Groups urge firms to take better care of workers’ health #Burnout

WITH BURNOUT NOW CLASSIFIED AS A MEDICAL CONDITION

INQUIRER.net stock photo

MANILA, Philippines — Labor groups urged employers on Tuesday to see past their profit margins and look after the well-being of their workers, especially now that the World Health Organization (WHO) had already considered burnout due to work as a legitimate medical condition.

But the vice president of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Julius Cainglet, admitted that employers might find it hard at first to provide for their workers’ health needs.

“This is a big challenge since a lot of employers find it difficult to comply with existing basic standards such as having enough doctors and nurses depending on the firm’s size and having full-time safety officers. The occupational safety and health culture really have to change,” Cainglet said.

On Monday, the WHO included burnout in its International Classification of Diseases, which is widely used to make a diagnosis on patients. It defined burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

READ: WHO recognizes burnout as medical condition

The syndrome is characterized by “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.”

The WHO stressed, however, that this condition was specific to the occupational setting and “should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

In the Philippines, for example, Cainglet said burnout was most common among call center employees, who deal with irate customers, and manufacturing workers, who try to meet their quotas.

Welcome development

The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa hailed as a welcome development the classification of burnout as a medical condition, especially since this has long been shrugged off by employers “who can’t see beyond their profit margins.”

Josua Mata, Sentro secretary general, said that, apart from improving the occupational safety and health program in the workplace, the best way to address burnout is for Congress to pass the proposed security of tenure law.

“After all, what could be more stressful than worrying about being unemployed due to lack of job security?” Mata said.

For the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), the WHO classification brings to light the need for employers to provide their workers not only with recreational activities but also treat them to routine paid rest.

To better protect workers, ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to come up with guidelines on how to treat employees who would report feeling burned out.

The Bureau of Working Conditions of the DOLE noted though that the condition as a psychosocial concern could already be addressed in the occupational safety and health standards law as well as by the mental health law. - By: Jovic Yee - Reporter / @jovicyeeINQ (Editor: Alexander T. Magno)

Showdown seen over ‘End of Endo’ at bicam

ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay (Photo from DWIZ)

LABOR leaders on Thursday said they will be ready to counter possible attempts from government economic managers and business groups to derail the passage of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill as it goes through the bicameral conference next week.

In a statement, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Vice President Louie Corral said it is wary of a possible intervention from the Department of Finance (DOF) to derail the SOT.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had already rejected the House version of the bill before it was passed on third and final reading with an overwhelming vote of support from congressmen in 2017, Corral recalled.

“We still fear that DOF Secretary Dominguez will move to kill the worker’s bill as it goes to the Bicameral Conference Committee next week,” Corral said.

He said similar opposition may also be raised by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce.

Corral said they are now preparing to quash such attempts with sound data and mass mobilization during the bicameral conference.

“Our research team will be doing quick-response table studies and position papers to counter the false and misleading legal and economic arguments being advanced by DOF,
Ecop and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce,” Corral said.

He said other members of labor coalition Nagkaisa will also continue their lobby during the last phase of the passage of the SOT bill.

This was confirmed by Nagkaisa Spokesman and Partido Manggagawa Chairman Renato Magtubo.

“We will fight it out in the bicam,” Magtubo told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.

No compromise

TUCP said they are perplexed by the opposition of business groups on the SOT bill since it will not outlaw the contractual scheme, but only restrict its practice.

This, TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said, was already a big compromise for labor leaders, who were initially demanding for the outright abolition of contractualization.

“We have already taken a crucial step backward from [an] absolute, total ban of ‘Endo’ position to permissive and allowable job contracting because we recognize employers and business flexibility,” Tanjusay told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.

“We cannot and we will not take more step backward. We will stand our ground. No more compromise,” he added.

The SOT bill has been dubbed “End of Endo” bill because it was seen as a way of curbing the widespread practice of hiring workers under short-term contracts (hence, Endo for “end of contract”) which expire before they qualify for permanent employment under existing law.

Labor groups are optimistic the SOT bill, which was certified as urgent by President Duterte, will be finally enacted into law after the Senate passed its own version of the legislation on Wednesday.

This has been the farthest the bill has been in being made into a law since it was first proposed two decades ago.

“This is a major victory for workers today…We should maintain the momentum and work double time so that the Bicameral Conference Committee could submit a version of the bill that could be ratified at once by both chambers of Congress,” Nagkaisa Chairman and Federation of Free Workers President Sonny Matula said in a statement.

Based on the estimates of labor groups, around 15 million workers in contractual work arrangements will benefit from the passage of the SOT bill. - By Samuel P. Medenilla

Iboto #166 TUCP Party-list

Huwag kalimutan, #166 sa balota ng halalan Mayo 13, 2019, #166 TUCP Party-list!

I-shade ang bilog sa tabi ng #166 para sa party-list. Isa lang ang pwede iboto para dito.

Iboto #166 TUCP Party-list
Itaas ang Sahod! Wakasan ang Endo!

#166tucppartylist

Sa Mayo 13, 2019, #166 TUCP Party-list!

Makataong Sahod | Regular na Trabaho | Disenteng Pamumuhay


Who are we?

