PH labor movement receives human rights award for ‘dedication’ amid danger

The Philippine labor movement is given the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award for its ‘dedication and courage’ amid dangerous conditions for trade unionists in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Several Filipino labor leaders, on behalf of the Philippine labor movement, received the prestigious George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) for its “dedication and courage” amid a hostile environment for labor unions in the Philippines.

On Wednesday, December 6, local time in Washington DC, American national trade union center AFL-CIO presented the award to leaders of Philippine trade unions, including the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro), Trade Union Congress of the Phiippines (TUCP), Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), and BPO Industry Employee Network (BIEN).

“This recognition from such a storied institution as the AFL-CIO fortifies our resolve and validates our efforts in advocating for workers’ rights under challenging circumstances,” FFW said in a statement ahead of the awarding ceremony on Tuesday, December 5.

In its announcement of its conferment of the award to the Philippine labor movement in July, the AFL-CFO acknowledged how the Philippines was among the deadliest countries for workers.

AFL-CIO noted how labor leaders are red-tagged, which “allows for the aggressive surveillance, mistreatment, torture, imprisonment, and even killings of workers.”

“Amidst this dangerous reality, the Philippine labor movement continues to organize, build power and fight for the rights of workers across their country. In the face of threats to their own lives, our union brothers, sisters and siblings in the Philippines continue to garner global support for their campaign of resistance,” the AFL-CIO said.

The FFW said that the award serves not just as a recognition of its courage, but as a “beacon of solidarity, illuminating the path towards a global fraternity of labor organizations united in the pursuit of justice and equity.”

Dangerous conditions

The administration of then-president Rodrigo Duterte cracked down on dissent, which included workers and activists. Unions under Sentro had sounded the alarm over being red-tagged, or linked to the communist insurgency, by security forces.

In the 2020 International Trade Union Confederation’s Global Rights Index, the ITUC noted how Filipino union members were at risk of violence, intimidation, and murder. Some cases of murdered unionists in extrajudicial killings included Dennis Sequeña, who was shot and killed in Cavite in June 2019, and Reynaldo Malaborbor, who was also shot to death in November the same year in Laguna.

But even as the administration changed, labor leaders have continued to report union-busting and killings. Alex Dolorosa, paralegal officer and full-time officer of BIEN, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in Bacolod in April.

The AFL-CIO said in July that as human rights conditions in the Philippines deteriorated, the organization and its affiliates have worked to bring attention to the persecution of its Filipino partners to the international stage, including with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the US government.

“The Filipino government has so far ignored international calls to establish new mechanisms to address freedom of association violations and hold perpetrators to account,” the AFL-CIO said.

In May, following the first Labor Day under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the President ordered the creation of an inter-agency panel to protect workers’ right to organize.

However, in July, several labor groups continued to press the Marcos administration to better protect their freedom to associate.

“We look at this award underscoring the legitimacy of trade union organizing, not as an act of political defiance, but as an exercise of a universally recognized right,” said FFW.

Meeting with US National Security Advisor

Ahead of the awarding, on Monday, December 4, the Philippine labor leaders met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to discuss US President Joe Biden’s recent memorandum on “advancing workers’ rights globally and the importance of freedom of association and collective bargaining in promoting sustainable economic growth and strong democratic societies.”

The FFW said that the labor leaders presented their “Ask List” regarding concerns for improving labor conditions in the Philippines, which included ending trade union killings and red-tagging, as well as enforcing labor rights through the establishment of a Presidential commission for workers’ free association, as per the ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission’s recommendations.

According to a readout from the White House, Sullivan reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to support the efforts of workers in the US and abroad to form unions.

Sullivan also condemned all forms of harassment, intimidation, and violence against workers, and advocated for the exercising of their fundamental rights. –  Michelle Abad / Rappler.com 

TUCP pleads wage hike

The ALU-TUCP has not filed any wage increase because we understand the situation. But as fuel prices continue to spike, which will affect prices of commodities and food, then we will appeal for a wage increase in the coming days or weeks

The Associated Labor Group-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) is set to demand a hike from P537 to P750 for daily minimum wage as the war between Russia and Ukraine is expected to impact the prices of the basic commodities.

