PSA report on easing of unemployment ‘illusory’; gov’t must work harder at creating jobs — Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, ALU

Labor groups described the results of the latest Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing the easing of unemployment rate as “illusory.”

“Yes, unemployment rate fell between July and October 2020. But the 8.7 percent unemployment rate reported for the last quarter of 2020 is an illusion,” Nagkaisa Labor Coalition chairperson Atty. Sonny Matula said in a statement on Thursday.

“Employment remains low. Compared to the same quarter last year, the number of employed workers is lower by 2.7 million. The current employment level is also less than the number of employed workers in July by almost 1.5 million. That does not resemble recovery at all,” he added.

Except for self-employment and employers in family-owned business or farms, Matula said, the number of workers across classes remains lower than last year and even in July.

He added that wage and salary workers is short by 2.6 million compared to last year. 

Matula said the economy remains weak, there is not enough demand in the market and firms have not recovered at all. 

“If October and July labor indicators were any indication of the performance of the government’s current approach to the pandemic and the crisis, then it is as if economic managers were not working at all,” he said.

If there is anything the economic managers should learn from the survey, Matula said, it is this “the jobs crisis is real and it is staring at them in the face.”

Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, called on the government to address the unemployment by generating jobs.

“Job generation has to come from the national and local government building infrastructure programs. The government must take the lead in providing more jobs through aggressive infrastructures spending which employs Filipinos,” he said.

Underemployment, Tanjusay said, must also be addressed by providing financial grant incentives and affordable loans to troubled businesses and financially distressed business-owners to help them cope through the pandemic health and economic crisis and adjust to the new normal. 

He said the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agriculture should also do their part in addressing exorbitant and unlawful increases in prices of basic food commodities by going after hoarders and profiteers nationwide and make prices of food affordable. 

The Department of Labor and Employment, Tanjusay said, should help curb the rising underemployment by fully resuming the conduct of labor inspections nationwide to ensure that lawful wages, social protection benefits and quality, and provision of regular jobs are enforced. - by Leslie Ann Aquino

Solons, labor group: Security of Tenure Act in Bicam may not spell end of endo

Lawmakers and a labor group on Wednesday said the passage of the proposed Security of Tenure Act does not meet a presidential promise to end contractualization in the private sector.

Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano, as one of the principal authors of House Bill 6908 during the 17th Congress, said the new bill departs from the original intent of the old bill which was to eliminate “endo.”

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives endorsed for Senate approval House Bill 7036, or the proposed Security of Tenure Act, which seeks to strengthen the rights of workers in the private sector.

“The current bill, to my mind, will not address the problem on labor-only contracting. HB 6908 outlaws contractualization, while HB 7036 legalizes job contracting. This will complicate the issue due to the very thin line that separates labor contracting from job contracting,” said Paduano.

“While manifesting my strong opposition to the bill, let me clarify that on the issue of sub-contracting, it is my position not to totally ban the same. It promotes creation of jobs as well as supports the business of MSMEs [micro small and medium enterprises] for as long as the employees or the sub-contractors have security of tenure,” Paduano added.

According to the minority leader, the bill pales in comparison to the provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines that clearly stipulate the prohibition of abusive workers’ contracts.

For her part, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, who voted against the bill, said House Bill 7036, or the current form of the Security of Tenure bill, actually makes contractualization a rule rather than an exception.

Brosas said this measure modifies the definition of regular employees in the Labor Code by deleting the parameter “usually necessary or desirable” and replacing it with a very steep precondition that the jobs being performed are “directly related and necessary.”

“This simple change in parameters actually has far-reaching consequences and dooms the hopes of millions of contractual workers for regularization,” said Brosas.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), for its part, said it cannot support or endorse House Bill 7036, saying the Congress missed a historic chance to correct the decades-long injustice to workers under endo.

“As currently worded, it legitimizes the highly exploitative end-of-contract or endo work arrangements by perpetuating the falsehood that it is the lack of capital and control, and not the business of labor supply, that constitutes labor-only contracting, which has long been a prohibited practice,” the TUCP said in a statement.

TUCP said it has serious concerns over the bill as workers have long fought for an end to contractualization, even after an initial Presidential veto in 2019, only to be presented now with a further watered-down version which will further betray their hopes.

“Let it be said at the outset, that the bill is not just a deeply flawed bill, it is fatally flawed and squandered the historic opportunity to correct the decades-long injustice to workers under endo,” it added.

It said the essence of the fraud blurring the employer-employee relationship for millions of contractual workers remains unaddressed.

“Our position in labor remains firm:  Regardless of whether or not the contractor has capital or investments in the form of office or equipment, if all that the contractor does is to recruit and deploy workers, that is labor-only contracting, and is therefore illegal,” it added.

The group said the bill specifically legitimizes the setting up of manpower cooperative as a contractor, and as a consequence will allow the perpetuation of contractualization and exploitation.

While the bill prohibits short-term contracts, the TUCP said it specifically added probationary employment as an allowable fixed-term or short-term contract.

“It is therefore conceivable, that contractors will use this device to move away from 5-5-5, or 5 month short-term contracts to defeat the regularization of workers, towards 6-6-6, or the sequential use of 6-month probationary contracts to legitimize the practice of never-ending probationary status of the worker,” it added.

TUCP appealed to the congressional bicameral conference committee to correct those flaws, which will further loosen and expand upon the loopholes and may lead to the proliferation and exploitation of millions of contractual workers.

The House Bill 7036 seeks to amend Presidential Decree 442 as amended, or the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Once passed into law, HB 7036 would prohibit “labor-only” contracting except: when the contractor or any intermediary does not have substantial capital or investment in the form of tools, equipment, machineries, and work premises, among others; has no control over the workers’ method and means of accomplishing their work and; the workers recruited and placed are performing activities which are directly related and necessary to the principal business of such employer.

The measure also introduces a new provision requiring all persons or entities doing business as job contractors to obtain a license from the Department of Labor and Employment, including compliance with the listing requirements for such licensing, determining the period of validity of the license, and stating the responsibility of the licensee to submit an annual report.

It also declares that violation of substantive or procedural due process is equivalent to illegal dismissal. In addition, the entitlements of an illegally dismissed employee are broadened by including the payment of social welfare contributions and benefits to said employee.

The bill amplifies and clarifies the classification of employees by: mandating regular employment as the general rule; and prohibiting fixed-term employment except in cases of overseas Filipino workers, workers on probation, relievers who are temporary replacements of absent regular employees whose engagements shall not exceed six months, project employees, and seasonal employees.

The bill also provides that the rights and benefits of relievers, project, and seasonal employees are at par with regular employees consistent with the principle that all workers must be treated alike both as to rights enjoyed and obligations assumed.

The measure provides administrative penalties of a fine and possible closure of business for those engaging in prohibited end-of-contract arrangements, and labor-only contracting.

