House approves bill granting 100-day paid maternity leave

(5th UPDATE) The bicameral conference committee will now have to reconcile conflicting provisions of the bill, as the Senate version proposes a 120-day paid maternity leave

MATERNITY LEAVE. Lawmakers give the green light to the bill seeking to extend paid maternity leave to 100 days. 

MANILA, Philippines (5th UPDATE) – The bill seeking to grant a 100-day paid maternity leave to both government and private sector employees hurdled the House of Representatives.

Voting 191-0-0, lawmakers approved House Bill (HB) No. 4113 or the proposed 100-Day Maternity Leave Law on 3rd and final reading on Tuesday, September 4. It was approved on second reading just a week ago on August 28.

HB No. 4113 aims to extend the current 60-day leave by another 40 days and would also give female employees the option to extend their maternity leave by another 30 days without pay.

The extended paid maternity leave bill, however, will have to pass through the bicameral conference committee, composed by members of both the House and the Senate.

This is because the Senate version of HB 4113, approved on 3rd and final reading in March 2017, seeks a longer paid maternity leave of 120 days. And unlike the House bill which does not increase fathers' 7-day paid leave under Republic Act No. 7322, Senate Bill No. 1305 also seeks a 30-day paid leave for fathers.

Legislators have to reconcile conflicting provisions of the measure before President Rodrigo Duterte can sign it into law. (READ: Duterte backs longer maternity leave)

What are the provisions of the bill? HB 4113 grants the 100-day paid maternity leave to a pregnant female worker regardless of her civil status, legitimacy of her child, and whether she gave birth via caesarian section or natural delivery.

The maternity leave would also be granted to female employees in every instance of pregnancy, miscarriage, or abortion, regardless of its frequency.

The maternity leave also cannot be deferred, but it should be availed of by the woman either before or after the actual period of "delivery in a continuous and uninterrupted manner."

Section 13 of HB 4113 guarantees security of tenure of the mother who would avail of the maternity leave, and bars her company or government agency from demoting or firing her for taking her maternity leave.

What are the other benefits? A mother would also have these benefits under HB 4113:

• A female member of the Social Security System (SSS) who has paid at least 3 monthly contributions in the 12-month period immediately preceding the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage shall be paid her daily maternity benefit. This would be computed based on the average monthly salary credit for 100 days.
• Female workers in the private sector under maternity leave must receive not less than two-thirds of their regular monthly wages.
• Employers of female workers in the private sector must be responsible for the salary differential between the actual cash benefits received from SSS and their average weekly or regular wages, for the entire duration of the maternity leave.
• HB 4113, if passed into law, should not diminish the existing maternity benefits granted by the employer with or without collective bargaining agreements or under present laws, "if more beneficial to the female employee."

What are advocates saying? Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas hailed the passage of extended paid maternity leave.

"This is historic as this is the first time that the expanded maternity leave bill hurdles all the stages at the House of Representatives since we first filed the measure 10 years ago. We congratulate various women's groups and partners of Gabriela Women's Party for tirelessly pushing the Lower House to act on the 100-day maternity leave bill," said Brosas.

"Pagkilala ito sa produktibong papel ng kababaihan sa ekonomiya at pagtataguyod ng kanilang karapatan sa maternal health na laman ng Konstitusyon (This is a recognition of the productive role that women play in the economy and their right to maternal health stipulated in the Constitution)," she added.

Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin also called HB 4113's approval a "victory for women workers."

"Naniniwala ang Akbayan na hatid nito hindi lang ang mga benepisyong pangkalusugan para sa mga manggagawang buntis, kundi maging ang proteksyon sa kanilang kapakanan at karapatan bilang manggagawang kababaihan," he said.

(Akbayan believes this would bring not only health benefits for pregnant workers, but it would also protect their rights as female employees.)

Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, congratulated her counterparts in the House who pushed for the bill.

"Enough rest will give new mothers time for recuperation and recovery from childbirth. It will also improve on families' overall well-being, with newborn infants being properly taken care of," Hontiveros said.

"A healthy working population means less sick leaves and more productivity," she added.

The Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD), a group composed of lawmakers from the Senate and the House, said "this victory has opened new doors for advancing not only women's rights but also children's rights and welfare."

