Bello: Jollibee may have to regularize 50,000 workers

By GERARD NAVAL, Apr 06, 2018

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) may have to regularize up to 50,000 more contractual employees, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said yesterday.

This, Bello said, is because the 6,482 workers ordered to be regularized earlier are only from Metro Manila. Sixteen other regional directors of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have yet to submit their compliance reports on contractualization.

“On a nationwide basis, you can think of more than 10,000 to 50,000 considering the bulk of the employees of Jollibee,” he said.

Bello said Jollibee’s plan to appeal the order to regularize 6,842 contractual employees is welcome.

“The decision of the regional director is appealable to me. We have a procedure for that,” he said.

But he defended the decision of the DOLE-NCR, saying such an order need not come from him.

“He (DOLE-NCR director) has the authority. And if they question the regional director, then they can appeal to me. But, definitely our directors are empowered to do that,” said Bello.

Aside from Jollibee, the DOLE-NCR also ordered Burger King to regularize 704 workers.

DOLE is holding inspections with other fastfood giants. McDonald’s has said it does not employ contractual employees.

Meanwhile, Bello said the labor sector need not worry about the executive order (EO) on contractualization that President Duterte is expected to sign soon.

He said the proposed EO’s provision that the Secretary of DOLE, “in consultation with the national tripartite industry,” may allow some form of contractualization jives with the position of the labor sector.

He expressed hope that the draft EO will be signed by Duterte during his dialogue with the workers on April 16.

Asked for his reaction to the pronouncement that the labor groups are not keen on attending, Bello simply shrugged off.

“I was assured by Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod that 25 of them will attend,” he said.

Bello said labor officials are scheduled to meet with the workers’ groups prior to their meeting with Duterte.