Workers’ groups urge gov’t, airlines to implement safety protocols for airport, seaport workers to curb coronavirus risk

As government authorities step up bio-security efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) has called on the government and airline industry players to ensure that safety and health protection protocols are working not just for passengers but also for cabin crew and airport employees.

The country’s biggest federation of unions said this is because these workers are the first line of defense against the spread of the transmittable coronavirus.

“One of the most difficult parts of the job for cabin crew in ensuring an orderly, safe, and healthy flight throughout the duration of the journey, for example, is to deal with difficult or unruly infected passengers,” ALU National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno said in a statement.

“To help workers perform under pressure, guarantees of enhanced protection from risk of exposure for these workers must be in place.”

Seno said there is also a need to make sure that workers have employment social protection insurance coverage and that emergency health facilities are provided considering the risks they face in performing their jobs.

The group also lauded the airlines for immediately issuing memoranda allowing cabin crew to wear company-provided protective face masks at the onset of the outbreak as primary protection against the risk of exposure to the virus, particularly on flights to and from at-risk destinations.

“We commend them for doing the right thing. These are measures that enhances the employees’ confidence and boosts their morale in doing their jobs under these unusual working days,” Seno said.

Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress of the Philipines (TUCP) President and TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said government measures to minimize exposure to the virus should not only cover passengers but also airport and seaport personnel, including those manning immigration counters.

He proposed that passengers coming from cities that have been infected by the virus have a separate arrival passageway, and that arriving aircraft be directed to a separate landing area for possible fumigation. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

25% hazard pay for workers pushed in Taal Volcano danger zones

AMID the extraordinatrily dangerous situation caused by the Taal Volcano eruption, the labor sector has called for the payment of “hazard pay” corresponding to 25 percent of the basic pay of workers, including members of media, in the affected areas.

In this photo taken on January 17, 2020, workers sweep the ashfall from the pavement near the Binan City Materials and Recovery Facility (MRF) and load the carts of collected volcanic ash from the recent Taal volcano eruption to process them and turn them into cement bricks in Bian. Binan got coated with ash after nearby Taal Volcano erupted Sunday, but the local officials decided to put the dust to work rather than just cleaning it up. The fine grey powder is being mixed with locally collected plastic waste, as well as sand and cement, to form about 5,000 bricks per day. The blocks will be used for local building projects. / AFP / Maria TAN

The workers’ group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Saturday took the cudgels for the estimated 2,000 employees working in restaurants and hotels within Taal’s danger zone and about 1,000 journalists.

These workers, according to TUCP President Raymond Mendoza, are risking their lives in the performance of their duties and, as such, should be provided with added compensation in the form of hazard pay.

“Hazard is a dangerous phenomenon, substance, or human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of sources of livelihoods and services, social and economic,” he added.

Hazard pay is cash compensation to employees on top of their basic salary for rendering work under extraordinary conditions and circumstances that could result in death, serious injuries, sickness and disease, and handicap or debility.

“All employees, including rank-and-file, supervisors and managers working in all business establishments such as hotels, restaurants, casinos and spas, among others, which are located within the 14-kilometer danger zone, particularly Tagaytay City, have the right and are entitled to a minimum 25-percent hazard pay of their daily basic pay,” the group said.

It added that “reporters, cameramen, assistant cameramen, cab drivers and photographers who are covering the Taal volcano eruption and are working in the declared danger zone also have the same right and are similarly entitled to hazard pay whether they are under talent contract, or permanent, regular, contracual, seasonal, directly or agency-hired, freelance, or independently contracted.”

It stressed that working under extraordinary dangerous situations and the exposure to risk from the elements brought by the Taal Volcano explosion on January 12 were sufficient conditions for hazard pay.

TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay clarified that although there was no prevailing law, policy or department order in the country that regulated employers from giving their workers hazard pay, it was imperative upon business owners and employers’ management prerogative to give hazard pay to their employees considering the extraordinary circumstance in performing their duties and responsibilities.

“On other hand, employees can directly approach and request their employers to provide them with hazard pay,” said Tanjusay.