The Brent crude — the global oil benchmark — has now ballooned to above $139 a barrel before easing back to below $130, but it has sent fuel pump prices to skyrocket.

Hefty price increases in fuel are to be implemented in the Philippines starting today.

Alan Tanjusay of ALU-TUCP, during a guesting in Daily Tribune’s morning program Gising Na! on Monday, said it’s about time that wages of workers are increased.

“It’s been two years now that the worker’s wage remained stagnant due to the pandemic. The ALU-TUCP has not filed any wage increase because we understand the situation. But as fuel prices continue to spike, which will affect prices of commodities and food, then we will appeal for a wage increase in the coming days or weeks,” he said.

Tanjusay said they will channel the wage increase petitions through the Wage Boards, which are under the Department of Labor and Employment, as Congress is currently in recess due for the 9 May elections.

“This is a rare situation amid this still persisting pandemic, as both employers and employees were greatly battered by the health emergencies. We are now trying to strike a balance between the need and the clamor of the workers for a wage increase, at the same time, addressing the need of businesses and employers to be able to survive the moment the Wage Board will allow our request,” he explained.

Tanjusay stated that P750 wage is a clamor among lawmakers supportive of the call.

The current minimum wage in National Capital Region is P537 that which took effect in October 2017.

- By Raffy Ayeng

DOLE urged to act vs. 'no jab, no pay' policy

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Monday bared a "no vaccine, no salary" policy being implemented by a company in Metro Manila.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said such policy is illegal as he urged those affected by the policy to bring it to the attention of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for proper action.

"Bawal na bawal iyan, may kaukulang fines 'yan doon sa employer na napatunayan na gumagawa nito [that's illegal and the employer could be fined if found guilty]," he said.

Tanjusay said a group of employees of a company in the National Capital Region (NCR) informed them about the policy. He then urged DOLE to issue a labor advisory warning employers against implementing such policy.

"Sa tingin namin hindi lang isang insidente ito [We don't think this is an isolated case]," he said.

DOH

Meanwhile, in an media briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reiterated that being vaccinated against COVID-19 is not a requirement for workers to receive their salaries.

"Hindi po dapat maging basis ang pagbabakuna para mabigyan ng sweldo 'yung mga nagbigay na ng trabaho para po dito sa kanilang mga work [Vaccination should not be a basis for giving workers their salaries]," Vergeire said.

"Unang-una, wala po tayong batas pa na nagsasaad na kailangan mandatory 'yung pagbabakuna [We still don't have a law on mandatory vaccination]. And that was verbalized by the Department of Justice,” she added.

She stressed that the government only aims to encourage the public to get vaccinated by giving them incentives

Vergeire also deferred to DOLE to address the issue. —with Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA News

Proposed police clearance for DOLE transactions has chilling effect on workers — solon

The Philippine National Police’s (PNP) proposal to require a national police clearance for transactions with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will have a chilling effect on the "free and unfettered" exercise of workers rights, TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza said Friday. 

In a statement, Mendoza described the police's suggestion as an "unwarranted infringement of the constitutional rights of workers to self-organization."

"On its face, the request of the PNP to require those dealing with the DOLE to submit national police clearances superimposes the heavy-handed police state security apparatus on our labor relations system," Mendoza said.

"It is violative of our right to organize and unduly expands the discretion of the State in intervening in the exercise of our constitutional rights," he added.

Further, Mendoza is urging DOLE to reject the PNP's proposal. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has said the suggestion is already under consideration.

In a letter to Bello dated March 10, 2021, PNP chief Police General Debold Sinas said the PNP is hoping that the DOLE will support the National Police Clearance System (NPCS) “by making the NPC as one of your requirements in your various transactions.”

It was not specified what types of transactions would require the national police clearance.

For Mendoza, the said requirement would only intimidate and scare off workers from exercising their rights, noting that it may be an "insurmountable hurdle" in registering a union.

"It will emasculate the exercise of labor rights and will make a mockery of the labor justice system," Mendoza said.

