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 Campaña)

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

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

Rising inflation already cut workers’ purchasing power by 30%–labor group

Following the recent hikes in prices of basic commodities last month, workers in Metro Manila now have considerably less consuming power given their current salaries, according to a labor group.

Citing the result of its wage monitoring, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said the purchasing power of daily minimum wage in National Capital Region (NCR) fell by 30 percent, from P512 to P360.31 a day.

“In sum, workers lose a total of P3,943.94 a month to inflation. With this amount, a family can buy additional food needed for them to stay healthy in our society and remain productive citizen in nation-building,” ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said in a statement.

ALU-TUCP attributed the price surge to the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which exempted more people from paying income taxes; imposed taxes on sugary drinks; and raised taxes for automobile, petroleum and other products.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said it is still too early to see the impact of TRAIN on inflation “unless merchants took advantage of the law.”

However, in the long run, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said TRAIN and higher global oil prices will affect the country’s inflation rate. Last week it raised its average inflation-rate projection for the year from 3.4 percent to 4.3 percent because of the said factors.

But, instead of raising its usual wage-hike petition, ALU-TUCP reiterated its call on the government to implement its P500 proposed subsidy for the estimated 4 million minimum-wage earners nationwide “to help them cope with rising cost of living.”

Despite the government’s economic advisers having already expressed their opposition against the subsidy, the proposal will be reviewed by a small working group comprised of four representatives from the Cabinet and four representatives from the ALU-TUCP
next month.

“During a dialogue with labor groups last Wednesday, the President ordered the creation of a small working group,” Tanjusay said.

The representatives from the government in the working group will come from the departments of Finance, Energy, Labor and Employment and the Budget and Management.

Aside from the subsidy, the group will also discuss the possibility of lowering electricity costs during its meeting scheduled on March 15.

Tanjusay said the recent inflation reports should compel the government to fast-track the assessment of their proposal so it could serve as a safety net for workers vulnerable to the impact of TRAIN. - By Samuel P. Medenilla