At present, there is no imposable penalty for engaging in labor-only contracting except the simple declaration of ostensible employees of the contractor as employees of the principal employer. - By Jovee Marie de la Cruz

TUCP appeals to gov’t to provide P11,000 monthly wage subsidy to ‘new poor’ workers

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has appealed to the government to provide an P11,000 monthly wage subsidy to the “new poor” workers severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

In observance of Bonifacio Day Monday, the labor group sought financial aid for the millions of workers who lost their jobs as well as those forced into “no work, no pay” arrangement since the pandemic hit the country.

The monthly financial support is among the proposals seeking to improve workers’ welfare mentioned by the TUCP as the country commemorated the 157th birth anniversary of revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio. Other proposals to the government include increased infrastructure spending and economic stimulus programs to save and create jobs.

“TUCP notes that while there are financial assistance programs for the poorest-of-the-poor and Overseas Filipino Workers, clearly the formal sector workers are not being sufficiently supported. Millions have totally lost their jobs, millions more are on ‘no work, no pay’ arrangements. Other millions are now into job-sharing arrangements,” TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza said in a statement.

“We therefore call on the government to meanwhile provide for a monthly wage subsidy or monthly financial assistance of P11,000. These workers are no longer the emerging middle class. These workers are now the new poor,” the TUCP said.

Mendoza made the proposal after noting that companies could no longer subsidize their workers since they are also in dire straits.

He said extending financial aid to the workers will help stimulate economic growth due to the boost in consumption of goods and services. “This way, we keep our people alive, and keep our economy afloat,” he said.

The labor organization also urged the government to create job opportunities by pursuing massive infrastructure projects. Government spending on projects such as the national railways system, regional agri-industrial hubs, construction of farm-to-market roads must be intensified, the TUCP added.

“Putting our people back to work through public construction is the first step out of joblessness,” Mendoza said.

The TUCP likewise asked the government to increase the financial stimulus package to better help the economy recover from the pandemic.

The group noticed that the government had a smaller budget allocation for economic recovery, compared to other countries that set aside more than 5 percent of their gross domestic products (GDPs) to ensure their survival.

TUCP Vice President Luis Corral said the government should listen to the warning of business leaders who claimed that relaxing quarantine restrictions won’t be enough to stimulate economic growth.

“To our economic managers we say: Enough of wishful thinking. Aggressive government spending now at this crucial juncture is the order of the day to save Filipino lives, to save and create jobs, and to build back better, faster and in a more systematic, programmatic way,” Corral said. - by Genalyn Kabiling

Protect app-based bike and motorcycle riders — ALU

The labor federation Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Thursday urged the government to provide protection to the growing two-wheel and four-wheel app-based riders who are playing a vital role in keeping the economy alive during this pandemic crisis.

Gerard Seno, National Executive Vice President of ALU, said motorcycle riders are emerging as one of the most vulnerable workers since the online selling apps came to thrive.

“We all saw and felt how these riders provided us convenience in our day to day lives, they are keeping the economy moving particularly during COVID19 quarantine lockdown yet they have no fixed wages and social protection benefits standards, and devoid of work safety and health standards for their well-being,” he said in a statement.

The group said motorcycle riders provide mobility service to app-based and online businesses and employers in transporting passengers, food and non-food deliveries amid constant exposure to air pollution, rain and extreme heat. 

This is aside from the lack of safety protection against the risk of coronavirus exposure in their daily work operation.

ALU TUCP said although it provided jobs to thousands of workers in the formal and informal economy who were displaced by the pandemic shutdown, the emerging gig workers are only regarded by mobile and online apps owners and operators as mere “business partners”, “freelancers” and/or “independent contractors” to evade labor responsibilities and obligation that an employer-employee relationship requires. 

“App-owners and operators, who should be the principal employers, also ignore the most important standard wages and social protection benefits and payment due these type of gig economy workers despite of a clear working existence of an employer-employee relationship between them,” said the group.

Seno said it is unfortunate that there is no law or policy that directly caters to welfare and interests of the growing motorcycle and four-wheel gig industry workers.

On Wednesday, some riders from FoodPanda Riders Association staged a motorcade rally in front of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Intramuros,Manila to ask the department to conduct an inspection on the disadvantagious enterprise’  new grading work payment scheme enforced recently by the company. - by Leslie Ann Aquino

TUCP Leaders Update November 17, 2020

Labor groups back probe into foreign workers, stress protection of their rights

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the country's biggest labor group, is raising the alarm on an alleged influx of more Chinese workers into the country's critical infrastructure and across several industries, saying this "[brings] more serious implications to local employment and to national security."

This, while labor groups welcome a possible Senate probe into the growing number of undocumented foreign workers in construction and in Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators as well as in other industries.

Although Senate leaders have indicated support for a potential probe, no resolution — which would direct Senate committees to schedule hearings — have been filed yet.

"The Chinese workers are present or are coming in to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines," TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said. He added that Chinese workers will be coming in through "tied-aid" projects like the Kaliwa Dam and railways projects.

"The Chinese are in strategic sectors — power, water, communications, transport, and construction where they not only take away jobs from Filipinos, but also embed themselves into our economy. There are not only negative employment implications but also national security implications," Tanjusay warned.

TUCP said that the foreign workers are going into strategic industries that are of public interest and have national security implications. 

Tanjusay said that with unemployment at 10%, "this surrender of jobs to Chinese is just going to make worse the plight of Filipino workers who can do the job that Chinese are being given in our own country."

A Social Weathers Stations survey report released earlier this week suggests that adult joblessness was at 39.5%, about 23.7 million adult Filipinos. The figure is lower than 27.3 million estimated in a similar SWS survey in July 2020.

The Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) also welcomed the Senate probe but stressed the call is not out of discrimination against undocumented Chinese workers.

"We would certainly welcome that (the probe) to ascertain the truth and determine how best the country can protect migrant workers here — documented or undocumented. But such probes must look at all nationalities and not just Chinese. We can't be a party to a racist initiative," Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro, said.

"I think our immediate response must come from the perspective of protecting the rights and welfare of foreign nationals working in our country — documented or undocumented. We need to make sure they are given the standards provided by the Labor Code. We need to show the world that we are doing exactly what we demand for our own OFWs abroad — providing them equal protection," Mata added.

Gerard Seno, national executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions said, "facing exploitation and abuse, these hidden undocumented workers often work in inhumane conditions and zero legal protection."

He added that they welcome the Senate probe on all 'foreign' workers as a way for the nation to once and for all make these invisible workers visible and extend to them the full protection of Philippine labor laws. - Artemio Dumlao (Philstar.com) 

TUCP urges for massive job generation in the President's legacy projects to ease the COVID-19 triggered unemployment and poverty

On the President's 5th SONA

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urges for massive job generation to be included in the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 27, 2020, to ease the COVID-19 triggered unemployment and poverty citing the President’s legacy projects, particularly in the P35.91 billion 102-km Mindanao Railway Project (MRP), Tagum-Davao-Digos segment as having great potential for employment and development.

