Photo courtesy of DepEd)
ACT National Capital Region (NCR) Union President Ruby Bernardo lamented the situation of public school teachers, saying that they are “overworked, underpaid, and under attack.” “Hindi makatarungan ang kasalukuyang antas ng sahod kumpara sa tindi ng [trabaho] namin [kasama na diyan] ang malaking class size, teaching and non-teaching duties (The current salary level of teachers is not fair compared to the intensity of our work which includes the large class sizes and teaching and non-teaching duties),” said Bernardo. The educators said there are 58 pending bills in the Lower House and 21 more in the Senate pushing for wage increase for the Filipino workforce. ACT Philippines then urged the Congress to look into it and legislate the “much-needed” bills to ease the suffering of Filipinos.