The Associated Labor Unions also denounced the proposal, saying it is an added burden to workers and will threaten industrial peace in the country. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News

Workers call for price freeze

File photo / Manila Bulletin

The country's largest workers' group the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to order a price freeze on basic commodities and go after profiteers due to increases in the prices of food and other staples.

ALU National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno said aside from extending price freeze and hunt down hoarders and price manipulators, the government should deploy more Diskwento Caravan and Kadiwa rolling stores to bring affordable basic food commodities to communities and work sites.

The workers group also sent a letter to the President seeking an immediate action by concerned government agencies to put in place effective price controls on basic commodities and to provide a wage subsidy for workers for their nutritional needs. 

“The prices of basic commodities increased as unscrupulous traders and middlemen and socially irresponsible retailers take advantage of the situation,” he said.

He said millions of workers were left with no recourse but to rely on noodles, 3-in-1 coffee and other substitutes just to fill their stomachs.

“Millions of workers, since March 2020, were either on "No Work, No Pay" hold-over arrangements, or compelled to undertake job-sharing or job-rotation agreements, or to be placed on no compensation furlough as employers extended the suspension of their business operations. Millions, in the worse case, were laid off. Truly, worker incomes took a severe battering, and what little savings they had, is long gone,” Seno said.

He said the P537 daily wage can hardly purchase a kilo of pork, including vegetables to meet the nutrition needs of a family of five.

The workers group appealed to Duterte to extend proclamation 1081 issued in the wake of Typhoon Ulysses indefinitely to freeze prizes of basic commodities, for the government to go after and to prosecute price gouging middlemen, traders and retailers and to shut down hoarders. 

Meanwhile, Senator Christopher Go urged the government Monday to immediately act on the rising prices of pork and other food commodities and boost the country’s food security amid the current pandemic. 

Go has been prodding the government to prioritize three important aspects towards COVID-19 recovery: (1) address hunger; (2) acquire sufficient, safe and effective vaccines for all Filipinos with utmost priority to the poor and vulnerable sectors as well as frontliners; (3) and provide more economic opportunities through jobs and other forms of livelihood. . 

To address the concern amid widely reported increase in prices of several meat products, Go has renewed his appeal for the Executive Department to issue an Executive Order to impose a ceiling on the prices of pork and chicken in the market.

The Department of Agriculture is one with Go in recommending price ceilings to prevent further price hikes in the country. 

It seeks to prevent opportunistic businesses from illegally manipulating the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities, thus helping the Filipino consumers who are still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the DA also suggested utilizing its annual Buffer Fund under Republic Act 7581 to subsidize distribution costs of pork and chicken, effectively ensuring reasonable prices in the market.

Under RA 7581, the DA may use its Buffer Fund to purchase, import, or stockpile any basic necessity or prime commodity, devise ways and means of distributing them for sale at reasonable prices in areas where there is shortage of supply or a need to effect changes in its prevailing price.

Furthermore, the DA has proposed the tripling of the Minimum Access Volume on pork imports, augmenting local pork supply and, thus, keeping prices more stable. 

For a more long-term approach to food security in the country, the DA has also recently launched "ONE DA: A Holistic Approach to Agriculture and Fisheries Transformation" which serves as “an integrated framework with 12 key strategies to accelerate the transformation towards a modern and industrialized Philippine agriculture through an inclusive approach.”

To address the issue of price increase induced by animal-borne diseases, such as African Swine Fever, Duterte has issued Executive Order 105 which created the National Task Force on Animal-Borne Diseases. 

This seeks to undertake activities to prevent the entry of animal-borne diseases, control their spread and address other related issues.

Duterte also signed Executive Order 123 modifying the rates of import duty on certain agricultural products under section 1611 of Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. 

The said EO, in effect, retained the reduced five percent tariff rates imposed on mechanically deboned meat of chicken and turkey, a key ingredient of low-priced meat products often consumed by ordinary Filipinos.

“This is most welcome and I support it. This will have a huge impact on keeping prices low by keeping the tariffs low and preventing any inflationary effect,” Go said previously. 