“The Mindanao Railway Project of the President, although a single-track diesel-run railway, has great potential to generate the much-needed jobs. It will benefit not just the workers in Tagum-Davao-Digos areas but from as far as BARMM, Regions X, XII and CARAGA if agri-industrial hubs will be developed and connected to the planned eight (8) stations which are in Tagum; Carmen; Panabo; Mundiang; Davao Terminal; Toril; Sta Cruz; and Digos,” TUCP Partylist and TUCP President Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza pointed out.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) had earlier reported that the MRP’s Tagum-Davao-Digos segment’s design and construction will start in third quarter of this year and are expected to be completed by end of 2021.

“We do not need to reinvent the wheel or embark on new grand plans to create jobs, we just have to ensure that the ‘Build, Build, Build’ and the legacy projects of the President would be for the development and industrialization in the countryside to spur employment, and not just mere rail tracks, widened and asphalted roads,” Mendoza explained. “The President’s SONA should direct the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), DOLE, DOTr and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to ensure job creation,” he suggested.

The TUCP earlier projected 5 million to 10 million unemployed workers due to the pandemic, and 3 to 4 million in floating status under a “no work, no pay” arrangement, while the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported a 17.7 percent unemployment rate which accounts for 7.3 million unemployed in the workforce in the second quarter of 2020, nearly a four-time increase from the 5.1 percent unemployment rate in the same quarter of 2019.

The PSA also reported double-digit unemployment rates in all regions, the highest was in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 29.8 percent. The rest of the regions in Mindanao island: Region IX registered an unemployment rate of 23.9 percent, Region X at 11.1 percent, Region XI at 17.9 percent, Region XII at 21.2 percent and CARAGA at 12.3 percent.

The SWS survey conducted in May 2020 noted that eighty-three percent of Filipinos believe that their quality of life has worsened in the last 12 months. The survey has 294 respondents from Metro Manila, 1,645 from Balance Luzon, 792 from Visayas, and 1,279 from Mindanao. While a separate SWS survey in the same period showed that 16.7 percent or an estimated 4.2 million Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once for the past three months.

"We reiterate our call to the Government on the urgency to respond to the magnitude of the displacement of workers. Indeed, some companies are operating but it will get worse before it will get better. Companies are operating in half capacities to finish the pre-pandemic job orders and there are no new orders coming in as the economies of our markets abroad are in recession. Closures will come in the fourth quarter of the year with no assurance of rebound in 2021. There is no assurance of foreign remittance as our OFWs are coming home and those who stayed overseas have no jobs while our seafarers have become quarantine costly and unable to board the ships on time due to bottlenecks in the green lanes. It should not be ‘business-as-usual’ mode, we need to have a massive job creation program or a Philippine Agri-Industrial Development Program to stimulate the economy, and not rely on labor export or foreign investments,” TUCP Vice President Luis Corral said.

He also pointed out that this is President Duterte’s golden opportunity to “BUILD BACK BETTER” using the country’s “AAA-minus credit rating” to fund a multi-trillion-peso economic stimulus package so that the credit rating is felt by the Filipino people.

- TUCP Labor Center

Stringent rules hamper OFW repatriation efforts

Stringent and at times discriminatory regulations imposed by local government units in treating returning constituents have provided a major setback in the national government’s efforts to repatriate stranded and displaced overseas Filipino workers.

This complaint aired by officials of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration prompted the House Committee on Overseas Filipinos to call local executives to a virtual meeting that would attempt to resolve the issue.

OWWA officials disclosed that a number of LGUs have barred returning constituents despite the fact that they have tested negative for COVID-19.

National government agencies such as OWWA have claimed helplessness in reasoning out with LGU executives as the latter insist that they they have the authority to protect their localities from COVID-19 threat and are protected by the local autonomy provisions of the law.

Many LGUs are reportedly overcautious in granting clearances for the return of OFWs who are actually their constituents.

TUCP party-list Rep. Democrito Mendoza, chairman of the House Committee on Overseas Filipino Welfare, advised officials to seek President Duterte’s intercession on behalf of returning OFWs.

“We have to get around that problem. If the President can just speak to the political leadership of local government units, I think this will be resolved,” said Mendoza, who presided over a virtual meeting on the repatriation operations for the thousands of displaced and stranded OFWs.

In the meantime, Mendoza said the committee will attempt to resolve the controversy by inviting LGU executives to a virtual meeting.

Invitations will be sent to the heads of Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines and the League of Provinces of the Philippines. Presidents of League of Cities of the Philippines and League of Municipalities of the Philippines may also be asked to participate in the meeting.

Both the Department of Foreign Affairs and OWWA gave positive reports about the bid to repatriate OFWs from various parts of the world, especially those from the Middle East.

DFA Underscretary Sarah Lou Arriola said the processing of the return of 50,000 OFWs is expected this month.

On the other hand, Director Alice Visperas of the International Labor Affairs Bureau revealed that the total number of displaced Filipinos abroad has reached 341,701.

At least 70,533 have been repatriated while 21,107 are ready to go home.

There are at least 169,000 OFWs who are displaced temporarily or permanently who have not yet signified any intention to go home.

Of the number of OFWs abroad, at least 5,353 have tested positive for COVID-19, said Visperas. - by Ben Rosario

TUCP sees 12 million job losses

Neda warns of 15% jobless rate in recession-hit economy

File photo / AFP

The country’s largest labor group said job losses could hit 12 million before the year ends as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said unemployment is likely to hit a 15-year high as the economy slides into recession.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Thursday the biggest job losses come from accommodation and food services, where more than a third of workers have lost employment, followed by arts and recreation services, where 27 percent of staff have found themselves out of work.

With no end in sight for the coronavirus health crisis, calls for social distancing are taking a bite out of service sector jobs that depend on customer interactions or involve the congregation of large numbers of people.

“Workers in industries such as restaurants, hotels, school care services, retail trade, and transportation services are at a higher risk of losing their jobs,” the TUCP said.

The TUCP said other sectors hard hit by job losses were “other services” (15 percent), real estate services (12 percent), administration and support (11 percent) and agriculture, forestry and fisheries (10 percent).

The labor group said at least 50 percent workers in retail trade and food services and drinking places were displaced by the COVID 19 crisis and could see even more job losses due to public health restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

These two industries alone employ nearly 3 million Filipinos, the TUCP said.

Citing Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, the group expressed alarm over the sharp rise in the unemployment rate, which jumped to 17.7 percent in the June quarter of 2020 from 5.1 percent in the same quarter a year earlier.

Strict stay-at-home rules forced most business operations to shut down. Those who can work from home were allowed to, but casual workers were forced into “no work, no pay” schemes since mid-March.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV, acting NEDA director-general and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the country is already in recession, as recent data showed that the economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the first quarter, a reversal of the 5.7 percent growth a year ago and 6.4 percent a quarter ago due to COVID-19.