In the public sector, police, military, firemen and rescuers, including volcanologists and personnel from the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology, are automatically entitled to hazard pay based on the Civil Service Commission regulation and subsequent agency memorandum giving government personnel hazard pay ranging from 5 percent to 27 percent of their basic pay after rendering 50 percent of the total working hours of the month. - By William Depasupil, TMT

TUCP slams Kuwait’s fake autopsy report on OFW’s death

File photo / Manila Bulletin

Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) strongly condemned the ‘fake’ autopsy report submitted by the Kuwaiti government after the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) autopsy report showed that slain domestic helper Jeanelyn Villavende was raped and brutally murdered.

In a statement, the TUCP said that the attempt to whitewash the brutal murder of Villavende through the autopsy report submitted to the government’s Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) became apparent after NBI found out that her death is not merely due to physical injuries as indicated in the Kuwaiti official autopsy report but due to grave injuries and brutal sexual abuse.

“We strongly condemn this so-called fake autopsy report submitted by the Kuwaiti to the Philippine government. This is completely a willful dishonest attempt of the Kuwaiti government to cover up the heinous crime committed by the Kuwaiti national principal suspects and whitewash the gruesome act of inhumanity,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said.

“The Filipino people and the overseas Filipino workers in particularly are demanding the Philippine government to make a strong response and condemn this unacceptable act of bad faith on the part of the Kuwaiti government,” Mendoza said.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Overseas Foreign Workers Affairs wants investigate the circumstances that led to Jeanelyn’s death and how these can help improve the current policy of the government and strengthen the government processes and mechanisms in providing care and assistance to OFWs particularly who are in distressed.

Mendoza said the congressional probe will also look into the discrepancies in the alleged employment contract of Jeanelyn with her Kuwaiti employer and the memorandum of agreement on the employment of domestic workers between Kuwait and Philippine governments.

The committee will also look into the desire of OFWs in the region for redeployment or relocation rather than repatriation in case the government raises coverage of Alert level 4 to cover other countries in the Middle East. Under Alert level 4, the government is directed mandatory evacuation of Filipinos plan in the light of the rising tension in the region.

“The special meeting will seek the facts around Jeanelyn’s death, how we can improve the implementation of government to government employment agreement and a binding employment contract of OFWs particularly those of Household Service Workers who are the most vulnerable of all OFWs,” Mendoza said. - Vito Barcelo

Penalize companies ignoring advisory on health, safety issues

File photo

The Gabriela Women’s Partylist on Monday urged government to penalize private companies, particularly business processing outsource firms, for putting in danger the health and safety of their employees by requiring them to report for work yesterday.

This developed as the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines urged private firm employers to provide their workers with pay, even if they are unable to come in to work because of the ashfall from Taal Volcano.

TUCP president and Rep.. Raymond Democrito Mendoza asked for compassion for workers who will have to face the effects of the possible eruption of Taal.

Represented in the Lower House by Rep. Arlene Brosas, the partylist organization assailed BPOs who required their workers to report for work despite the high alert levels raised by government in connection with the Taal volcanic eruption.

Gabriela said BPO’s have ignored government warnings and advise over the dangers of the volcanic activity.

“We have received information that employees of most BPO firms located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna which is about 20 kilometers from Taal, were still required to report to work despite the high alert level raised over the Taal volcano,” said Gabriela in a press statement.

The group said government should enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Law and “penalize companies who have violated the safety standards by putting workers’ lives at risk.

The organization added: “We would like to remind BPO firms, as well as all businesses in the country that this is an occupational safety and health issue.”

Cited was Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Law or RA11058 that workers have the right not to report to work , “without threat or reprisal from the employer if, as determined by the DOLE, an imminent danger situation exists in the workplace that may result in illness, injury or death.”

“BPO firms that fail to comply with OSH standards must be held liable for non-compliance with the safety of the workers, especially in life-threatening disasters, the partylist group stated.

Meanwhile, Mendoza called on the private sector to temporarily ignore their “no work, no pay” policy in this time of emergency.

“How will our workers be able to protect themselves and their families if the No Work, No Pay scheme is retained? It is impossible for some to make it through the roads to reach their places of work,” Mendoza said. - By Ben Rosario