A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations in November 2020 revealed that an estimated four million families reported involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months prior to the study. The number, though, is lower than the previous data gathered by SWS in September of last year where some 7.6 million reported involuntary hunger due to the pandemic. - Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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

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

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

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

Labor group hits government bid to tax salty food

ILL-ADVISED? Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin calls the proposal to tax salty food ill-advised, considering the vital role played by “tuyo,” (dried salted sardine) “daing” (dried fish) and “bagoong” (shrimp paste) in Filipino diet. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE , Inquirer.net

The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday slammed the government-proposed measure to impose tax on salty food and food ingredients, and instead recommend that government develop healthier, affordable and accessible alternatives than levying tax on salty food.

“With this measure to tax salty food, the government is pushing the poor informal sector workers and their families to fall into deep poverty rather than building ladder to help and empower them,” Gerard Seno, ALU-TUCP national executive vice president, said.

“There is no need to tax salty food and ingredients at this time. We rather strongly recommend government to develop research-and-development-based healthier, cheaper alternatives and options and make these accessible in the market,” he said in a statement.

“But if we raise their income, have developed and made these cheap, healthy food and ingredients alternatives very accessible to the market, then that’s may be the time that we talk about imposing tax on salty food,” Seno said.

Seno said poorly-waged working people and their families are aware that most of their daily meals that they can afford to buy with their meager daily budget are those foods with salty ingredients are mal-nutritious, unhealthy and brings ill-health to their family such as instant noodles, food flavoring, snacks, and dried fish.

However, because of their meager salary, short term, temporary jobs, inadequate social protection safety nets, poor workers have no choice but to purchase these because they are cheaper and more available in the market.

“Workers and the poor informal workers and their families affinity to salty food is bound by their inadequate income and lack of alternatives in the market. They cannot afford to buy healthier food choices and food ingredients with their measly income level,” Seno said.

The country’s minimum wage ranges from the highest at P537 a day and the lowest at P280 a day.

“With these paltry current minimum wage rates amid the rising cost of living, the working poor have no other choice but to buy food with what affords their small income even if it is high with sodium content,” Seno said.

Aside from developing alternatives and raising wages, government must regulate private manufacturing firms to reformulate the standard sodium contents of food, food ingredients and snacks.

Government should also pick up the slack in its responsibility to conduct massive education and information dissemination informing its citizens about other better alternatives and healthier food and ingredients options. - Vito Barcelo

ALU-TUCP urges McDonald’s to hire PWDs, senior citizens in stores nationwide

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Thursday urged McDonald’s Philippines to expand its hiring program for the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to all stores nationwide.

“Expanding the policy to other McDonald’s branches nationwide will provide hope to other PWDs and senior citizens who are often ignored by other local government unit and businesses. The policy extension will discourage discrimination and raise the business practice standards and compel other firms to do the same,” ALU-TUCP national executive vice president Gerard Seno said in a statement Thursday.

On Wednesday, McDonald’s Philippines signed a memorandum of agreement with the city government of Manila to employ senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in at least 40 McDonald’s stores in the city.

During the signing ceremony, McDonald’s Philippines executive vice president and managing director Margot Torres told reporters that the company has already hired over 30 elderlies and PWDs in different stores all over the country.

“We will work closely with PESO (Public Employment Service Office) to be able to do this outside after the city of Manila. Yes, there are plans to expand kasi meron na naman … its already there,” Torres said.

ALU-TUCP praised McDonald’s move to hire senior citizens and PWDs in its stores in Manila.

“Hiring senior citizens, persons with disabilities … but fit to work and highly productive individuals to work in McDonalds branches in Manila is commendable company policy,” Seno said.

“The agreement will attract more customers to the restaurant, provide income for the employees, make Manila city vibrant again and restores people’s trust in the city government,” he added. — By TED CORDERO , VDS, GMA News

18-m workers may lose jobs in 6 years

File photo / Rappler

The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines feared more than 18-million Filipino workers would lose their jobs in the next five to six years due to factories and establishments resorting to robotics, automation and artificial intelligence in selling products.