Economists predict the second-quarter numbers could be even more grim as the lockdowns were extended several times to encompass the period from April to June.

A recession is characterized by two straight quarters of economic contraction.

If that happens, a double-digit jobless rate will be the highest in 15 years since it hit 8.4 percent in April 2005.

Based on the April 2020 Labor Force Survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on June 5, the unemployment rate rose to a record 17.7 percent accounting to 7.3 million unemployed Filipinos. This was significantly higher than the 5.1 percent unemployment rate in April 2019.

PSA said the record-high unemployment rate “reflected the effects of the COVID-19 economic shutdown on the Philippine labor market.”

The employment rate in April 2020 fell to 82.3 percent from 94.9 percent in April 2019. It was also lower than the 94.7 percent in January 2020. This translates to 33.8 million employed persons in April 2020, sharply down from 41.8 million in April 2019.

The average number of hours worked per week also fell to 35 in April 2020 from 41.8 hours per week in April 2019.

All regions reported double-digit unemployment rates. The highest unemployment rate was in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) at 29.8 percent.

It was followed by Region III (Central Luzon) and Cordillera Administrative Region with unemployment rates recorded at 27.3 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively.

The International Labor Organization (ILO), meanwhile, said policies need to be put in place to protect stranded migrant workers and to ensure the reintegration of those who return to their home countries.

Tens of millions of migrant workers, forced to return home because of the COVID-19 pandemic after losing their jobs, face unemployment and poverty in their home countries, the ILO said.

As containment measures ease, millions of migrant workers may be required to return home to low and middle income countries where labor markets, which were fragile before the COVID-19 outbreak, are now further weakened by the additional strain of high levels of unemployment and serious business disruptions due to the pandemic. In addition, their families will suffer financially from the loss of the remittances normally sent to them.

Meanwhile, other migrant workers have found themselves stranded in host countries without access to social protection and little money for food or accommodation. Even those with jobs may be taking reduced wages and living in cramped worksite residences where social distancing is impossible, putting them at greater risk of contracting the virus.

Almost all of the world’s workers, some 94 percent, were living in countries with some type of workplace closure measures in place in May 2020, according to the UN Secretary-General’s Policy Brief on the World of Work and COVID-19 .

Massive losses in working hours, equivalent to 305 million full-time jobs, are predicted for the second quarter of 2020, while 38 percent of the workforce – some 1.25 billion workers – is employed in high-risk sectors.

The brief says small and medium-sized enterprises – the engine of the global economy – are suffering immensely and many may not recover. Those living in developing countries and fragile contexts face the most dramatic risks, in part because they have least resilience.

The policy brief, based on data and analysis from the ILO, warns that many of those people who have lost their jobs and livelihoods in recent months will not be able to re-enter labor markets any time soon.

Women have been particularly hard hit. They are disproportionately represented in high-risk sectors and are often amongst the first to lose employment and the last to return. Persons with disabilities, already facing exclusion in employment, are also more likely to experience greater difficulties returning to work during recovery. - by Vito Barcelo and Julito G. Rada

PH among 10 most dangerous work sites

The Philippines is among top 10 dangerous place for workers in 2020 based on the 2020 Global Rights Index issued by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said Saturday.

Other countries in the top 10 are Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

“The ALU-TUCP) are fully in accord with the findings of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and stand by their listing of the Philippines as one of the top 10 most dangerous countries in the world for workers,” the country’s biggest labor group said in a statement.

“We see the handwriting clearly on the wall: workers rights and workers are and will be victims in the current political environment,” the labor group’s spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

This, Tanjusay said, was considering the current state of labor relations policy during the quarantine allowing wage reductions and suspending labor rights inspections, the anti-labor and the anti-consumer program of the economic managers to raise anew excise taxes and opposing security of tenure, and the “dangerous political slide towards authoritarianism” evidenced by passage of the Anti-Terror Bill.

“There remains unresolved assassinations, allegedly labor-related disappearances, various repressions, red-tagging and wanton attacks on workers and workers’ fundamental rights that makes the current environment dangerous and difficult for workers,” the group said.

The ALU-TUCP also foresee the conditions to get even worse in the days ahead because of the current full operationalization of police and military offices in ecozones to combat what they describe as “radical trade unions”, the inevitable enactment and enforcement of anti-terror bill and the current aggressive push by business owners in cahoots with the economic managers for increased labor flexibilization, wage reduction and the lowering of labor standards -- using the COVID19.

Tanjusay said it is the government that now makes the country more dangerous and more difficult place for workers to live and to work and as they are promoting unproductive and very dangerous class warfare.

“We urge our national government to listen to us and to remember the lessons to history. We plead to our national leadership to step back from the brink of this totalitarian temptation and accept the path of building back better by upholding our individual civil and political liberties, respecting our collective economic rights, and by putting our workers interests first. This is the path to saving jobs and saving lives.” he said.

The ITUC Global Rights Index depicts the world’s worst countries for workers based on the degree of respect for workers’ rights by rating 139 countries on a scale from 1 to 5. Workers’ rights are absent in countries with the rating 5 and violations occur on an irregular basis in countries with the rating 1. - by Vito Barcelo

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expresses its grave concern on the passing of HB 6875

TUCP fears that the provisions in the proposed law would be used to violate the worker's exercise of freedom of association. Furthermore, this organization fears that the proposed law may be used to quell the activities of legitimate trade union and labor organizations.

TUCP President and Congressman Raymond Democrito Mendoza believes that dissent must be heard and not silenced, and that a worker's freedom of expression and association must be honored at all times. Thus, the honorable representative voted against HB 6875.

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙤!

- TUCP Labor Center

Labor groups urge government to provide service vehicles for workers during MECQ

Labor groups urged the government to provide service vehicles to ferry workers to their workplaces as some businesses will now be allowed to operate under the modified enhanced community quarantine.

The government can mobilize the fleet of cars sitting idle in various government agencies, departments, and government-owned and controlled corporations, said Associated Labor Unions (ALU) Executive Vice President Gerard Seno.

“We appeal to the chief executive to immediately mobilize all idle government-purchased service vehicles to shuttle daily-paid workers whose employers are unable to provide them with shuttle service due to economic difficulties brought by a sixty-day community quarantine lockdown,” said Seno in a statement.

To note, public transport is still not allowed in areas under the modified enhanced community quarantine.

“With government vehicles temporarily providing shuttle will help both the economically distressed businesses and incomeless workers who lost their sources of livelihood during the lockdown to slowly recover,” said Seno.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno said that workers should be provided with safe transportation as “returning to work in this epidemic is hazardous.”

“If the government and business want to resume operations, they should provide transportation for workers. Workers cannot be made to suffer from walking for hours over long distances. We want to work to contribute to economy, get the economy running again, and because there is no or very little aid coming to our families,” said KMU Secretary General Jerome Adonis in a statement.

Adonis suggested to resume the operations of public transportation on areas under modified enhanced community quarantine, “provided with operational guidelines for safety and health.”

