TUCP, BPO stakeholders ink pact for workers’ cause

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines has forged a partnership agreement with stakeholders in the business process outsourcing industry to advance the interest of about 700,000 BPO workers around the country, the group said in a press release yesterday.

TUCP’s Roland de la Cruz said the Filipino workers in the BPO industry are the new heroes of the economy and the ones who brave the graveyard shift and the dangers that come with it, so they have to be need provided adequate job security and social protection through trade unionism, the press release said.

The signing of the partnership agreement was held last April 30 in Manila, as part of the pre-Labor Day union activities of the TUCP—International Trade Union Confederation the group said.

The signing the coincided with the launching of a BPO national association, called BPO Workers Association of the Philippines, that aims to protect and improve productivity among industry workers.

BWAP is headed by former labor leader Ruben Torres, who had served as labor secretary during the term of former president Fidel Ramos the TUCP said.

Torres noted that the 700,000 workers in the BPO industry have remained unorganized all over the country.

“They are largely unprotected from unhealthy working conditions, unfair labor practices and lack of employment security,” he said.

The BWAP provides training for call center representatives and supervisors, as well as skills upgrading for jobs required by BPO companies or principals, the TUCP said.* –Visayan Star