A Worker's Christmas

The figures of the Social Weather Station (SWS) as to the unemployment rate in the country are not encouraging. According to its August 24-27, 2012 Unemployment Survey, joblessness in the country is at 29.4%, or an estimated 11.7 million. The SWS said that this is about 3 points above the 26.6% (est. 10.9 million) in May 2012. The unemployment rate has increased from 26.6 percent to 29.4 percent (see http.www://sws.org.ph).

Compounding this unemployment problem is the devastation that the country has suffered in the recent past because of typhoon Pablo. Damages to agriculture have been estimated at P11.6 billion (see <business.inquirer.net/97881/agri-damage-due-to-pablo-reaches-p11-6b>). With these facts, the forecast of the government and the International Monetary Fund about the increase of the gross national products (GNP) by 2013 will likely be speculative. A bleak future is upon us.  It is expected to hit one of the most important yet vulnerable sectors of the Philippine economy, the workers.

Recognized as the backbone of the economy, workers are the unhappy recipient of bad economic, political and social policies. Government policies rarely focused on them yet they are the ones mostly impacted by these. They are the masses who toil in factories and in the fields so that society will live on. They are the poor who shoulder the burden of expanding or shirking economy. They are the new redeemers for without them, no society will ever make it to the future.

Despite the uncertainty of the future, Filipino workers remain optimistic because of the holiday season. Workers, like chidren, are also the happiest of all during Christmas. Having used to severe economic hardships, they always find some relief in celebrating the holidays.

A happy worker’s Christmas is full of merry making but always with the commitment to fulfil the spiritual obligation that goes with it. Christmas is a season of grace for him, a special occasion for greeting, hugging and smiling. Never mind what the following year holds, this is one day that sums up all hardships and joys of the packing year. This day gives him a chance to celebrate and give meaning to the birth of the Saviour.

Yet, Christmas does not represent heaven for most people. It gives hope but does not show any glimpse of what living in heaven feels like. It is love but not a romance story. And  despite of the happiness in the air, it is never a fairy tale.

Rather, Christmas is reality for it is what society makes it. It depicts the lives of ordinary men and women of the past and the present. It gives the old a chance to be young again and the young, the right to oblige those that are not so young anymore. It is for the rich and also for the poor— but with more meaning to the lacking than to those whose daily lives are full of material things. It is the time when everyone expects that the future will be better.    

Christmas affirms the dignity and humanity of a worker, regardless of whether he is working in the factories, or tending to the farms, or loitering in the streets. He is, in a sense, a creator. His works partake of a re-creation of the world, a gift that his Creator has endowed upon him. He stands as a witness to the birth of a baby in the manger who would later on grow up to accomplish the works of the Father who has sent Him. His dedication to his job provides his fellow human beings with things which make their living more convenient and the world a more habitable place.

Imagine Christmas without workers. No one would drive people to churches. Worse, nobody could have built churches for people to go to and pray. No one would place food on the table. Sadly, no table would have been built at all. No one would make a manger in a stable to await the birth of the Redeemer.  Miserably, no stable would have been built to serve as a birthing place of humanity’s hope.

Statistics are cold numbers. They have no life. Unlike Christmas, they do not bring hope and joy to anyone.

A happy worker’s Christmas to all!