ALU-TUCP National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno expressed the apprehension after

Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba claimed around 18.2-million workers could lose their jobs over the period of the next five to six years as enterprises shifts to automation, robotics and AI to create efficient service and more products to be competitive.

“We can confirm that workers particularly in the agriculture, retail and manufacturing are now being impacted with only one employee left operating a machine in a production line that used to be manned by five to 10 workers,” Seno said.

Seno said they were concerned that affected or displaced workers might have difficulty to cope and acquire new skills needed to cope with the innovation if government will not be able to provide adequate and inexpensive up-skilling sessions for them.

Seno is also appealing to government to provide unemployment insurance schemes or programs specially to help displaced workers mitigate the impact caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The DTI said around six-million workers from the agriculture sector, 3.4 million in retail and 2.4 million in manufacturing sectors could lose jobs by 2024 with more and more transition to automation and AI. - Vito Barcelo

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

Cebu Pacific cabin crew establish new union

Interaksyon file photo

CEBU Pacific Air Inc. is gearing up for upcoming negotiations with its new cabin crew union, Juan Wing Regular Cabin Crews of the Philippines, after the union was formally established last week.

“In the coming weeks, we will be meeting with representatives of the Juan Wing cabin crew union. We intend to engage in healthy dialogue and ensure a positive and productive relationship,” Cebu Pacific COO Michael Ivan S. Shau told BusinessWorld on Sunday.

Last week, the ballot counting from the April 1 to 5 elections for the establishment of a union for cabin crew showed 1,124 out of 1,135 votes cast chose “Yes to union.” Both the elections and counting were overseen by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).

The Associated Labor Union — Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), with which Juan Wing is affiliated, said that the newly-formed union is preparing to discuss issues like security of tenure, improved benefits, and fair wages for cabin crew.

“The union will negotiate for better wages and benefits, better working conditions, and better terms under the existing labor policies and regulations to improve… (the) working climate that would benefit the interests of both the union members and the management,” said TUCP President Raymond C. Mendoza in a statement on Sunday.

Mr. Shau said that the airline’s desire to provide all Cebu Pacific employees better labor rights has always been a top concern.

The JG Summit Holdings, Inc. unit said it practices are in line with the group’s engagement policy with its workers.

“(C)ebu Pacific believes that there is no differentiation between unionized and non-unionized employee groups when it comes to listening to and providing for the needs of our employees. In fact, JG Summit has a track record of maintaining open, transparent and mutually beneficial relationships with all 27 unions existing across the conglomerate,” he said. — Gillian M. Cortez

Minimum wage leaves labor groups unsatisfied

Manila Times file photo

Three decades have passed since Republic Act (RA) 6727 or the “Wage Rationalization Act” was enacted in 1989, which turned out to lack teeth.

The measure paved the way for the creation of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in every region of the country.

However, there has never been an instance when petitions for wage increase from labor workers in the private sector were granted or even close to the demand of the toiling class.

The last time workers got significant wage increase was also in 1989, when then president Corazon Aquino granted a P25 daily across-the-board wage increase nationwide.

Section 2 of RA 6727 states: “It is hereby declared the policy of the State to rationalize the fixing of minimum wages and to promote productivity-improvement and gain-sharing measures to ensure a decent standard of living for the workers and their families; to guarantee the rights of labor to its just share in the fruits of production; to enhance employment generation in the countryside through industry dispersal; and to allow business and industry reasonable returns on investment, expansion and growth.”

The wage adjustments by the National Capital Region (NCR)-RTWPB, however, were anything but rational, as in 2016, it granted only P10 out of the original petition of P154; in 2017, it gave P21 out of P184; and in 2018, it approved P25 out of labor’s petition of P334.

Since January 2018, the NWPC has issued wage orders adjusting the minimum wage rates in 16 regional wage boards across the country, except for Caraga Region (Region 13) which remained at P311 minimum wage a day.

The Metro Manila wage board was the most recent regional wage board that adjusted the wage rate from P512 to P537, raising the average daily nominal minimum wage rates in 17 regions nationwide from P200 a day in September 2018 to P232 a day as of Nov. 11, 2018.

