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| Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III |
The Nagkaisa and Associated Labor Unions chairman Michael Mendoza said the President instructed Bello to draft a new department order ending all forms of contractualization and do away with labor contractors who serve as middlemen between employees and principal employers.
“We are shocked that DoLE management has said that the DoLE can only regulate but not prohibit contractualization and all forms of fixed term employment. Section 106 of the Labor Code is crystal clear saying the Secretary of Labor may ‘regulate’ or ‘prohibit’ contractualization,” Mendoza said.
Members of the militant labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino also condemned Bello’s latest draft of the department order that contradicts Duterte’s directive to abolish contractualization, an order he reiterated when he met with labor leaders.
Mendoza said the legal stance smacked of intellectual dishonesty and deception.
“We therefore affirm that the context of any new department order must be one of total prohibition. That was reinforced by the President when he spoke with Labor and Secretary Bello on Feb. 27. President Duterte has said he will not renege on his promise to end contractualization and abhors agency hiring,” Mendoza said.
Throughout the country, the presidential commitment to end contractualization has resonated with millions of Filipinos who for the past 20 years have labored to receive the smallest of minimum wages only to be laid off after a few months.
“Presidential Spokesman Abella’s elaboration of the President’s commitment further raised massive expectations that indeed the Duterte government would bring real change through meaningful income through secure jobs,” Mendoza said.
“We are unmoved by employers and contractors in their assertion that contractualization is allowed. The billions they have earned while their workers slave at subsistence wages are testament to 25 years of injustice,” Mendoza added. - by Vito Barcelo / manilastandard.net