• We represent workers. - The TUCP Party-List was established to represent the interest of labor and workers in Congress through the party list system of representation. Recognizing the fact that the plight of the Filipino workers continue to worsen, we are committed to challenge the biases of elite democracy as we strive to represent 40 million Filipino workers, their families and communities. Popular campaigns to create a critical mass to pass pro-labor laws continue to be our main thrust while we seek to assist in unifying the labor movement through coalitions such as the NAGKAISA

• We fight for labor rights. - With over 700,000 members nationwide, the we focused our legislative agenda in ensuring universal observance of the basic labor rights and so-called core labor standards which includes:
1) The effective abolition of child labor;
2) The elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation;
3) The elimination of all forms of compulsory labor;
4) Upholding respect for freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; and
5) Respect for the right of workers to undertake concerted action (boycott and strike)

• We advocate peace in Mindanao. - Since the 14th Congress, we have been advocating legislation for peace in Mindanao. We also have been pushing the creation of decent work for both the young out-of-school Muslims and Christians and the promotion of investments and jobs by using the peace dividend as a developmental launch pad. We are also pressing for lower electricity rates in order to attract investors in Mindanao.

• We push for allied progressive concerns. - We are also working to push allied progressive concerns such as:
(1) To promote economic equity;
(2) To ensure universal healthcare;
(3) To defend women’s rights;
(4) To defend indigenous people’s rights;
(5) To develop universal education;
(6) To continue agrarian reform;
(7) To balance rural and urban development;
(8) To conserve natural resources along the lines of sustainable development;
(9) To enhance local autonomy;
(10) To enact electoral reform; and
(11) To ensure freedom of information

For more information, visit our website www.tucplaborcenter
#166tucppartylist

TUCP backs 12 Senate bets who will further workers’ agenda

TUCP representative, Lawyer Raymond Democrito Mendoza (center) announces the senator candidates that they group will be supporting in the election. | Rosalie O. Abatayo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has announced on Tuesday, May 7, their endorsement of 12 senatorial candidates whom they believe can further their cause for the welfare of the labor force.

TUCP President and Party Representative Lawyer Raymond Democrito Mendoza named former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares and Federation of Free Workers National President Sonny Matula as their “fellow worker” bets.

Reelectionist Senators Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito and Bam Aquino are also among TUCP’s list of senatoriables along with Taguig City Representative Pia Cayetano.

TUCP also backs the candidacy of administration bets former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, former police general and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos and former Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief Francis Tolentino.

Mendoza said that they believed that candidates that they were supporting would be able to help them pass measures in the Senate to address the concerns of the workforce.

“After consultations with TUCP leaders and the heads of our affiliates, these are the senatorial candidates that our members believe and feel can help sponsor, support and pass legislation which will address the concerns of workers and their families through legislative policy-making,” Mendoza said.

Among the recent measures that TUCP has initiated are the P710 across-the-board daily wage hike in Metro Manila and P386-wage hike in Central Visayas.

Mendoza said they would endorse the 12 senatorial candidates to their affiliate labor federations with unions in manufacturing, agriculture, and services sector nationwide and to overseas workers. -
DBS

DOLE looks into PHL’s return to national minimum wage

Workers assemble a car in a factory in Santa Rosa, Laguna, in this BusinessMirror file photo.

Efforts to revert to setting a national minimum wage are now in the initial stage, as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said a review of existing wage policy of the Philippines is ongoing.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III formally announced last week that the study is now under way as lawmakers have included it in their legislative agenda.

“Once there is a bill in Congress [about it], they will be asking the wage boards. That is why we should be ready with this,” Bello told reporters in an interview.

DOLE’s National Wages Productivity Commission (NWPC) said the review is in compliance with the request of the Senate.

“It is the Senate which requested the Secretary [of Labor] to commission a third party expert to review the existing policy,” NWPC Executive Director Maria Criselda R. Sy told the BusinessMirror in an interview.
‘Transparent’

She said a local expert and specialist from the International Labor Organization (ILO) will be tasked to come out with the “inception report” that will detail how the review of wage setting mechanism will be conducted. The inception report is expected to be completed this year.

“We have to make sure it will be as open [to the stakeholders] as possible,” Sy said.

As for the role of the DOLE in the study, she said it will be to provide “technical inputs” in the undertaking based from its 30 years of implementation of the Republic Act (RA) 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act.

Implemented in 1989, RA 6727 allowed Congress to delegate its powers to adjust minimum-wage rates to the regional wage boards.

Labor Undersecretary Ciriaco A. Lagunzad III said among the issues to be tackled by the experts are the statistical indicators that should be used in the new alternative minimum-wage setting system.

“We would like to be more accurate with our indicators and statistics, which serve as basis for wage increases,” Lagunzad said.

The former executive director of NWPC also noted this will allow them to anticipate potential impact of wage increase to ensure it will be absorb by the economy without leading to job displacement and inflation.
Consultation

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said the NWPC already met with the TUCP last week to lay the groundwork for the study.

“They accepted our proposal and they said they asked a third party to study it. We already committed to join in its discussions,” Tanjusay said.

He said they will be submitting to NWPC their position paper on matter in the coming days.

To recall, TUCP together with other members of the labor coalition and Nagkaisa, as well as militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno have been pushing for the abolition of the regional-based minimum-wage setting scheme.

Leaders of the said labor groups said the system has been unfair especially for workers in the provinces since they get lower minimum wages than those in Metro Manila. - By
Samuel P. Medenilla