Push buy Philippine-made products campaign

Employers endorse suspension of wage hikes
 
EMPLOYERS have called on the government to turn down petitions for a wage increase amid a global economic crisis that has increased the ranks of the jobless.

In a resolution presented to President Gloria Arroyo, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) offered four key action points to save jobs.

First, ECOP said members would make an effort keep their workers by implementing flexible work arrangements such as compressed work weeks, reduction of work days, rotations, forced leaves, broken time schedules and flexi-holidays, as provided under the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Advisory 2-2009.

The employers’ group said it would meet with workers and other stakeholders to come up with other measures that could preserve jobs.

Second, ECOP said it would continuously monitor displacements by enjoining employers to provide DOLE information on company closures, retrenchments, flexible work arrangements adopted by firms and the number of workers involved in such downsizing.

The group said it would also work with concerned agencies in helping out affected employers by letting them avail of the safety nets provided by the government’s stimulus program.

ECOP has calling on DOLE to put up “one-stop centers” in its regional offices on a seven-day basis wherein displaced workers could be referred for counseling, retraining or assistance in looking for a new job.

The employers’ group said it supports DOLE’s directive on regional tripartite wages and productivity boards to refrain from deliberating or hearing petitions for wage increases for the time being.

Third, ECOP proposed a concerted pump-priming to create jobs by a combined government, labor and private sector effort which would put in place necessary policy and structural reforms to reduce the cost of doing business, address overregulation of the labor market and improve the country’s competitiveness as a whole.

The group pushed for the adoption of a “buy Philippine-made” campaign through which the government should enjoin its employees to use locally made supplies and uniforms.

ECOP also called for a speedy redeployment of workers laid off under the government’s stimulus package or retooling from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, with private sector participation.

The group said it would support anti-corruption drives and the modernization of elections to push for reform and transformation in the country.

Earlier, the DOLE said the global crisis had affected about 200,000 Filipino workers who either lost their jobs, suffered pay cuts or a reduction in work hours. Government data showed that unemployment inched up to 7.7 percent in January from 7.4 percent in the same period last year.

On Tuesday, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said the Philippine labor situation remains uncertain, adding the group is “worried” amid no sign of employment picking up.

ILO said any improvement would depend on the policies the government would adopt to generate jobs, citing in particular state-led pump priming through higher infrastructure spending.

It said workers from the semiconductors and electronics exports industry, as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have borne the brunt of the current global turmoil. Many developed markets for electronics as well as OFW host-countries having slipped into a recession, putting most Filipino workers on shaky grounds, it said. –Ben Arnold O. de Vera, Reporter, Manila Times