ILO sets discussion on labor laws

A THREE-MEMBER mission from the International Labor Organization (ILO) will meet with lawmakers to discuss legislation related to the Philippines’ application of international standards on the right to organize, the Department of Labor and Employment said on Sunday. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the ILO mission with meet with the committees on labor and human resources development of the two chambers of Congress to discuss the introduction of amendments to eight articles of the country’s Labor Code and thus strengthen the right of workers to organize, which the international body has been proposing for several years.

Among these provisions is Article 263 (g), which allows the secretary of labor to assume jurisdiction over labor disputes and, in effect, impose a strike ban in firms considered “indispensable to the national interest.”

Roque said there are pending House and Senate bills that that seek to introduce amendments to the eight articles of the Labor Code particularly Article 263 (g).

Only one, House Bill 5095, seeks to repeal Article 263 (g) altogether.

The others seek to replace the phrase “indispensable to the national interest” with “essential services,” as suggested by the ILO, thus, limiting national interest cases to hospital, electrical services, water supply services, medical institutions, communication and transportation and transportation services.

“So far, the country has already passed into law Republic Act 9481, or an Act Strengthening the Workers’
Right to Self-Organization, Amending for the Purpose Presidential Decree No. 442, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, which expands the capacity of federations and national unions to organize local chapters and acquire representative status for purposes of collective bargaining,” Roque said.

Roque said there have also been legislative reforms, especially those related to the country’s decent work common agenda, and that tripartite consultations have been held to forge a consensus on the proposed amendments to the Labor Code.

The Philippines is one of seven countries (along with Bahrain, Bangladesh, Denmark, Ghana, Morroco, and Panama) that have piloted the decent work program based on the ILO framework. –Jun Marcos, Manila Times