Bills, bills, bills

Every time the first of May comes around, the government gets encumbered with calls for wage hikes.

Labor groups organize rallies to increase the pressure, but these events never seem to end with the desired outcome.

As always, the bills related to wage hikes in Congress are dusted off and given another run around the sun, only to be tossed back on the shelves.

Right now, reports say the bills pining for attention in both houses propose an across-the-board wage increase ranging from P100 to P750. The Senate approved a P100 raise in the daily minimum wage for private sector workers, but then again, what about the teachers, or the kasambahays?

By the time something is approved and actually enforced, something may have already happened to ensure that the measly increase only barely covered daily costs. What about savings? Every peso counts.

However much government and private employers see the need for more compensation to help workers cope with the higher cost of living, a voice of reason would pipe in, calling for “economic policies (that would) balance the interests not just of the workers but also of the businesses,” as another report goes.

The Labor Day news, as a result, always seems to be a little “after the fact.” These perennial calls that never quite attain satisfaction will always sound lamentably ignored. Official statements will always make all the proper assurances. When the next day arrives, everything returns to “the drawing board.”

This wage issue has remained unchanged even as the labor force has evolved over the last century. The digital age has given rise to new job descriptions and a young workforce that has very different views of how they are supposed to work, how they should be paid, and how they should be treated in the workplace.

Digital nomads with skills attached to the computer can now take themselves anywhere they please and get just compensation for work that the older generation would likely have to take crash courses for. Not that they may be inclined anymore, as those who have spent more than three decades slaving away to earn the kind of life they had always dreamed of are simply ready to chuck it all away.

But what kind of world can one retire to anymore? A couple of wealthy Filipino business owners, on one of their numerous vacations abroad, still encountered nasty racists. The wars involving Israel, Iraq, Russia, and Ukraine, and brewing tensions centered on China’s claims of maritime territories? Perhaps worse than the Covid-19 pandemic that changed the way people travel, these wars are causing many to choose to stay put.

And even if you were in a country as blessed with vacation spots as the Philippines, the weather has made it practically impossible for the very young and the older citizens to enjoy the outdoors, never mind city parks that only further expose you to the “fresh” Manila air.

These days, Labor Day can mean many vehicles making their way to nearby provinces, although that one day in the year can mean only going as far as Tagaytay for the day or the many malls for the air-conditioning.

But then that would only mean escaping the inevitable house bills to pay even as the House bills continue to shrivel in the halls of Congress.