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), the country’s biggest labor group, said that workers were dissatisfied with the wage increase given the high inflation rate.

Citing as an example the wage increase in Metro Manila, ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said the buying equivalent of P25 is only P17.50 per day these days because of rising prices of commodities and costs of services.

“On the average, wage boards acted only on the capacity of employers and businesses to afford the wage increases by adjusting the nominal minimum wage rates by P32 to P36 a day nationwide. This is too small for workers who help business and economy grow,” he said.

Tanjusay added the nationwide average daily minimum wage of P232 was inadequate for millions of poorly paid entry-level, rank-and-file and contractualized minimum-wage workers nationwide in agriculture, services and manufacturing sectors. ALU-TUCP said these types of workers with labor-intensive jobs need at least P800 to P850 a day in order to live above the poverty threshold.

Louie Corral, ALU-TUCP vice president, warned government and employers that hunger and poverty would only escalate, causing more instability from the labor front.
“Unfortunately, with this wage order instead of a realistic intervention to workers’ plight, the P25 will only prolong the instability, Corral said.

The group said it would file another wage hike petition this month.

Many factors

For her part, NWPC Executive Director Ma. Criselda Sy said that their wage hike decision was backed up by simulation on the impact of the proposed increase on existing economic indicators like inflation, with results showing that a higher wage hike would further increase the inflation rate, which would cause a second round of inflationary effect.

She cited as example the wage hike in 1993 wherein the computed erosion in the purchasing power of workers was at P44.27, but the approved wage increase was only P17 because the wage board took into consideration the other factors in the socio-economic environment that the economy was not growing at that time.

“The difficult task for the board is to come up with amount that essentially would balance the competing interests of our stakeholders and the primary consideration there is if the economy can absorb the increases that will be ordered by the regional board,” she said. - By WILLIAM DEPASUPIL, TMT

Fix wages nationwide, labor groups tell Duterte

As the P25 minimum wage increase for Metro Manila workers took effect on Thursday, labor group Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and affiliates belonging to a coalition called Nagkaisa urged President Duterte to form a presidential commission that would study the creation of a national wage fixing mechanism.

In a statement, FFW said the P25 wage increase, approved by the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board, was “latest proof of how wages fixed under the mechanism deepens inequality rather than eradicate chronic poverty.”

Failure

It said the group and other Nagkaisa affiliates believed “the meager increase simply fits into the 1989 template” created by Republic Act No. 6727, which bases wage increases on employers’ capacity to pay rather than on workers’ standard of living.

FFW said during the presidential election campaign, Duterte recognized that setting wages by regions was a failure.

“He himself announced the need to overhaul the system,” said Sonny Matula, FFW president.

“But until today, no executive action has been done so far to walk his pledge,” Matula added.

Another labor group, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said workers were unable to feel the impact of the P25 wage increase because of inflation.

Purchasing power

Alan Tanjusay, ALU-TUCP spokesperson, said the purchasing power of P25 nowadays was just P17.50.

“It has no impact,” Tanjusay said.

The government, he added, should step in and fill the gap by giving workers a monthly food voucher worth at least P500.

Tanjusay said Duterte had “neither said yes nor no to our proposal.”

“So we remain hopeful,” he added. - By: Tina G. Santos - Reporter / @santostinaINQ

New Metro Manila minimum wage set at P500 to P537

Wage Order No. 22 will take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper, but labor groups say the increase won't help workers struggling with rising inflation

SEEKING WORK. Hundreds troop to the Quezon City Hall for a job fair on May 1, 2018. File photo by Darren Langit/Rappler 

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday, November 5, confirmed the P25 across-the-board wage hike for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.

New minimum wage rates for agricultural workers, firms in the manufacturing sector with at most 10 workers, and firms in the retail as well as service sectors with at most 15 workers will earn at least P500 daily, from the previous P475.

Non-agricultural workers, meanwhile, will soon have a daily minimum wage of P537 from P512.

Under Wage Order No. 22, the P10 cost of living allowance (COLA) will also become part of the basic pay. Previously, the minimum basic pay ranged from P465 to P502, with an additional P10 COLA.

