LABOR COALITION Nagkaisa and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) will join forces on May 1, Labor Day, to protest the government’s failure to end contractualization.
In its unified statement issued on Wednesday, the said labor groups, often cited as being opposites in the political spectrum, rejected Malacañang’s decision to forego the signing of an executive order on contractualization.
The groups also said President Rodrigo R. Duterte was only covering up his lack of assertion to end the labor practice with his recent order to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for an inventory of companies into labor-only contracting.
“We believe that the President has enough powers under the law to truly end contractualization — if he only wants it; if he will bravely fix the wrong system and let justice prevail; if he truly cares for workers, and not the systematic exploitation of capitalists,” the labor groups stated.
They also expressed their dismay with the administration’s failed promise on the labor practice, noting that they have responded with the government’s requests to draft their own version of the EO on contractualization. “But the President favored DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and DoLE. The President did not even ask our opinion. He himself asked us to study and draft an EO. We gave five versions of the EO. He did not even consult or talk to us,” Nagkaisa chairperson Michael Mendoza said at a press briefing in Manila on Wednesday.
“What the labor sector is pushing for the respect for the security of tenure of the workers. This means giving regularization to many contractuals…. And DoLE should focus on its orders to companies to regularize workers,” KMU chairperson Elmer Labog said in Filipino.
In their draft EO version, the labor groups pushed for direct hiring as the general norm in employment relations. It allowed the Labor Secretary to determine certain activities to be contracted out provided this was consulted with the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC).
They also said the Senate’s Security of Tenure bill would have been easily cleared if an EO from the executive branch would provide a new policy on direct hiring.
DoLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III has said Mr. Duterte would certify the Senate bill as urgent instead of signing an EO.
Asked about labor groups’ plans to file wage hike petitions, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay reiterated that they were still monitoring the rising prices of goods and services in the regions before deciding to file petitions.
“We have put up our regional offices to monitor prices. Depending on the labor federations, we will file wage hike petitions even if the one-year prescribed period has not yet lapsed,” he said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

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