“Companies should provide transportation to workers, but public transportation is really key to enable workers [to] traverse major thoroughfares of Metro Manila. Aside from trains and buses, public utility jeepneys are also needed at least for collector roads,” he said. - By Analou De Vera

TUCP expresses its concern and displeasure on the closure of ABS CBN: 11,000 workers impacted by closure

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expresses its grave concern and its deep displeasure on the loss of jobs and negative impact on the fight against COVID-19 that the Cease and Desist Order of the National Telecommunications closing down ABS-CBN will have. With a single stroke of the pen, an unfeeling NTC has rendered 11,000 workers jobless, increasing the vulnerability of these workers and their families to both the ravages of COVID-19 and the economic recession. Truth and the ABS-CBN workers are the first victims of the NTC order.

The second victims of NTC will be the nation as a whole. Mean-spirited and unwise, the NTC Order will effectively raise COVID-19 incidence as our poorest people, without the distraction of their favorite tv shows inside their super-heated, locked down homes, start congregating outside their crowded communities without physical distancing. Further, without recourse to their trusted and credible news sources, people will be left adrift in the miasma and mess of fake news and myths that populates other media.

At this time when the nation's survival is at stake, at this point when real time information is crucial in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, and at this moment when national solidarity is forged through media and broadcast networks so our nation may heal as one, NTC by-passed the prerogative of Congress, as the representatives of the people, to properly rule on the fate of the ABS-CBN franchise renewal during an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

Without legal basis for issuing the Order, NTC should have taken the higher moral ground by issuing a provisional authority to operate thereby allowing a comprehensive Congressional deliberation on the issues at hand.

Instead, NTC jumped the gun by foolishly putting its foot forward to derail the democratic process and in the process, hijacking a Constitutional mandate to Congress emanating from the people.

TUCP demands that the NTC provide its legal basis for issuing the Cease and Desist Order notwithstanding a Congressional consensus that a temporary permit must be issued to ABS-CBN while it works out its franchise renewal from Congress.

As the largest national trade union center, we remind NTC that it is not just shutting off a network, it is treacherously shutting off the hopes and aspirations of its workers and their families. It is treacherously shutting off all hopes and aspirations of its 11,000 workers and their families forged through hard work and perseverance to improve their lives through an honest living.

TUCP joins the Filipino nation in rallying behind the cause of the viewers of ABS CBN with their daily involvement and even commitment to ABS-CBN news and entertainment programs that soothes and makes it easier to bear with the hardships of their daily lives. The ordinary Filipino who voted for President Duterte could not have been more resilient, hopeful, creative and more hardworking if there was no ABS-CBN to accompany them in their daily struggles.

The TUCP, along with our member-federations and member-workers are one with ABS-CBN and its workers in this fight. This too shall pass. - TUCP Labor Center


Atty. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza
President, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)
Representative, House of Representatives, TUCP Partylist

TUCP pushes postlockdown safety nets

File photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) pushed more safety nets to protect workers from expected changes in labor practices and employment as the country prepares to exit its six-week lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The TUCP feared pay cuts, increased contractualization and “massive layoff of workers” as the country struggles to restart the economy after the scheduled end of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine on May 15.

“Some companies won’t be able to reopen post lockdown. They would be pressed to build up capital or resume operations. If they do reopen, they would run on a skeleton force,” TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

—Jovic Yee

TUCP on May 1, 2020: Workers Unite, Let us build back better, build a decent and more equitable society.

#LaborDay #MayDay2020

𝐿𝐴𝐵𝑂𝑅 𝐷𝐴𝑌 𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑇𝐸𝑀𝐸𝑁𝑇

“Isang mapagpalayang pagbati sa dakilang araw nating mga obrero!”

𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.
But in this time of COVID-19 pandemic, workers and their families are the first victims. The socio-economic inequalities that workers and their families have to suffer daily, have been magnified a thousand-fold. Living in communities that are less than decent, eating food that is less than nourishing, hoping against hope that the public healthcare system will be strengthened just in time, and surviving on cash handouts that are less than fair.

For millions of workers under 'no work, no pay' arrangements and those who are at the mercy of contractual arrangements without security of tenure, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗-𝟭𝟵, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆.

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 - these are our healthcare workers, our frontline public sector workers, our workers in essential businesses such as banks, groceries and pharmacies, delivery services, security guards, janitors, garbage collectors, and all workers who despite the threat of starvation sacrificed for the fight against COVID-19.

The challenge that we face today is how to collectively shape a world that treats its workers fairly by building back better.

Workers have always been at the forefront of change, and we must ask ourselves what our society should look like after this. The ones who keep the world running are the minimum wage earners and healthcare workers who do backbreaking work but are not given secure jobs, and are left to toil and survive below the poverty line.

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 as the world can so easily close its doors to our workers overseas. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, when we have also been forced to close our doors to the rest of the world. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

TUCP envisions the New Normal as a society where workers rights are protected, government addresses workers needs and prioritizes it first and foremost, and the generation of capital and profit-taking by the elites no longer constitutes the bottom line.

𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻.
So, today we call on government to place the health and safety of workers first. Partner with workers as we craft comprehensive guidelines that will allow us back to safe workplaces. For workers still in lockdown, augment and extend the DOLE wage support programs for formal sector workers and the social amelioration programs for our Overseas Filipino Workers and the Informal sector. That is only just, because they built the wealth that only the few in our society enjoy.

Today, we call on all workers to unite, let us build back better, let us build a decent and more equitable society for all workers. - TUCP Labor Center

Extended or modified ECQ? #BalikTrabahongLigtas, an equitable new normal is what we want – labor group

Today, the president is expected to announce his decision on what to do with the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

For the Nagkaisa! labor coalition, to extend or to modify the ECQ are false choices for the working class. Sadly government is unable to display ability to provide the requirements for either of these two options.

Should the lockdown be extended due to the fact that the virus has yet to be contained, workers have to face the reality that the government has been consistently failing to provide its promised aid to the poor and the near poor, many of whom they mistakenly categorize as the “middle class.”

After 5 weeks of lockdown, the president himself, in his latest report to Congress, admitted that only 49% of the target beneficiaries were actually provided with its minimal aid. Majority of the people in need, in other words, are getting more frustrated of the slow, intricate and short-circuited administration of the promised aid.

Should the lockdown be modified to allow some workers back to work, workers also face the grim reality that both the government and many employers have yet to prove that they can actually provide a safe working environment for everyone as the level of protection, even for our frontliners and those who were allowed to remain working in essential establishments, are sorely lacking.

Asking workers to return to work without the most effective mass testing method may end up wasting whatever gains we had during the quarantine.

In effect, government and employers are irresponsibly gambling with the lives of the working class to save the inequitable economy that we have.

This is why, before we even talk of what to do with ECQ, Nagkaisa is pressing for the following demands:

1. Show the public a clear action battle plan not only for defeating the virus but also in protecting the people from the impacts of economic recession

2. Provide universal support like an income guarantee equivalent to the prevailing minimum wage or P10k whichever is higher to avoid the bureaucratic bottlenecks created by targeted support.

