Tuesday, February 27, 2018

‘End workers’ insecurity’: Duterte urged anew to junk contractualization

File photo

A labor group called on President Rodrigo Duterte to properly balance the interest of employment and capital in the country.

The call of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Tuesday was made after Duterte said that he needed more time to study the proposed executive order (EO) that aims to terminate contractualization.

ALU-TUCP also urged Duterte to sign the said EO, as all workers deserve the security of tenure as stated in the Constitution.

“Management prerogative is not unfettered. It is bound by the Constitution, the laws of the land, public policy, morals and simple decency. The Constitution is crystal clear: workers have the right of security of tenure,” Michael Mendoza, ALU-TUCP president, said in a statement.

“We call on the President to fulfil his promise to the workers to end the hopelessness and insecurity of millions,” he added.

Under the proposed EO, contractualizaton would only be allowed for some professions to be decided by the labor department and its council, the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council. /je - By: Faye Orellana - @inquirerdotnet

Labor groups hold picket outside Dole offices


For a cause. Members of labor groups in Cebu ask President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill his campaign promise of ending contract-ualization in the country. (SunStar Photo/Amper CampaƱa)
A FEDERATION of labor groups called Nagkaisa held a synchronized rally in front of all Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) offices nationwide to lobby for the end of contractualization.

Art Barrit of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and Dennis Derige of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said that President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to sign the executive order (EO) ending contractualization on or before March 15.

The labor groups believe that the issuance of the EO is long overdue, considering that ending contractualization in the country was a campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 election. “I think this is just a pencil-pushing activity but this a coordinated nationwide mass action by a united labor front under Nagkaisa.

The President must sign that EO to end contractualization on or before March 15 because that is long overdue,” Barrit said.

He said Duterte promised to end 50 percent of contractualization in the country by the end of 2016 and the remaining half by the end of 2017.

Derige, for his part, said that once Duterte signs the EO, there will be no more fixed-term employment and labor-only contracting in several companies will be stopped. “There will be direct hiring and the companies are mandated to comply with all the benefits for them like Social Security System (SSS), Philhealth and Pag-ibig Fund since they are regular employees,” he said.

According to Derige, Dole’s Department Order (DO) 174 issued last year, which provided guidelines on contracting and subcontracting, was good that an issuance of EO will no longer be needed. But he said the DO was a failure. “It seems that our Dole Secretary Silvestre Bello III has a balancing act due to the lobby of the business sector,” he said.

Barrit said there are two versions of the EO submitted to Duterte, that of Dole and the labor groups. The latter, they believe favors the businessmen. Dole 7 Director Cyril Ticao, when sought for comment, said that he didn’t know about this since all documents are prepared by their legal department. (EOB)- SunStar

Monday, February 26, 2018

Labor groups call to end contractualization


Over a hundred individuals from different labor groups stage a protest in front of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) building along General Maxilom Avenue corner Gorordo Ave., Cebu City on Monday morning.

Members of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and Partidong Mangagawa demanded the issuance of an executive order by President Rodrigo Durterte to end the contractualization scheme in the labor force.

DOLE-7 Director Cyril Ticao said they are waiting for instructions from the central office regarding the issue. - By: Jessa Mae O. Sotto

Duterte urged: Sign EO against Endo



LABOR groups in Cebu are calling on President Rodrigo Duterte to sign the proposed Executive Order ending contractualization or the end of contract scheme.

The call was made during their protest rally in front of the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) on Monday.

Art Barrit, spokesperson of Associated Labor Unions- Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said they staged a rally to put pressure on President Rodrigo Duterte, who asked to study the proposed EO until March 15.

“This is a synchronized mass protest action nga panawagan nga mapirmahanm na sa presidente ang EO on ending contractualization (calling for the President to sign the EO to end contractualization),” he said.

About a hundred members of the ALU-TUCP, Partido Manggagawa and Sentro, who are all from the Nagkaisa Coalition.

However, Dole-7 Director Cyril Ticao said they are waiting for the mandate from the higher authority.

“Sa amin, whatever order coming from the higher ups, we will just implement them,” Ticao said.

Despite the proposed EO not being finalized yet, Ticao said that some employers in the region had already regularized their workers.

“There are some who volunteered na i-regular ang mga workers nila (to regularize their workers),” he said.

For this year, he said the DOLE-7 are targeting that at least 21,000 contractual employees in the region will be regularized.

Last year, the DOLE-7’s target was 6,000 workers, who have secured a regular position in their respective companies.

Ticao also said that DOLE-7 distributed last Friday at least a P7.5 million allocation for livelihood programs in Toledo City in western Cebu.

Ticao said it would benefit 21 associations in the city, which would include farmers, fishermen and women’s groups. - By: Jessa Mae O. Sotto