TUCP thumbs down 4-day workweek plan

by JING VILLAMENTE

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has shot down the four-day workweek proposal by Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug Jr. as a means to conserve energy.

TUCP Executive Director Louie Corral on Thursday said the proposal highlighted the Department of Energy’s lack of policy on power security and competitive rates.

“Why will workers be sacrificed to answer for the policy failure and lack of forward planning by the Department of Energy? When did workers become the safety net to assure high profits for power generation and Meralco?” Corral added, referring to the Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor.

“In this power crisis, all must bear the burden and all must sacrifice but Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla apparently does not seem to share this sentiment,” he said.

Corral accused Petilla of “dumping” the burden on workers while pushing for “expensive power barge rentals” to ease the energy shortage.

TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said a compressed four-day workweek would be stressful for workers.

Tanjusay reiterated the group’s call for President Benigno Aquino 3rd to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral task force to generate a national response and a clear policy on power supply, price and a coherent strategy to address the looming power crisis.