National Wages and Productivity Commission Executive Director Criselda Sy explained that the integration of COLA in the basic pay means bigger computations for overtime pay and 13th month pay.

The new wage order will be effective 15 days from publication in a newspaper. Sy said a copy of the order will be sent to their office on Monday afternoon.

The order was signed by DOLE, the Department of Trade and Industry, National Economic and Development Authority, and an employers' group representative. Labor group representatives signed the order, but with reservations.

The wage order can still be appealed within 10 days upon publication. But Sy said there were no appeals that had been successfully granted in the past.

Higher inflation?

Asked whether the regional board could have approved a higher increase, Sy explained that doing so might lead to "secondary inflationary effects."

"It could be a potential source of secondary inflationary effects. Inflation is at 6.7% and it could be higher if we implement a higher wage hike," she said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Monday that the P25 wage hike had already been taken into consideration in its latest inflation forecasts – 5.2% for 2018, 4.3% for 2019, and 3.2% for 2020.

Sy also warned that the minimum wage policy "may be overburdened" with a higher rate, and may also lead to layoffs, if employers are unable to accommodate the additional cost.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III noted that the decision to implement the P25 wage hike was reached to "balance" the interests of both workers and employers. The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) had called for a P100 hike, down from the initial P334, during discussions.

"In deciding [the] minimum wage adjustment, the board needs to balance the needs of workers and their families, with the capacity of enterprises to pay the additional labor cost, without impairing businesses, especially [their] capacity to continuously generate jobs," Bello said.

Based on Republic Act No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, each region in the Philippines has a unique minimum wage set by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards. The factors taken into consideration include the poverty threshold, employment rate, and cost of living specific to the region.

'Overworked, underpaid workers'

Labor groups slammed the "measly" P25 increase, saying it is "not a relief" for workers.

ALU-TUCP said inflation would continue to "prolong" the plight of workers, and warned of further strikes.

"By not giving a substantial wage increase, we are looking at disgruntled, dissatisfied workers, with or without unions, demanding higher wages, directly confronting employers and business owners, creating tension within the enterprise level thereby disturbing and breaking the fragile industrial peace," ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

Meanwhile, Partido Manggagawa said the hike is "30% short" of making up for the P35.84 "erosion" in wages, according to its own estimate.

"P25 is just alms, not relief to overworked yet underpaid Filipino workers. P25 cannot compensate for the [almost] 7% runaway inflation in Metro Manila and real wage stagnation, despite 50% productivity growth from 2001 to 2016," Partido Manggagawa president Rene Magtubo said. – Aika Rey Rappler.com

Metro workers seek P100 wage increase

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Friday appealed for President Rodrigo Duterte’s intervention as it pushed its demand for a P100-daily wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Men work in a construction site in Barangay Pag-asa in Quezon City. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ

The group sought the President’s help a day after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) approved a P25- increase for minimum wage workers in the NCR.

The group said a P100 wage hike would raise the P512 daily minimum wage to P612, an amount that would enable workers and their families to cope with rising prices.

“In behalf of all poorly paid 4 million Metro Manila minimum wage workers and their families in Metro Manila who are suffering due to expensive cost of living brought by the astonishing inflation in the past 10 months, we are appealing to President Duterte’s kind-hearted ‘malasakit’ to please spare a portion of your presidential powers in favor of the working class by raising the recent ‘unofficial’ and measly P25 daily wage increase to at least P100 a day,” ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

“Mr. President, workers and their families have been longing to taste the fruits of your ‘Tunay na Pagbabago’ (genuine change) for all Filipinos. Now is the time to make businesses’ profits and the country’s economic wealth to truly trickle down to troubled workers who also help built the country and businesses to thrive but were left behind by flawed policies and greedy businessmen,” he added.

The ALU-TUCP originally sought a P334 a day wage increase but settled for P100. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) made a counter offer of P25.

