'Worker contractualization a scourge, must be abolished'
April 27, 2015 | 8:58pm
MANILA, Philippines – Just in time for the approaching Labor day, Union presidents of various local unions as well as casual workers demonstrated at the office of the Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Intramuros, Manila to push her to scrap Department Order 18-A (DO 18-A) which allows contracting and subcontracting arrangement in employees-employer relationship.
The protesters which include Union presidents of various local unions in and around Metro Manila, also members of Union Presidents Against Contractualization (UPAC) and casual employees belonging to Solidarity of Workers Against Contractualization (SWAC) wants to abolish the DOLE order since it is a “circumvention of their right to security of tenure”.
“DO 18-A has to be promptly revoked for having inflicted widespread and systematic labor rights violation since its issuance. The DO is contrary to the Social Justice provision of the 1987 Constitution on the labor sector and is therefore illegal.”
The groups cited Article XIII, Section II which orders that “the State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.
Furthermore, the same provision underlines that employees are entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage.
“Article XIII, Section II must be the most violated decree in the Constitution and the labor sector the most debased since Aquino came to power in 2010,” stressed Leni Ogarte, UPAC chairperson and also president of the local union of Century Park Hotel.
Ogarte added that the horrendous effects of contractualization has not been limited to the regularization of employees as it also undermined labor unions by methodically decreasing the employees' bargaining advantage in the collective bargaining with employers.
Mary Jane Veloso also a victim of DO
“Contractualization is a scourge that we can no longer live with, it must be abolished at once,” exclaimed Franco Villanueva, SWAC spokesperson and former contractual employee at Puregold supermarket.
Villanueva stressed that Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina facing death by firing squad for drug smuggling in Indonesia is not just a victim of the lack of job opportunities in the country but also belongs to the generation of workers who who are discouraged to work locally due to dismaying income poverty and labor rights violations accentuated by DO 18-A.
Toothless and Illegal Order
In their quest for enactment, UPAC implored that although DO 18-A categorically says that it prohibits labor-only contracting, it counters itself and states that it is legal if employers pass certain but weak standards like sufficiency of capital of the employers, and the mandatory registration of all manpower agencies be filed before the DOLE.
According to Ogarte, aside from contradicting the Constitution, DOLE has also poor implementation of the order.
“The department has not aggressively pursued the violators, despite the prevalence of its infringements in almost all companies. The DOLE has nothing but take note of the number of
manpower agencies that has registered, not even a slap on the wrist for the dehumanization it has caused to all workers and their families,” Ogarte alleged.
Economy affected
Ogarte did not only complain about the implementation of DOLE's order and its negations with the “mother of laws”, she also mentioned how the economy is being affected by DO 18-A.
“Not only is the order contrary to law but also led to economic losses, in terms of labor receiving its fair share of the fruits of its labor and the weakened purchasing power. Moreso, the directive has aggravated and contributed heavily to the ever-increasing income poverty in the country,” Ogarte averred.
The union of presidents also held a dialogue with Baldoz to express the urgency of termination of DO 18-A. During which, the groups ripped copies of department order by the union presidents while casual employees tore up their employment contracts.
Firm with their decision, the groups announced their plan to file charges against Baldoz and her undersecretaries for abusing their authority in issuing an outright anti-labor decree.
Baldoz issued DO 18-A in November of 2011.
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