3. Improve protection to all our health workers who are disproportionately victimized by the virus and start building up the public health care delivery by hiring full time healthcare workers and regularizing all HCWs under contract of service arrangements.

4. Release a DOLE Department Order that would mandate the employers to negotiate with unions or workers’ representatives practical and realistic Covid-19 protocols, most importantly a PCR-based massive testing as against the rapid antibody test being promoted by the business sector; provision of PPEs, regular workplace disinfection, and providing paid quarantine leaves when needed.

5. Ensure free medical services should workers be infected.

The administration should address these challenges in the soonest possible time. Nangkaisa! also calls on government to consult with trade unions and other people’s organizations — listen to their calls and work with them in addressing the challenges of this pandemic.

Clearly, we can no longer go back to normal. Returning back to depressed working conditions without labor rights protection is not what we envision.

If we are to restart the economy, we might as well build a better one, an economy that is equitable enough to ensure that everyone shares the fruits of economic developments, and sustainable enough to mitigate even the impacts of climate change and future pandemics.

Nagkaisa! is set to unveil is comprehensive proposals before May 1.

#BalikTrabahongLigtas

PRESS STATEMENT
NAGKAISA! Labor Coalition
April 23, 2020

Labor group seeks bigger fund for CAMP

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to pump in additional funds to the Covid-19 Adjustment Measure Program (CAMP) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) that provides a one-time P5,000 cash assistance to private sector workers displaced by the coronavirus pandemic.

“If it is true that the funds for CAMP have been depleted, topping that off with additional funds would be simpler and more logical for after all, MSMEs’ employees are the priority under CAMP,” TUCP said, referring to micro, small and medium enterprises.

It pointed out that hundreds of thousands of CAMP applications have been processed.

“The Department of Finance’s (DoF) wage subsidy which involves too many agencies — the DoF, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Social Security System (SSS) — and makes it complicated for small businesses and workers to qualify, will not address the urgency of the need to provide subsidy to the workers,” the group warned.

On April 16, the Labor department announced it would no longer accept applications for CAMP because the funds allotted for the program have been depleted.
It said that 264,154 workers benefited under CAMP.

As of April 12, 2020, the number of displaced formal sector workers nationwide had reached more than a million while affected workers in the informal sector needing assistance numbered close to quarter of a million.

The TUCP said that continuing with the CAMP program was more practical because of its simplified process.

“In fact the reason the CAMP application requirements were simplified was in recognition of the prevailing informality of work arrangement in MSMEs including the absence or non-updating of Social Security System records or remittances,” it said.

TUCP Vice President Luis Corral warned that SSS funds were considered private, held in trust by the government.

The use of SSS funds, which comes from the contributions of employees and employers, is set by law and its use is further subject to Board approval,” he said. - By William Depasupil, TMT

Govt urged to shell out more funds for workers than big biz after ECQ

Philstar file photo

Labor groups on Sunday said the government will have to shell out more funds to support workers, rather than big businesses, if it intends to allow limited resumption of the latter’s operations after the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

This as the government is already struggling to get more funding for its existing aid for workers, who were affected by the lockdown that halted activities mainly in the service sector.

A statement by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), however, made it clear the government-backed labor organization is behind the labor department’s proposal to allow some businesses to resume operations.

But according to TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay, employees who will still be barred going to work should receive government aid.

During the weekend, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it recommends 30 percent of the work force of a company be allowed to return to work once the ECQ is lifted May 1. The DOLE proposes an additional 20 percent of the total work force return to work by June and, by July, total employees that have returned to work should be 75 percent.

“With the regards to the remaining 70 percent who may be unable to work [in May], government will have to provide them another round of subsidy for the duration,” Tanjusay said.

Nearly spent
Last week, the labor department stopped accepting applications for its Covid-19 adjustment measures program, which is a one-time P5,000 cash aid program the government gives to workers during the lockdown. The DOLE said only 20 percent of the P1.6-billion budget for the program it calls “Camp” remains.

The labor department said prior to stopping the acceptance of application, 80 percent of the money, or about P1,320,770,000, has been given to an estimated 264,154 individuals. The DOLE said it is still awaiting approval of an additional P2.5 billion it requested from the Department of Budget and Management.

The labor department, however, said even with the additional funds, it couldn’t provide the cash-subsidy to more than a million workers who applied for Camp.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said they already endorsed the applications they could no longer accommodate to the Department of Finance (DOF) to be covered by its planned wage subsidy program for an estimated 3 million workers.

Bello said they will be pushing for a post-recovery plan that aims to stop the mass displacement of workers from establishments affected by the 45-day lockdown expected to be lifted before midnight of April 30.

Worker protection
Tanjusay said government must ensure the necessary occupational safety and health standards should be in place to ensure workers will be protected from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). He said workers should be given personal protective equipment (PPE) for free.

He added that Filipinos who will be required to go to work after the lockdown but placed under quarantine, get infected by the virus or die should get compensation from the government and their company.

Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chairman Renato Magtubo said this and other policies for ensuring worker protection should be contained in a new order from the labor department.

Without such stipulated safeguards, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) Secretary General Joshua Mata said workers will be putting their lives at risk when they go to work after the ECQ.

“Before DOLE talks about lifting the lockdown, they should first clarify how would workers be protected when they go back to work,” Mata said.

He added they intend to raise these issues during the meeting of labor groups with labor officials this week.

Business focused

RFM Corp. President and Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria A. Concepcion III has been pushing for a selective quarantine in in Luzon to allow some businesses in Luzon to resume after the expected lifting of the ECQ next month.

However, members of the labor coalition Nagkaisa, which includes TUCP, PM, and Sentro, criticized the pronouncement saying the government still lacks the capacity to conduct Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the hundreds of citizens who are expected to return to work.

Nagkaisa members said workers should be made to undergo the lab-based test rather than the rapid-test kits, which they deemed a less reliable way of testing if a person is infected by Covid-19.

“Without this method of mass testing, the ‘Concepcion proposal’ can only be considered as safe for business but not for the workers,” Nagkaisa said.

It also slammed Albay Representative Jose Sarte Salceda’s proposal to allocate P350 billion to serve as “bailout package for big corporations.”

“Why bail out big business when they forever have access to local and international capital markets?” Nagkaisa said.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is expected to finalize this week the policies on the “new normal” in the aftermath of the ECQ. This may include which businesses will be allowed to resume after the lifting of lockdown measures. By Samuel P. Medenilla

Workers displaced by COVID may be 4 million

Alan Tanjusay, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines spokesman, said the Department of Labor and Employment could be under-reporting the number of COVID-affected workers. Michael Varcas

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s largest labor group yesterday expressed belief that the actual number of displaced workers nationwide could be as high as four million.

Alan Tanjusay, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman, said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) could be under-reporting the number of COVID-affected workers.