The labor representatives in the seven-man tripartite wage board were outvoted by employers and government representatives in the last minute bargaining. - By WILLIAM DEPASUPIL, TMT

Duterte urged to stand up for workers

Labor groups on Friday appealed to President Duterte to stand up for workers in the wake of reports that a measly P25 daily salary increase has been approved for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Instead of the paltry adjustment, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) urged President Duterte to use his presidential powers by raising daily wage hike to at least P100 a day.

Labor groups had earlier called for a P335 daily minimum wage increase for private workers in Metro Manila to help them cope with rising inflation rate. Employers, however, reportedly opposed the huge wage adjustment proposal, warning that it might hit businesses and scare away investors.

“In behalf of all poorly paid four million Metro Manila minimum wage workers and their families in Metro Manila who are suffering due to expensive cost of living brought about by the astonishing inflation in the past 10 months, we are appealing to President Duterte’s kind-hearted ‘malasakit’ to please spare a portion of your presidential powers in favor of the working class by raising the ‘unofficial’ and measly P25 daily wage increase to at least P100 a day,” ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said in a statement.

Should the President authorize a P100 daily wage increase, the current daily minimum wage of P512 will increase to P612 a day, Tanjusay said. This would enable workers and their families to at least temporarily tide things over and get by through the hardship brought about by the rising inflation.

“Mr. President, workers and their families have been longing to taste the fruits of your ‘TunaynaPagbabago’ (genuine change) for all Filipinos. Now is the time to make businesses’s profits and the country’s economic wealth truly trickle down to troubled workers who also help build the country’s economy and businesses to thrive but are left behind by flawed policies and greedy businessmen,” he said.

“Mr. President, you have demonstrated in several instances your proven political will as shown in many instances whereby you intervened and took matters into your hands and make policies right and institutions work for the interest of the Filipino people. This time, at the most period of your presidency, we urge you to stand up for workers and their families and don’t let us down at a time when we needed you the most,” Tanjusay added.

The decision of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region on the salary increase for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will be known next week.
The Department of Labor and Employment said the decision of the wage board will be announced in a press briefing Monday, November 5.

On Thursday, Malacañang assured that the interests of the labor sector and employers would be taken into consideration in any decision on the petition seeking to increase minimum wage hike in Metro Manila.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo gave the assurance while dismissing as unofficial the reported P25 wage hike.

“As of October 31, the reported P25 wage hike for minimum wage workers has yet to be approved by the National Wage and Productivity Commission (NWPC). Therefore, the figure being disseminated is not official,” Panelo said.

“The Palace assures everyone that the interests and well-being of both sides – management and labor – as well as the overall impact to our domestic economy, would be considered by the government in attending to this matter,” Panelo added.

Reports had earlier circulated that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region has approved the P25 minimum wage hike for private workers in Metro Manila.

Labor groups slammed the small amount reportedly approved by the wage board. By Leslie Ann Aquino (With a report from Genalyn D. Kabiling)

Big labor group demands P100 pay hike, pleads for Duterte’s push

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Friday appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to intervene and raise the suggested 25-peso increase in the minimum wage to P100.

“In behalf of all the poorly paid four million minimum-wage workers and their families in Metro Manila who are suffering due to the high inflation rate, we are appealing to President Duterte to raise the minimum wage to at least P100 a day,” ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said in a statement.

READ: P25-wage hike a pittance—Labor

The labor group said the workers and their families had been longing to taste the fruit of genuine change.

“Now is the time to make the businesses’ profits and the country’s economic wealth to truly trickle down to the troubled workers,” Tanjusay said.

READ: Solomonic deal on wage hike pushed

The ALU-TUCP says P100 a day will change the current daily minimum wage of P512 to P612 a day―an amount that would enable workers and their families to get by.

“We urge you Mr. President, not to totally believe what all your economic managers are saying. Your economic managers are just lip-servicing you and are not telling you the whole truth,” Tanjusay said.

“What they are telling you are half-truths to artificially make you feel good, but in reality, the masses are drifting in poverty made worse by the implementation of TRAIN.”

The ALU-TUCP is blaming the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines for allegedly announcing prematurely the decision of the wage boards to keep wages at the barest minimum. - by Vito Barcelo