DOLE bucks ITUC findings on worker rights

MANILA – Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz took exception to the findings of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that the Philippines is one of the worse countries to work in.

Baldoz said in an interview that she does not agree with the ITUC report, titled “2014 Global Rights Index” that stated there is “no guarantee of rights” for workers in the Philippines.

“Very good naman ang industry advocacy for workers dito … in terms of quality of work dito, ok naman (Industry advocacy for workers is very good in our country. Quality of work is also OK),” Secretary Baldoz said.

She, however, acknowledged that, as noted in the ITUC report, there are still issues when it comes to extra-judicial killing of workers.

“But this has been the subject of a dialogue with President Aquino. There is a commitment by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to fast-track investigations on that,” he said.

To speed up hearings of cases already filed in court, Baldoz said that Secretary De Lima has commmited to form special teams to prosecute.

The ITUC reports rate countries on a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst), depending on their compliance with collective labor rights. It takes 97 indicators into consideration, such worker’s rights to collective bargaining, to establish or join unions and to strike.

The Philippines received a score of 5, along with 23 other nations like Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

For its part, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Democrito Mendoza said the ITUC findings only corroborated what labor organizations have been saying all along.

Mendoza said 73 to 75 percent of the country’s 39 million labor force are not regularized, and they are working as contractual employees for an average of five months at a stretch.

Of these contractual workers, he said, an estimated 85 percent are not getting lawful minimum wages and tend to be terminated easily when they try to form a labor union.

“Without security of tenure, Filipino workers are also suffering from lack of social protection services provided by government,” Mendoza said. –Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com