“While the DOLE reported about 1.2 million, in our estimates, the affected workers in Luzon are around 2.5 million to four million,” Tanjusay said.

He added that TUCP and other labor groups are already conducting surveys to determine the actual number of displaced workers and whether they were provided financial assistance by DOLE or the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Tanjusay pointed out that the high number of displaced workers is expected because the lockdown affected almost all job generating sectors in the country.


“What we are surprised at is the apparent attempt by DOLE and other government agencies to make the number of displaced workers appear at a minimum despite a Luzon-wide lockdown,” he said.

He also said DOLE lacks the rigor and urgency to provide safety nets for affected workers. Aside from this, DOLE is not given much latitude in the inter-agency task force, he added.

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) claimed that DOLE is downplaying the number of affected workers to justify the big gap in the distribution of cash aid.

It doubted the agency’s report that indicated only 3.57 percent of 28 million workers employed in the formal sector were affected by the lockdown.

“The number merely represents a small fraction of the wage and salaried workers in the country and therefore can be interpreted as ‘insignificant’ as far as the lockdown impact is concerned,” PM said.

“Obviously that is not what we’re seeing at ground level as most of our workers, except state employees and those in few large corporations who are still under payroll, are employed in less protected and monitored micro enterprises,” the group said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said 12,970 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were repatriated amid the COVID-19 pandemic as 822 seafarers arrived from the US and Barbados yesterday.

The Filipino crew of MS Norwegian Epic, MS Marina and MS Norwegian Spirit arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on two separate chartered flights and went through the mandatory quarantine inspection and briefing conducted by the Department of Health-Bureau of Quarantine (DOH-BOQ).

Those of Norwegian Epic and Marina will undergo a 14-day facility-based quarantine while those of Norwegian Spirit will undergo home quarantine, the DFA said.

Since April 1, the Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) for Norwegian Epic and Spirit and Oceania Cruises for Marina spent for the repatriation of over 3,670 of its Filipino seafarers all over the world while Oceania Cruises took care of repatriating 189 Filipino seafarers, with assistance from DFA. – Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star ) With Pia Lee-Brago

Labor groups laud companies for advancing salaries, 13th month pay amid quarantine

Labor groups and employees have expressed their appreciation to some companies for advancing their salaries and 13th month pay amid the coronavirus crisis.

Employees of fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) praised the company after it disbursed at least P1 billion to cover one month of salary and 13th month pay to workers affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine against COVID-19.

Citing an internal memorandum sent to all employees by JFC CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong, Kilusan sa Jollibee Foods Corporation-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (KILUSAN-JFC-TUCP) said the company’s management is paying the one month wages covering the March 15 to April 14 quarantine period together with the 13th month pay, which is usually disbursed on December this year “to help employees cope with the crisis during the one month period that they are restricted to travel to work.”

"We were very surprised to receive such memorandum from our boss. We were already at a very low morale due to the uncertainty of a one-month suspension of work when the news showed up at our email inbox. This will definitely free us from such anxiety and would enable us to tide things over. Thank you Jollibee, " said Arthur Juego, president of KILUSAN-TUCP.

For his part, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Raymond Mendoza said "the move will create a race to the top momentum and raise the reputation of the Jollibee brand to customers and compel other enterprises to do the same good company deed in the light of looming economic adversity for workers."

Meanwhile, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) commended the country's largest mall operator SM Supermalls and its competitor Robinsons for waiving the rental fees of mall tenants from March 16 to April 14 to enable these micro- and small enterprises pay in advance the salaries and thirteenth month pay of their employees.

The labor group also lauded business tycoon Manny Pangilinan for releasing in advance the 13th month pay of PLDT, Smart and Meralco employees.

Other companies who advanced the salary and thirteenth month pay of their employees are the Aboitiz Group of Companies, Asian Terminal/ Solaire Resort Hotel, JG Summit and Gokongwei Group of Companies, the Lucio Tan Group pf Companies, and the SMC Group of Comapnies.

"These positive management decisions raises workers loyalty by improving the quality of production and better customer service. The gesture promotes unity and reinforces Filipino bayanihan during these distressful times for workers and families. We urge other companies, big or small, to do the same, to help the workers and their families during these times," Gerard Seno, executive vice president of ALU, said.

With their salaries and benefits assured, workers will comply with the mandatory home quarantine policy and minimize the spread of COVID19 in communities, Seno said. — Ted Cordero/BM, GMA News

Labor groups calls for national action plan vs. COVID-19

PREVENTIVE MEASURES. Employees and visitors of the Manila City Hall wait for their temperature to be checked on March 9, 2020, as part of the city's precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus. Photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called for a national action plan in winning the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In a statement, TUCP vice president Luis Corral said the national action plan should involve a massive information drive and interventions in communities and workplaces to prevent community-to-community transmission.

TUCP also called on the labor department to immediately convene all national and regional industry tripartite councils (ITCs) to do rapid impact assessments, identify risks, design and implement industry specific COVID-19 mitigation and prevention measures to save lives and jobs.

The group said the ITC is composed of employers and the workers from the industry and they know what the actual situation on the ground is.

They added that COVID-19 should not be used as a convenient excuse to justify lay-offs or closures.

“At this time, social dialogue, social partnership, and cooperation between employers and workers is the key in saving jobs through various measures like telecommuting, working from home, flexible work arrangements, or job rotations if necessary,” Corral said.

“The industry should design self-quarantine for workers with symptoms without job displacement. Workers on self-quarantine should be covered by the Employee’s Compensation Commission (ECC) or SSS for wage protection. After all, the worker did not choose to be infected,” he added.

For workers-at-risk who are in the frontline like retail, such as fast-food chains workers who must deal with the public, TUCP said it is imperative that their employers provide them free-of-charge personal protective equipment, surgical masks, alcohol-based hand rubs, and access to washbasins and soap.

“This should be true for emergency responders, healthcare workers, tourism, travel and personal services workers, border security, airport and immigration services workers, teachers, prison guards and cleaners, and those declared as ‘essential personnel,’ by their respective offices,” Corral said.

TUCP said all employers should sanitize all surfaces in their company premises, provide facemasks and alcohol hand rubs as well as soap and hand washing facilities for their workers.

During this emergency, the group also appealed for urgent support from both the national and local governments, particularly for those who cannot go to work or are forced to stay at home.

“This is especially true for those in ‘no work, no pay’ arrangements. They are in real danger of losing their wages, thereby imperiling their lives and that of their families. Without money, they are at the mercy of COVID-19 and poverty,” Corral said.

“TUCP therefore calls for the realignment of the TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers) program of the DOLE to be allocated to address the needs of these workers,” he added. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

DOLE issues guidelines for employers amid coronavirus outbreak

The Department of Labor and Employment says employers can implement flexible working hours to avoid terminating employees or closing establishments

FLEXIBLE WORK. Metro Manila commuters wear face mask as protection from the coronavirus on February 3, 2020. Photo by Jire Carreon/Rappler 

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday, March 4, issued guidelines that employers should follow when implementing flexible working hours in response to the ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak.

