Seen Heard Found

Over 180,000 workers awaiting regularization By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star), Jun 29, 2017 MANILA, Philippines – Over 180,000 contractual workers nationwide are still waiting for regularization almost a year after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) launched an intensified campaign against the endo (end of contract) scheme.

Philippine economic reality By BusinessMirror Editorial, Jun 18, 2017 The Philippines faces many problems. Some are critical, like the Marawi rebellion; others are merely annoying, like the fact that when school starts, so does the rainy season. However, overall, the Philippines does not have economic problems despite Filipinos being told constantly that we do.

A minimum income for all? By: Cielito F. Habito, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jun 13, 2017 There is something wrong with our system when I can leave here and make billions of dollars in 10 years while millions of students can’t afford to pay off their loans, let alone start a business,” observed Facebook creator Mark…

by David KosbieAndrew W. MooreMark Stehlik, Jun 5, 2017 Most of us regard self-driving cars, voice assistants, and other artificially intelligent technologies as revolutionary. For the next generation, however, these wonders will have always existed. AI for them will be more than a tool; in many cases, AI will be their co-worker and a ubiquitous…

Kasambahay minimum wages, for 52 months and counting, in the largest destination of kasambahays in the Philippines has remained at P2,500 per month. In contrast, 11 other regions have already issued their adjusting Wage Orders, with a number of regions having minimum wages higher than in Metro Manila. Dapat nga, this Regional Board should be…

Stephen Hawking: This will be the impact of automation and AI on jobs by Rob Price, Dec 6, 2016 Artificial intelligence and increasing automation is going to decimate middle-class jobs, worsening inequality and risking significant political upheaval, Stephen Hawking has warned.

I went to this supermarket this morning.  For water, rice, coke, and something else. I queued in the express lane.  Got derailed by the slow check out.  The cashier on the right services six customers for every one done at the express lane. When it was my turn, I asked why?  The ‘barker’ said: Pasensya…

Is the solution to extreme wealth inequality really – Alaska? by Scott Santens, Apr 26, 2017 Consider the following two headlines and the fact they describe events that are occurring simultaneously: “Grains piled on runways, parking lots, fields amid global glut” and “Famine looms in four countries as aid system struggles to cope, experts warn.”…

Recent work by the International Monetary Fund suggests that countries which redistribute more and have lower inequality actually grow faster. Read or download the report here.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS VATICAN CITY, Mar 15, 2017, Pope Francis said Wednesday that employers who fire workers for unclear economic reasons are committing a “very grave sin” and should ensure dignified work for all their employees.

Why Welfare and Redistribution Saves Capitalism from Itself Rich countries share wealth and create economic security By Steve Roth, http://evonomics.com/whats-the-secret-to-joining-the-rich-country-club/ There’s a curious fact about the wealth and growth of nations that you rarely see mentioned: No country has ever joined the modern, high-productivity, rich-country club without massive doses of redistribution, and universal government programs for…

Read the full pastoral statement of the CBCP on drug-related killings below: “Beloved People of God We, your bishops, are deeply concerned due to many deaths and killings in the campaign against prohibited drugs. This traffic in illegal drugs needs to be stopped and overcome. But the solution does not lie in the killing of suspected…

Jan. 12, 2017 – ANG ENDO AY EVIL! Ang Endo ay kakabit ng maraming panggigipit at pagsasamantala sa mga manggagawa. Low wages, disregard of labor standards, muzzling workers’ voice, thwarting unions. Inde makapalag ang aping manggagawa dahil alam nya na ‘pag nagsalita sya, tiyak Endo sya down the road. Race to the bottom talaga.

Jan. 5, 2017 – THE YEAR ENDED; ENDO DID NOT. Nahihirapan ang Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) makagawa ng ENDO Department Order. Obvious, dahil conflicted pa rin ang DOLE kung ano sila. Nagiisip pa rin sila na sila ay Department of Labor and EmployERS, at inde countervailing institution against the overwhelming power of employers.

Read TUCP’s quick research on the matter here. Trainees in dual training system are considered ‘trainees’, not employees. Trainees are entitled to daily allowances and insurance overage. Trainees are not required to be covered by SSS, PHIC or PagIBIG. As trainees, not employees, they are not entitled to 13th month pay. Bonuses and 14th month…

Read PMAP-TUCP MOU here.

Dec. 15, 2016 – Victims of gender-based violence (GBV) are entitled to 10 days domestic violence leave with pay. Not many government agencies, unions and workers know this! Very understandable, considering that concerted government and private sector information campaigns on GBV do not exist. Predictably, 92% of those surveyed by ITUC AP and its affiliates…

Dec. 8, 2016 – HELP! LATE FOR WORK, ABSENT FROM WORK, BOTHERED AT WORK! – Practically no one pays attention to GBV victims. Victims tell co-workers, but it ends there. Employers are told, but largely they don’t address ‘personal’ or ‘family’ matters. Complaints are filed with barangays and police, but results are mixed. Worse, many…

Dec. 5, 2015 – GBV PROGRAMS NEEDED – Four of ten workers in the Philippines had been victims of gender-based violence (GBV),or know of someone else in the workplace who had been similarly victimized. GBV’s negative effects on enterprise and workers productivity and well-being are clear, too. However, government or private sector programs to address…

Dec. 1, 2016 – GENDER-BASED  VIOLENCE (GBV) messes with workers in many ways. An ITUC AP/Philippine affiliates survey in 2015 found that one-in-every-five workers had been victims of GBV (emotional/psychological, physical, sexual, harassment).  In addition, one of every five workers had known someone else in the workplace who had been victimized.  GBV caused workers being…

Nov. 21, 2016 —  The country’s Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) have dutifully issued minimum wages in their regions, but they have taken the line of least resistance and adopted the very low road to development.  They pride themselves in having mandated wages not too far from regional poverty levels. They have been…

Nov. 16, 2016 – CTALK by Cito Beltan, Philippine Star – Don’t look now but the DOLE is clearly doing the  “One step forward – Two step backward” dance concerning the issue on abolishing contractualization. It won’t surprise me one bit if the DOLE decides to dance with the “contractors” and push for a compromise…

Nov. 1, 2016 – Endo by any other name is just as exploitative. We have been told endo has been ended in a number of enterprises.  Don’t believe!  What one enterprising mall chain has done is to tell workers they are now regular, but their contracts would be renewed on a yearly basis. Trick or…

Oct. 26, 2016 – Unpaid hours are another aggravation for Philippine workers. Sales and fast food workers are required to report for work early (even over an hour before paid time) to prepare for work or to prepare items, materials or food for sale or display.  Then they are required to stay longer after paid…

Sept. 21, 2016 – Workers fixing San Marcelino street in Manila are in slippers and have no safety equipment of any kind whatsoever.

Sept. 21, 2016 – Workers building the new Quinta market have insufficient safety equipment.

ON CONTRACTUALIZATION There is nothing in the Herrera Law that authorizes contractualization.