TUCP dismayed with Wage Board’s decision to junk wage petition

TUCP President Raymond Mendoza
(TUCP Party-List / MANILA BULLETIN)

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has expressed dismay over the decision of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) National Capital Region to junk their wage petition.

TUCP President Raymond Democrito Mendoza said it showed the gross insensitivity of the RTWPB to the plight of workers and their families.

“The RTWPB of NCR clearly acted in bad faith in not even going into the merits of the case. With the wages that Filipino workers receive, our petition precisely pointed out that workers and their families – based on their minimum wages – can only feed themselves and their families nutritionally deficient meals,” he said in a statement.

“A competent and globally competitive workforce will not be achievable if we have a malnourished labor force that is prey to illnesses and unable to reach their full potential,” added Mendoza.

He said the capacity of the Filipino worker to produce world-class talent and skills is wasted when the current and next generation of workers have to deal with pangs of hunger and the struggle to feed their family.

“How can the government expect the people to keep up with the demands of a rapidly changing work environment when the future of this country go to school and go to bed hungry?” Mendoza asked.

TUCP earlier filed a petition for a daily wage increase of PHP710 in NCR to be added to the existing minimum wage of PHP537.

Using the “Pinggang Pinoy” model of the Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition and Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), TUCP pointed out that using the existing minimum wage of P537 in NCR, and utilizing the projected expenditure rate of 42.5% for food, the budget per person per meal for a family of 5 would amount to a measly budget of PHP10.05.

However, the group said the RTWPB dismissed the wage petition on the mere technicality that the wage petition was filed within the one year period from the last wage order.

“The RTWPBs said there was no supervening event such as an unusual increase in the prices of basic goods like petroleum, and services for a designated period. TUCP asks! Isn’t hunger a supervening event?” asked Mendoza

In a Board Resolution dated June 7, the RTWPB NCR said there is no supervening conditions which would merit a review of the minimum wage rates.

“Now, therefore, the Board resolves, as it hereby resolves without delving into the substance, that the petitions for wage increase filed by BPO Industry Employees Network, Pambansang Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa, Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines, and TUCP cannot be given due course at this time,” it read. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

Solon pushes for inquiry on compliance of entertainment industry with work safety laws

Eddie Garcia / Inquirer photo

MANILA, Philippines — TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) Representative-elect Raymond Democrito Mendoza on Tuesday said he would be filing a resolution calling for an inquiry into the compliance by the media and entertainment industries with the Occupational Safety and Health Law.

In a statement, Mendoza said the law, as well as the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) order on occupational health and safety for the media and entertainment industries, was aimed at protecting the safety and rights of workers. He issued the remark in light of the recent death of veteran actor-director Eddie Garcia.

“We are shocked and angered that such a thing can happen to someone of the stature of Mr. Eddie Garcia, but even more so it exposes how ordinary talents and ordinary workers in the entertainment industry are made vulnerable to the failure of management to comply with these occupational safety and health rules,” the party-list lawmaker said.

Garcia, 90, passed away last June 20. He had been in critical condition due to a neck fracture after he tripped on a wire while shooting a TV series for GMA Network on June 8.

Just two days after Garcia’s death, a factory worker in Iloilo, Jomar Junco, fell victim to “unsafe and precarious working conditions when he was caught in grinding equipment at the meat factory he worked for,” according to Mendoza.

“Across all industries and in every workplace, it should not be the case that workers are sacrificed by their employers in the name of profit,” he added.

Mendoza also said their party-list fully supports the proposed “Eddie Garcia Law” or the Actors Occupational Safety and Health Standard Bill which would also be filed by Garcia’s stepson, 1-Pacman Rep. Michael Romero, when the 18th Congress opens.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier said he had ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Center to conduct a probe of the incident. - By: Pathricia Ann V. Roxas - Reporter / @PathRoxasINQ

Groups urge firms to take better care of workers’ health #Burnout

WITH BURNOUT NOW CLASSIFIED AS A MEDICAL CONDITION

INQUIRER.net stock photo

MANILA, Philippines — Labor groups urged employers on Tuesday to see past their profit margins and look after the well-being of their workers, especially now that the World Health Organization (WHO) had already considered burnout due to work as a legitimate medical condition.

But the vice president of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Julius Cainglet, admitted that employers might find it hard at first to provide for their workers’ health needs.

“This is a big challenge since a lot of employers find it difficult to comply with existing basic standards such as having enough doctors and nurses depending on the firm’s size and having full-time safety officers. The occupational safety and health culture really have to change,” Cainglet said.

On Monday, the WHO included burnout in its International Classification of Diseases, which is widely used to make a diagnosis on patients. It defined burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

READ: WHO recognizes burnout as medical condition

The syndrome is characterized by “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.”

The WHO stressed, however, that this condition was specific to the occupational setting and “should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

In the Philippines, for example, Cainglet said burnout was most common among call center employees, who deal with irate customers, and manufacturing workers, who try to meet their quotas.

Welcome development

The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa hailed as a welcome development the classification of burnout as a medical condition, especially since this has long been shrugged off by employers “who can’t see beyond their profit margins.”

Josua Mata, Sentro secretary general, said that, apart from improving the occupational safety and health program in the workplace, the best way to address burnout is for Congress to pass the proposed security of tenure law.

“After all, what could be more stressful than worrying about being unemployed due to lack of job security?” Mata said.

For the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), the WHO classification brings to light the need for employers to provide their workers not only with recreational activities but also treat them to routine paid rest.

To better protect workers, ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to come up with guidelines on how to treat employees who would report feeling burned out.

The Bureau of Working Conditions of the DOLE noted though that the condition as a psychosocial concern could already be addressed in the occupational safety and health standards law as well as by the mental health law. - By: Jovic Yee - Reporter / @jovicyeeINQ (Editor: Alexander T. Magno)

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