Anti-age discrimination advocates call for swift passage of a law

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The online news portal of TV5

MANILA - A multi-sectoral group on Tuesday called on the House of Representatives to take its cue from the Senate in moving to ban age discrimination in the workplaces.

Various labor groups including the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, that make up the "Abilidad, Hindi Edad" Coalition, made the call citing information that the Senate labor committee is now circulating its committee report on the proposed law.

"As advocates for the welfare of Filipino workers here and abroad, we believe that a qualified job applicant should be allowed to vie for a position without being judged solely because of his or her age," OFW advocate Susan Ople said.

"Various OFW groups and trade unions are united in calling for the swift passage of a law to stop the discriminatory practice of imposing age requirements on job applicants, thus causing demoralization among Filipino workers including our OFWs," she said.

During the CBCP Forum, Ople was joined by former OFW Violeta Moraleta, who narrated how she felt discriminated against due to age when she applied for a local job.

Pearl Teves of Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards (PEBA) and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) representative Flor Cabatingan were also present to express support for the passage of a law banning age discrimination in the workplace.

After conducting a public hearing, the Senate Labor Committee chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is expected to submit to the floor a committee report on the anti-age discrimination bill, logged as Senate Bill (SB) 29 and authored by Sen. Pia Cayetano.

The "Abilidad, Hindi Edad" Coalition is composed of the representatives of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Ang Nars Partylist, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, PSLINK, Obrero Pilipino-APL, Mandaluyong City Councilor Jesse Cruz, and the Federation of Free Workers.

The Ople Center serves as the coalition's secretariat.

Those who believe that age discrimination in the workplace should be prohibited can contact the policy center via 833-5337 for updates on its activities.

They can also support the online petition on age discrimination by via www.change.org/abilidadhindiedad.

During the first organizational meeting of the Coalition, resource person Diane Lynn Respall, programme officer of the United Nations International Labor Organization, noted that the Philippines does not have a specific law that prohibits discrimination in the workplaces despite being a signatory to ILO Convention 111, which states that all workers should be protected against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, and other factors preventing them from participating in the labor market and reaching their full potential.

"We need the support not only of our national legislators but also among our local elective officials, especially those sitting in the local legislative councils," said city councilor Cruz, who once served as Mandaluyong’s vice mayor for three consecutive terms.

Cruz recently filed a resolution with the city council expressing support for the passage of an anti-age discrimination law.

Ople said the coalition intends to bring the issue not only to the attention of Congress but also to local governments that can pass ordinances to discourage discriminatory labor practices in their localities.

"Our OFWs whom we call our modern heroes, as well as all local workers, should be given fair and equal opportunity to land jobs in the country because of their skills and competence, and not with age as sole determinant. Unfortunately, a lot of our workers believe that there are better chances of finding work overseas because the work environment is not as restrictive and unfair," she said.

Last May 1, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center initiated an online petition seeking public support for the passage into law of a measure prohibiting age discrimination in workplaces.

To date, it has garnered 4,600 signatures and still counting.

A bill of Rep. Raymond Mendoza requires schools to teach labor subjects

The TWG on labor education bill filed by Rep. Raymond Mendoza has agreed to make labor education a stand alone mandatory subject in secondary level and voctech, and a free elective at the tertiary level. All schools are required to offer labor education both as a subject and an elective. The Committee on Higher and Technical Education is set to draft the substitute bill for adoption of Congress.

No problem with workers’ rights in PH, says Baldoz

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz: No problem. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has downplayed the assessment of an international workers’ rights organization that the Philippines is among the worst countries in the world for workers.

“It does not necessarily concern the workers’ rights since we don’t have problems with workers’ rights. We can say the industry advocacy for workers in the country is very good,” said Baldoz, referring to the 2014 Global Rights Index of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

ITUC ranked 139 countries based on internationally recognized indicators to assess where workers’ rights, such as democratic rights, decent wages, safer working conditions and secure jobs, are best protected, in law and in practice.
Countries were ranked from 1 (best) to 5 (worst) based on 97 indicators related to workers’ rights. The evaluation was conducted from April 2013 to March 2014.

The Philippines obtained a rating of 5, which meant that legislation protecting workers’ rights were in place but workers effectively had no access to such rights, thus exposing them to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices.
“In terms of quality of work in the country, I can say we are doing OK. The same goes with what they are saying about labor rights,” Baldoz said.

But she said that if there was one aspect of the ITUC findings that was accurate, it would be the problem of the extrajudicial killings of workers.

According to Baldoz, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has committed to fast-track the investigation and hearing of extrajudicial killings involving workers by creating special prosecutor teams.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), meanwhile, said the ITUC findings only confirmed what labor groups in the country had been saying all along.

“The TUCP confirms the findings of the ITUC that the Philippines is indeed one of the worst places to work in,” said TUCP president Democrito Mendoza in a statement.

The TUCP underscored the high unemployment in the country, adding that it expected this to increase because there was no new infrastructure to attract large and jobs-creating investments. Inquirer

Global Rights Index: PH rates among 24 worst countries

The Aquino administration has given the Philippines a dubious distinction as one of the worst countries to work in, the Trade Union Congress of Philippines said on Wednesday.

Citing the findings of the International Trade Union Confederation, TUCP president Democrito Mendoza said that 73 percent of the 39 million labor force are not regularized: they work as contractual for five months while majority of them do not receive lawful minimum wage.

“They are also fired from their jobs if they try to form a union that can bargain higher wages and benefits from employer profits,” the TUCP said.

The ITUC’s Global Rights Index rates countries on a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst) depending on their compliance with collective labor rights. This is done by evaluating 97 indicators, such as workers’ rights to establish or join unions, to collective bargaining and to strike.

The Philippines scored 5, which means there is “no guarantee of rights,” along with 23 other countries.

Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices,” the ITUC report said.

“Without security of tenure, Filipino workers also suffer from lack of social protection services provided by the government. Government sell basic services to private ownership who exist to earn profits and not serve the public good,” Mendoza said.

Filipino workers also don’t have unemployment insurance to protect them when they lost their jobs; health insurance is high and unstable.

“Workers are also vulnerable to unstable prices of basic commodities. Sometimes government failed to assure supply and workers often suffer for it,” the TUCP said.

Based on the report, having a 1 rating means collective labor rights are “generally guaranteed”, and violations against workers do not occur on a regular basis.

“Countries such as Denmark and Uruguay led the way through their strong labor laws, but perhaps surprisingly, the likes of Greece, the United States and Hong Kong, lagged behind,” said ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow.

“A country’s level of development proved to be a poor indicator of whether it respected basic rights to bargain collectively, strike for decent conditions, or simply join a union at all,” she added.

The ITUC noted that workers in at least 53 countries have either been dismissed or suspended from their jobs “for attempting to negotiate better working conditions.”

While many countries recognize the right to strike, ITUC noted that at least 87 countries exclude certain types of workers from this right. There are also 37 countries that impose fines or even jail time for workers who go on strikes.

“In countries such as Qatar or Saudi Arabia, the exclusion of migrant workers from collective labor rights means that effectively more than 90 per cent of the workforce is unable to have access to their rights leading to forced labor practices in both countries supported by archaic sponsorship laws.

Several Southeast Asian countries also scored 5, such as Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia and South Korea.

Middle Eastern countries Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, where many Filipinos are working, also received a score of 5.

However, there were countries that had even worse conditions, getting a score of 5+. These are: Libya, Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Central African Republic. The rating of 5+ means there is no guarantee of workers’ rights due to breakdown of the rule of law. Manila Standard