EMPLOYEES of bus firms will soon be joined by truck drivers, helpers known as pahinante and related workers as the Labor department’s National Capital Region office implements the order of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz to expand the composition of the Bus Transport Industry Tripartite Council (ITC), the department said in a statement on its Web site on Wednesday.
“Yesterday, I instructed (NCR) Regional Director (Alex V.) Avila to expand the coverage of the Bus Transport ITC to include trucks, and, thus, increase the composition of its members to include representatives of truck drivers, truck helpers, and their employers,” Ms. Baldoz said in the Feb. 26 statement.
“This is to ensure that they have a voice in all the meetings and deliberations of the ITC on matters related to transport,” she explained.
“I have also directed Director Avila to immediately convene the ITC… in view of the truck ban in the city of Manila, which some quarters fear could result in displacement of workers in the truck transport sector.”
An expanded truck ban, under Ordinance No. 8336, enforced by the city of Manila had prompted the Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations to go on strike beginning Feb. 24 that impeded trade at the Port of Manila.
Ms. Baldoz said the expanded council should ensure that any local ordinance to curb vehicular traffic should not threaten job security and income of transport workers.
“We understand the concern of City Hall authorities and other people on the congestion of our city roads that inconvenience commuters, but we must also be concerned about preserving jobs and incomes,” she said.
Besides fostering labor-management harmony, Ms. Baldoz said the council can also be used to tackle non-labor relations issues, such as schemes to manage and decongest vehicular traffic to protect commuters without prejudice to job security of industry workers.
“We have done this in the bus transport sector; we can do it in the truck transport sector,” she said. –Businessworld
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