Workers group tags 2 new labor laws ‘mere cosmetics’

CEBU, Philippines - The regional labor department and the Cebu business community may have both openly expressed optimism in President Benigno Aquino III’s recent signing of two new labor regulations, but such was not the case for workers group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

PM regional spokesperson Dennis Derige, in an interview with The FREEMAN, described the move as “mere cosmetics”, saying there is still a lot of existing problems in the labor justice system that the government needs to address.

“Wala’y pulos. Wala ma’y nausab. Sa prangkahay nga pagkasulti, cosmetics ra na, when in fact, wala gyu’y nahitabo even sa existing regulations. Dili na lang mi mag-expect og dako ani,” (It’s useless, nothing has changed. To put it bluntly, these are mere cosmetics. Nothing has progressed even with the existing regulations. There’s nothing new to expect from this) he said.

Aquino recently approved the Act Strengthening Tripartism which aims to institutionalize the role of workers and employers in policy-making and another law which amends the current labor code to help poor workers cut costs in pursuing labor cases.

Under the first law, a National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) headed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary and composed of representatives from the government, employers and workers sector shall monitor full implementation and compliance of international conventions, declarations, code of conducts and social accords.

But Derige pointed out that the existing tripartite industrial peace councils (TIPCs) have not served their real purpose of facilitating open dialogues as they do not come up with concrete action plans even if there is already “overwhelming” evidence that the management has violated a labor law.

The second law, assuring the public of faster and easier resolution of labor disputes, provides both workers and employers to undergo a 30-day conciliation period where they can exhaust all efforts for settlement.

“Reverse ang effect sa mga bag-ong labor laws. Mas nitaas ang process sa resolution sa case since if it remains unsettled after 30 days, there will be three mandatory hearings within another one to two months,” Derige said.

He emphasized that the administration should focus instead on the speedy resolution of labor cases and the establishment of a separate labor court that can make final and executory decisions.

For his part, Arthur Barrit, the spokesperson of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, considered the laws’ passage as “good news”. “The core labor standards must always be respected. This is what we are asking for ever since,” he said.

“Even if tripartism has already been there for so long, the management will respect such mechanism in pursuit of advancing the interest of both partners in production,” Barrit added.

Meanwhile, DOLE 7 regional director Gloria Tango said the new laws will strengthen and institutionalize the already existing mechanism of the government for the labor sector.

She also said the new law for mandatory conciliation shall further enhance the government agency’s strategy to facilitate settlement of labor cases in shorter and more diplomatic ways.

“Tripartism has been practiced for more than 20 years. At least now, we already have a legal basis to back us up in whatever we do. This is not new anymore, but it will help to fast-track what we have been doing since then,” she said.

Tango, who expects full implementation of the laws by May, also noted that there are already TIPCs created at the regional, provincial, city and industry levels.

She said critical industries in the region comprise of the business process outsourcing, information and communications technology, hotels, resorts, academe, maritime, shipbuilding, and ship repair.

Also, the poor workers, who are the main beneficiaries of the new laws, include minimum-wage earners and those who belong to the poverty threshold.

For Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Lito Maderazo, the business community will always welcome the opportunity to involve the workers in planning the direction of the company.

“This is a welcome opportunity as long as the manner of participation is absolutely voluntary. On the mediation side, promoting an environment of conciliation and cooperation is ideal for a highly productive and empowered workforce,” he said. (FREEMAN)