DOLE: Employers sector's position on endo opposite Duterte's

AN OFFICIAL of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday expressed belief that the “win-win solution” being pushed by the employers’ sector would become a major obstacle in their bid to eliminate contractualization.

In an interview, DOLE Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod said the “win-win solution” is expected to be persistently rejected by the labor sector and pushed by employers, thereby delaying the full realization of their plan.

“This will definitely cause a delay because the ‘win-win solution’ is a position of employers that is totally against the stance of workers and that of President Duterte,” said Maglunsod in an interview.

And in a bid to at least ease the expected tension, the labor official said they are already set to meet with the employees’ sector next week, October 3.

“The labor sector shall have their turn in the dialogue with the Department on the campaign against contractualization next week,” said Maglunsod.

After the dialogue with workers, a tripartite conference is expected to be called by the DOLE, this time also involving employers once again.

For its part, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) agreed with Maglunsod that they are rejecting the “win-win solution” pushed by the employers and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Under the said proposal, only contractual workers at the level of manpower agencies or recruitment agencies would be the ones set for regularization and will be receiving full benefits, including social security, health and retirement benefits.

“This proposal does not address the problem of contractualization brought on the workers and it does not provide security of tenure to workers as envisioned by the Philippine Labor Code. We don’t accept such proposition,” said ALU-TUCP Executive Vice President Gerard Seno.

And given their staunch opposition to the proposal, ALU-TUCP said they are even prepared to have a prolonged debate with their counterparts in the employers’ sector.

“Progressive labor groups are well-prepared to engage employers, businesses, and government to argumentation and debate on the issue. We anticipate a clash in positioning in the coming days and we are prepared to slug it out with them,” said ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay. - SunStar(HDT/Sunnex)