RP labor, employers agree on social protection amid crisis

GENEVA – Usually at odds due to competing interests, Philippine labor and employers are at least in agreement that social protection should be provided and strengthened if recovery from the global economic crisis is to be fast-tracked.

At the 98th session of International Labor Conference here, the employer and the labor representatives from the Philippines both agreed that social development is a key ingredient in achieving faster recovery from the economic crisis that has led to millions of job losses globally.

Worker delegate Alejandro Villaviza, vice-president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), noted that amid the crisis, “workers and their families, particularly those in developing countries, are the most vulnerable and most adversely affected.”

For his part, employer representative Miguel Varela, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), said the global crisis goes beyond the economic aspect, and that “the social dimension and ramifications merit due consideration.”

Global Jobs Pact

Villaviza and Varela both expressed support for the adoption of the Global Jobs Pact, which is the focus of the ongoing three-day Jobs Summit here. The Jobs Summit is an unprecedented move, with world leaders, employers and labor leaders tackling for the first time the employment and social aspect of the economic crisis.

The Global Jobs Pact aims to get countries to adopt a global approach in combating the economic crunch. The Pact seeks to infuse job creation and social protection as necessary dual targets that stakeholders should work on for a sustained economic and labor market recovery.

“We know too well that the sweeping recession of global magnitude translates to a job crisis,” Varela said. He noted the observation of ILO director-general Juan Somavia “that the world may be looking at a jobs and social protection crisis of six to eight year’s duration.”

Varela said that the solutions to the crisis “should be redirected towards sustainable, fair and environmentally-sound economic growth and social development.” He said employers “fully subscribe to the proposition that social justice and fair globalization are the key drivers of the future.”

Toll on people

The ILO has warned that a prolonged employment crisis could led to social recession, where as unemployment continues, “stress, illness, and loss of self-esteem, leading to personal distress” take its toll on the people.

As the social crisis worsens, perceptions of unfairness mount, breeding social tensions. “If left unchecked, the global jobs and social protection crisis affecting working families and local communities will become a much larger political crisis. The simmering ferment of a social recession is there,” Somavia said in his report entitled ‘Tackling the Global Jobs Crisis.’

Villaviza feared that the labor crisis could set back gains in the promotion of gender equality at work. “We agree that the crisis will impact heavily on women’s efforts to find and keep decent work.”

He added: “As recovery packages may have been designed without due regard to issues of sex discrimination in the labor market, there is a greater need for focused and directed efforts to at least preserve the gains made in the area.”

Tripartite oversight

In expressing support for the Global Jobs Pact, Villaviza suggested that a local tripartite oversight should be created to monitor the implementation of the Pact.

Villaviza also urged the ILO to work closely with labor unions in preventing a potential rise in the trafficking incidence and sexual exploitation. He observed that the financial crisis could force more workers to seek employment abroad, thus exposing themselves to human traffickers and illegal recruiters.

“The current and future social cost will be great for trafficked victims and their families,” he said.

“The ILO should raise support for trade union and tripartite capacities,” Villaviza said. (Aries Rufo, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)