“The objective (of flexible working hours) is to help both employer and employees to get over the hump (caused by the coronavirus),” DOLE Undersecretary Ana Dione told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday.

DOLE said implementing flexible working hours was among the measures taken by the department to avoid “outright termination of employees” or “total closure” of establishments. (READ: A mess': Coronavirus economic impact on Philippines worse than projected)

According to Dione, implementing flexible working arrangements will not be mandatory for employers, who will have full say on whether or not to take such measures.

“The effectivity and implementation of any of the flexible work arrangements shall be temporary in nature, subject to the prevailing conditions of the company,” DOLE said.

Why this matters. Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) earlier estimated some 7,000 layoffs and retrenchments could take place in the next 6 months amid the growing coronavirus outbreak crisis.

TUCP made the forecast after Philippine Airlines terminated 300 employees, citing losses incurred because of canceled flights due to coronavirus travel bans, which have severely impacted businesses. The group said other industries may follow suit and lay off non-essential workers.

Aside from flexible working arrangements, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the department will also require regional and overseas labor offices to submit daily reports on workers displaced by the coronavirus outbreak. He likewise gave assurances affected workers will be provided livelihood and financial assistance.

LOOK: DOLE issues guidelines for employers implementing flexible working arrangements due to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/NGjKY9vHLA
— Sofia Tomacruz (@sofiatomacruz) March 4, 2020

What employers need to know. DOLE Department Advisory No. 1 series of 2020, issued on Wednesday, listed the following arrangements employers may consider:

Reduction of work hours and/or work days: Normal work hours or work days per week are reduced
Reduction of workers: Employees are rotated or alternately provided work within the week
Forced leave: Employees are required to go on leave for several days or weeks using leave credits

Meanwhile, DOLE urged employers and employees to discuss other possible alternative work arrangements to ease the effects of loss of income on employees.

Employers and employees will be responsible for administering and supervising flexible work arrangements should they opt to implement it, DOLE added.

If employers and employees disagree on the interpretation of the arrangements, DOLE said differences can be tackled under the company’s grievance system.

In cases where no system for dealing with grievances is in place, regional labor offices where workplaces are registered will have jurisdiction over conciliatory talks.

DOLE said employers who will implement flexible working arrangements must ensure documents are kept on record as proof the measure was adopted. Employers will also need to inform regional or provincial labor offices if flexible work arrangements are adopted. – Sofia Tomacruz Rappler.com

Workers’ groups urge gov’t, airlines to implement safety protocols for airport, seaport workers to curb coronavirus risk

As government authorities step up bio-security efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) has called on the government and airline industry players to ensure that safety and health protection protocols are working not just for passengers but also for cabin crew and airport employees.

The country’s biggest federation of unions said this is because these workers are the first line of defense against the spread of the transmittable coronavirus.

“One of the most difficult parts of the job for cabin crew in ensuring an orderly, safe, and healthy flight throughout the duration of the journey, for example, is to deal with difficult or unruly infected passengers,” ALU National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno said in a statement.

“To help workers perform under pressure, guarantees of enhanced protection from risk of exposure for these workers must be in place.”

Seno said there is also a need to make sure that workers have employment social protection insurance coverage and that emergency health facilities are provided considering the risks they face in performing their jobs.

The group also lauded the airlines for immediately issuing memoranda allowing cabin crew to wear company-provided protective face masks at the onset of the outbreak as primary protection against the risk of exposure to the virus, particularly on flights to and from at-risk destinations.

“We commend them for doing the right thing. These are measures that enhances the employees’ confidence and boosts their morale in doing their jobs under these unusual working days,” Seno said.

Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress of the Philipines (TUCP) President and TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said government measures to minimize exposure to the virus should not only cover passengers but also airport and seaport personnel, including those manning immigration counters.

He proposed that passengers coming from cities that have been infected by the virus have a separate arrival passageway, and that arriving aircraft be directed to a separate landing area for possible fumigation. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

25% hazard pay for workers pushed in Taal Volcano danger zones

AMID the extraordinatrily dangerous situation caused by the Taal Volcano eruption, the labor sector has called for the payment of “hazard pay” corresponding to 25 percent of the basic pay of workers, including members of media, in the affected areas.

In this photo taken on January 17, 2020, workers sweep the ashfall from the pavement near the Binan City Materials and Recovery Facility (MRF) and load the carts of collected volcanic ash from the recent Taal volcano eruption to process them and turn them into cement bricks in Bian. Binan got coated with ash after nearby Taal Volcano erupted Sunday, but the local officials decided to put the dust to work rather than just cleaning it up. The fine grey powder is being mixed with locally collected plastic waste, as well as sand and cement, to form about 5,000 bricks per day. The blocks will be used for local building projects. / AFP / Maria TAN

The workers’ group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Saturday took the cudgels for the estimated 2,000 employees working in restaurants and hotels within Taal’s danger zone and about 1,000 journalists.

These workers, according to TUCP President Raymond Mendoza, are risking their lives in the performance of their duties and, as such, should be provided with added compensation in the form of hazard pay.

“Hazard is a dangerous phenomenon, substance, or human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of sources of livelihoods and services, social and economic,” he added.

Hazard pay is cash compensation to employees on top of their basic salary for rendering work under extraordinary conditions and circumstances that could result in death, serious injuries, sickness and disease, and handicap or debility.

“All employees, including rank-and-file, supervisors and managers working in all business establishments such as hotels, restaurants, casinos and spas, among others, which are located within the 14-kilometer danger zone, particularly Tagaytay City, have the right and are entitled to a minimum 25-percent hazard pay of their daily basic pay,” the group said.

It added that “reporters, cameramen, assistant cameramen, cab drivers and photographers who are covering the Taal volcano eruption and are working in the declared danger zone also have the same right and are similarly entitled to hazard pay whether they are under talent contract, or permanent, regular, contracual, seasonal, directly or agency-hired, freelance, or independently contracted.”

It stressed that working under extraordinary dangerous situations and the exposure to risk from the elements brought by the Taal Volcano explosion on January 12 were sufficient conditions for hazard pay.

TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay clarified that although there was no prevailing law, policy or department order in the country that regulated employers from giving their workers hazard pay, it was imperative upon business owners and employers’ management prerogative to give hazard pay to their employees considering the extraordinary circumstance in performing their duties and responsibilities.

“On other hand, employees can directly approach and request their employers to provide them with hazard pay,” said Tanjusay.

In the public sector, police, military, firemen and rescuers, including volcanologists and personnel from the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology, are automatically entitled to hazard pay based on the Civil Service Commission regulation and subsequent agency memorandum giving government personnel hazard pay ranging from 5 percent to 27 percent of their basic pay after rendering 50 percent of the total working hours of the month. - By William Depasupil, TMT