FROM NURTURING students to keeping the campus clean and safe, Ateneo workers are vital to the University community. However, underneath their image as the University’s internal cogs lies welfare that is seemingly overlooked amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With little to no working opportunities amidst the quarantine, workers such as Grilling 101 employee Ryan Ayco struggle to make ends meet. “Sobrang hirap po talaga para sa akin… lalong lalo na po ako lang po nagtatrabaho dito sa pamilya namin (It’s been hard for me since I’m the only one that is providing for our family),” he explains.

Although relief efforts such as donation drives and the Department of Social Welfare and Development-led social amelioration program provided assistance to Ateneo workers, persisting concerns suggest that job insecurity has yet to be mitigated. As unemployment numbers surge to a record high of 7.3 million jobless Filipinos, contractual employees constantly worry about their livelihoods.

Sweat and tears

Since the end of his contract at the beginning of August, Ayco remarks that he has not received any financial assistance from his employer nor the University. He also says that he was not informed of the terms of his contract, nor did he receive any PhilHealth, Social Security System, and Pag-IBIG welfare benefits in his tenure. Lacking a stable source of income, he now sells food to his friends and neighbors to sustain his family’s needs and to help his nieces purchase a laptop for online classes.

Ayco also reached out to non-profit organization Lipad Agila’s Director of External Affairs Jasmin Pandi (2 AB POS), who initiated a donation drive for him and his nieces. 

“Talagang kinapalan ko po yung mukha ko para makahingi ng tulong sa mga Atenista. Sila lang po talaga inasahan namin. Kung hindi dahil sa kanila hindi na po namin alam kung ano na po nangyari sa amin (I had to have thick skin to ask help from the Ateneans. We really depended on them. If it weren’t for them, I don’t know what would’ve become of us),” he says.

Ayco’s situation is not an isolated case. Marie*, a John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center (JSEC) worker, was recently laid off by her employers. Although she is grateful for the assistance she received from various student organizations’ fundraising initiatives, the livelihood of her family now solely depends on her husband who now works at a construction site. “Simula po nung lockdown wala pa pong kaming nahanap na bagong kabuhayan (Ever since the lockdown, we haven’t found a source of livelihood),” she notes.

Manual laborers are not the only employees who find themselves on the brink of unemployment. Diane*, a University contractual employee, expresses her concern over her job security. She notes how the University administration has been providing ambiguous updates regarding her contractual status, which she later found out will be renewed until the end of the year. “It’s not really renewal but…just an extension of our contracts; so instead of the annual school year renewal of our contracts, we were just extended for around two months,” she explains.

Diane also explained that by the time her contract ends, the University will assess whether the same number of employees from various University cluster offices can be sustained. As a contractual employee, Diane remains worried over whether the outcome of such discussion can secure her livelihood. She says, “Kung sakali na makita na pabagsak na ang enrollment, the office will file redundancies; ibig sabihin hindi na kailangan iyung daming employees (In the case that enrollment rates continue to fall, the office will file redundancies, which means that they won’t need as many employees anymore).”

Insufficient assistance

Despite giving employees their 13th month pay in advance, Diane and Ayco’s accounts suggest that the University administration’s attempts to alleviate Atenean contractual workers’ difficulties fall short. Diane explains that she receives a monthly allowance amounting Php 500 to support her work-from-home operations, but stresses that the payments are insufficient considering the cost of regular wi-fi and mobile plans.

In a memo released on June 10, the University’s Board of Trustees temporarily suspended salary increases while imposing a hiring freeze on new contractual engagements. The administration also assured that they are doing their “utmost in finding enough workload for [their] present workforce.”

However, Ateneo Employee and Worker Union President Sonnie Amata notes that since the start of the fiscal year on June 1, maintenance workers have been asked by the administration to start using their leaves to be able to sustain their income. He shares that his fellow laborers are worried that they might exhaust their benefits and transition into a “no work, no pay” scheme.

“Since June 8…staggered na ang pasok namin. Sa [maintenance] department…two weeks a month ang trabaho (Our work has staggered since June 8. In the maintenance department, we only work two weeks a month),” Amata says.

Furthermore, Pandi says that the administration’s current approach has been detrimental to workers as it has been unable to provide ways for laborers to provide income for themselves and their families. She also notes that a lot of laborers are afraid to speak against the University for fear of retaliation.

Bonafide compassion

In a statement to The GUIDON, the Office of Human Resource Management and Organization Development (OHRMOD) stated that in the period of March 16 to June 7, all University employees were paid regardless whether work from home could be performed or not. Additionally, those who reported on-campus during that period were given overtime pay and were provided meals and lodging on campus.

OHRMOD also noted that leaves with pay credits were advanced to the University employees who were not scheduled to work, as well as that the University has not laid-off any employees.

However, OHRMOD also explains that these aforementioned measures do not apply to non-University personnel. With this, OHRMOD assures that they are finding long-term adaptive ways for their employees in helping the latter deal with the issues brought by the pandemic. “As we adapt to these changes, the University continues to review its work processes so that it can better serve the students and address emerging needs in this new environment. This also entails redesigning jobs, defining and developing competencies, and re-organizing our offices.”

However, Diane believes that there should be proper representation for contractual employees in the decision-making processes of the University. “I think it starts with proper representations if they just get to hear us out…the context right now is very different. Contractuals are more susceptible than ever because of the pandemic […] and…it’s much harder to find a job,” she says.

Although the University has indeed shown compassion with the decision to mass promote the student body in AY 2019-2020, Diane hopes that the contractual employees that work within the University experience the same treatment.

As the University continues to adapt to the new normal, it is important for the administration to consider the needs of every sector in the Ateneo community regardless of their positions on paper. For employees like Ayco, Diane, and Marie, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have highlighted the University’s long-running labor issues, as workers across sectors find themselves at risk of unemployment during a public health crisis.

*Editor’s Note: The names of Diane and Marie have been changed at their request in order to protect their identity and privacy.