House, employers clash over 10/4 work week bid

The House of Representatives is pushing a 10-hour, four-day work week scheme saying employers may have to contend with a new round of legislated wage increases as an alternative amid rising prices.

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said the proposal for a reduced work week would be a “win-win formula” to improve the labor situation and urged employers to subject it to serious public discussions before making an outright rejection.

“If employers do not want wage hikes, they might as well agree to the 10/4 work formula because the alternative to improve the workers’ plight is to lessen their daily expenditures while going to work,” Castelo said.

“Both parties are winners in 10/4 scheme. Workers reduce their expenditures when going to work, while employers reduce maintenance and operational cost and overtime pay,” Castelo said.

Castelo made the statement after the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) expressed its opposition to the scheme, which would permit workers to render daily 10 hours of work from Monday to Thursday instead of the regular eight hours of work from the Monday to Friday.

At the same time, Castelo praised Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz for expressing openness to the 10/4 work week scheme, saying Baldoz appeared to know the importance of flexibility in the workplace.

“The problem with Ecop is that it tends to have a knee-jerk reaction for every new proposal to improve the labor situation, as if every proposal would hurt the employers’ pocket,” Castelo said.

“This is wrong. This is the mindset of an obstructionist lobby group, which has not done anything for workers except to oppose and obstruct every single proposal for their welfare” Castelo said. “It’s anti-progress,” he added.

Castelo said Ecop’s track record has been of opposition and obstruction, as if the word compromise or middle ground does not exist in the dictionary.

Castelo said he has yet to know of any single instance when Ecop agreed to a proposal to improve the workers’ economic condition.

Castelo was reacting to the statement of a top Ecop official, who said that the proposed 10/4 work formula has “noble intention,” but would not help the country’s overall competitiveness.

Castelo said the 10/4 work scheme is premised on the basic assertion that if the nation could not raise the workers’ wages or provide them benefits, the recourse is to lessen their expenditures while working.

Easily, a worker saves at least 20 percent of his weekly expenditures, Castelo said, adding that employers stand to benefit from the 10/4 work week since it means less maintenance and operational cost and overtime pay.

“So, Ecop was wrong when its official concluded that the 10/4 work scheme is counterproductive,” Castelo said.

Castelo made the 10/4 work week proposal to save on cost and enable workers to have extended weekend with their families.

The 10/4 formula could mean weekly savings of at least 20 percent in work expenses, stressing it can serve as a “poverty alleviation” program by itself for cash-strapped workers, Castelo said.

If a worker in Metro Manila spends P200 a day in transport fare, food and snacks, and other expenses in going to work, or P1,000 every week, Castelo said the 10/4 work week will mean a savings of P200 per week. –Ayen Infante, Daily Tribune