"But a few more crucial steps are needed to ensure that the expanded maternity leave bill will be a law. The [PLCPD] urges both houses of Congress to fast-track the convening of the bicameral conference committee and ratify the final version of the bill," the group said.

"We are confident that President Rodrigo Duterte will hold on to his commitment to support the expanded maternity leave and that he will immediately sign the bill into law."

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) also hailed the bill's approval as a "sweet victory for Filipino women workers who have lobbied and belabored for the mandatory welfare for more than a decade."

ALU-TUCP vice president and women's committee head Eva Arcos said the measure is "the country's non-cash investment in producing a healthy, intelligent, and well-developed future breed of Filipino workers." – Rappler.com

Pregnant woman image from Shutterstock

Workers' daily minimum buying power reduced to P200 per day

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said Saturday the buying power of workers' standard minimum in the private sector nationwide fell to P200 a day.

Citing the group's monitoring and evaluation of the inflation versus the daily minimum wage, ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said the average total daily minimum wage nationwide fell today to P200 a day effective this week from P208.83 in June 2018.

In June 2018, the total average of different daily minimum wage rates across the country was P335 and its equivalent buying power is P208.83, according to the labor group.

“What can workers buy for him and for his family nowadays with the value of his minimum pay of P200 a day?” Tanjusay said in a statement.

"Without a serious government social safety program in place and a significant wage increase to address the worsening economic depression, a decreasing buying power of wage bears harmful effect to workers’ health and capacity to produce quality goods and services needed by employers and business owners to thrive," he added.

According to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the amount needed by a family of five in order to live decently is P44,000 a month or P1,400 a day.

The segment of work force already affected by the crisis are those entry-level, rank-and-file, contractual, short-term, and end-of-contract employees receiving minimum pay working in manufacturing and services sector, the labor group said.

However, the most heavily affected segment of the labor force by high inflation and decreasing purchasing power are those 11 million unemployed and those 15.6 million workers working in the informal economy.

“The unemployed obviously are scraping what’s left at rock bottom and very susceptible to any means to survive. While workers in the informal economy —since they have no fixed income —are also very insecure,” Tanjusay said.

With this, the labor group expects a lower output contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by workers affected by shrinking value of their pay and continuously rising prices.

The shrinking value of their salary, ALU-TUCP said, impacted the workers health and their productivity particularly their capacity to produce quality goods and services needed by employers and business owners to prosper.

“With the poor workers option to buy quality and nutritious food for him and for his family has been decreasing, expect an unhappy and less productive employees in the weeks ahead. Take note that these very vulnerable segment of workers are already have no security of tenure, no fixed income, inadequate social protection benefits and confronted by difficult and stressful external forces,” Tanjusay said.

TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza has filed a bill in the House of the Representatives seeking a P320 a day across-the-board wage increase for workers in manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors.

The ALU-TUCP has also sought government for a P500 monthly grocery subsidy for minimum wage earners to help them cope with rising inflation and eroding wages.

The group also has petitioned the 17 regional wage boards nationwide to increase workers’ pay by P320 a day.

However, only nine regional wage boards have made wage adjustments since May this year ranging from P10 to P56 a day on installment basis, it said. —Ted Cordero/LBG, GMA News

Supreme Court final ruling settles TUCP leadership row

The Supreme Court (SC) on June 20, 2018 issued a resolution denying with FINALITY the motion for reconsideration filed by the group of the former and late Sen. Ernesto Herrera on the issue of determining the legitimate member organizations of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP). The highest court’s final ruling finally settled the issue of legal and legitimate representation and leadership of the labor center, particularly the legality and legitimacy of convening the TUCP General Council and the hodling of TUCP Convention and election of officers that was held on April 2, 2016 in TUCP Headquarters in Diliman, Quezon City, where all the 27 member-organizations were invited to participate pursuant to Article VI of the TUCP Constitution and By-Laws.

During the said Convention, the 17 member-organizations/federations present and in good standing constituting a quorum elected Rep. Raymond Mendoza from the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) as President; Atty. Arnel Dolendo from the Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO) as General Secretary; and Esperanza Ocampo from the Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA) as Treasurer. The delegates also elected the other members of the TUCP Executive Board representing other TUCP federations with a 5-year term of office until 2021.

