DAYS before the Security of Tenure (SoT) Bill is due to lapse into law, labor organizations pushed back on the business sector’s claims that the measure will raise their operating costs, saying that the current “end-of-contract” or “endo” schemes that deny workers a pathway to permanent employment cost more.

“Pababa ang kanilang operating costs kasi ang (Their operating costs will fall because the) agency fee or the contractor’s fee is 10 to 15% over and above the minimum wage of the workers. Mawawala ang cost din nila sa paulit-ulit na training ng mga manggagawa (They will also save on the repeated need to train workers who are) under an endo scheme,” Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Vice President Luis M. Corral said in a briefing Thursday.

The TUCP was conducting the briefing alongside the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and Partido Manggagawa (PM), in a bid to get President Rodrigo R. Duterte to sign Senate Bill 1826 or the SoT Bill.

The Senate version of the SoT Bill, which was adopted by the House, thereby eliminating the need to harmonize it with the House version, is tamer than the House legislation, they said. The equivalent House bill had stiffer penalties for engaging in fixed-term employment, which the bill also prohibited across the board.

Nevertheless, the unions said the bill now before the President is a good starting point for ensuring that workers are granted security of tenure.

TUCP President Raymond C. Mendoza said the possible passage of the SoT Bill this weekend will not stop unions from proposing more measures in Congress that will further expand security of tenure protections. He added: “We intend to introduce amendments in the 18th Congress (to reinstate) the lost provisions of the House version especially the ban on fixed-term employment.”

FFW President Sonny G. Matula said at the briefing: “The Security of Tenure Bill is a watered-down version of what the groups have lobbied for and expect from Congress. On the other hand, it has strong points that the labor sector can work on… The provisions on labor-only contracting with increased penalties would strongly address rampant labor-only contracting.”

According to a joint statement issued by the TUCP, FFW, and PM, they support an SoT Bill-authorized fine of P5 million on owners involved in labor-only contracting. The SoT Bill also broadens the definition of labor-only contracting, making it easier to establish whether a contractor is involved in illegal contractualization — Gillian M. Cortez

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