The conduct of the TUCP Convention and Regular Election of Officers, in compliance with the orders and resolutions of the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and the Bureau of Labor Relations, put to rest the issue on TUCP leadership along with the demise of its key leaders – Atty. Democrito Mendoza of ALU, former Sen. Ernesto F. Herrera of AMAPO, Victorino F. Balais of PTGWO and Zoilo dela Cruz of NACUSIP.

The Convention and election of the new officers of TUCP were held in pursuant to the Writ of Execution issued by the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) on 11 August 2015 implementing the Decision of the Court of Appeals dated 07 October 2013, as amended by its Resolution issued on 16 June 2014, and as affirmed by the Supreme Court in its Resolutions dated 27 August 2014 and 09 February 2015. The Writ of Execution issued by the BLR on 11 August 2015 with respect to the leadership issue of the TUCP is deemed complied with.

The most recent decision of the Supreme Court has the practical effect of affirming and sustaining the legitimacy of the 02 April 2016 8th TUCP Convention and Regular Election of Officers which resulted to election of current leadership under President Raymond Mendoza.

With the final decision of the Supreme Court, the TUCP could now be able to fully revitalize, consolidate and further expand its membership with an open-door policy to the other 10 legitimate organizations of the TUCP that went with the group of Sen. Herrera during the leadership dispute.

The TUCP under the leadership of Rep. Mendoza can now fully revive its participation in the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and re-connect wih other national and international labor and fraternal organizations. Also, the organization can now proceed full steam ahead to reconstituting its working committees and functional deparments to develop and offer more programs and services to its members in the manufacturing, services, transportation, and agriculture sectors nationwide including its OFW members both land and sea-based. It can also now fully develop its properties and facilities without legal question or any impediment which will greatly help in strengthening the operations of the TUCP for the benefit of workers, their families and communities.

The TUCP leadership is very grateful to all its allies and supporters in the government, in the media, and in the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition who believed in the legitimate leadership of the TUCP under Rep. Mendoza. The labor center commits to continue its work to serving the Filipino workers in the country and overseas. - TUCP Labor Center Statement

‘Price swings erode workers’ buying power’

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said Tuesday high inflation was pushing down the workers’ buying power as it criticized the government and employers for their alleged lack of social responsibility.

The labor group said the rising prices of goods and the surging cost of services were continuing to pull down the capacity of workers to buy goods and to pay for services.

In other developments:

• The poorest 60 million Filipinos suffered income loss due to inflation in the first six months of 2018, the research group IBON Foundation said on Tuesday.

It estimated loss at between P993 and P2,715 and blamed it on high inflation.

The inflation rate increased from 3.4 percent in January 2018 to 5.2 percent in June of the same year.

• Finance Secretary Carlos Dominquez on Tuesday assured senators that his department’s prudent debt management and fiscal discipline had prepared it for the changing global trends.

Speaking during the Development Budget Coordination Committee Senate briefing, Dominguez said they had exceeded growth expectations while the revenues were above target.

“Higher government spending means more services delivered to our people. We have put more money in people’s pockets,” he said.

ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said before the government’s Tax Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law, the total average daily minimum wage of minimum wage earners for contractualized and entry-level employees nationwide for the month of October 2017 was P327 a day and its equivalent purchasing power was P212.89 a day.

In April 2018 and in light of the wage increases from the regional wage boards, the total average daily minimum wage of workers for the same set of workers rose to P330.47, but due to rising inflation, their buying power fell to P208.38 a day.

However, despite another round of wage increases in some regions, the workers’ total average nationwide pay in June 2018 rose to P335 a day, but their purchasing power remained at P208.83 a day.

“The cost of living was rising and workers and their families were having difficulty coping with the prices of food, particularly the price of rice, electricity and tuition, transportation and house rent, but we don’t know when will the government step in and extend social safety net programs to the poor workers,” Tanjusay said.

The National Economic and Development Authority set the standard amount at P1,400 a day―the amount needed by a family of five to live comfortably.

The labor group has petitioned the regional wage boards with a P320 across-the-board wage increase, but only nine have made wage adjustments. Eight other regional wage boards have yet to adjust the wage rates in their regions. - Vito Barcelo With Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta