DOLE reports sharp drop in strikes despite mass layoffs

MANILA, Philippines - Even in the wake of mass retrenchments due to the global financial crisis, there were fewer workers opting to go on strike, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

The DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) said there was a sharp decline in the number of striking workers nationwide.

The NCMB recorded a 46 percent drop in the number of notices of strikes in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period in 2008.

A total of 5,296 workers from 37 companies filed notices of strikes from January to February. Compared to the same period last year, the NCMB said a total of 69 notices of strikes were filed, involving 12,667 workers nationwide.

The NCMB reported that 31 of the 37 notices of strikes have already been settled. Majority of the labor disputes were settled amicably.

The NCMB report also showed that only one of the total notices of strike turned into an actual strike, which affected the employment of 700 workers.

In the first two months of 2008, NCMB posted two actual strikes, involving 569 workers.

The NCMB data, however, indicated growth in the number of preventive mediation from 33 last year to 50 this year.

The number of affected workers, however, dropped from 25,381 to a total of 16,964.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque has urged disputing labor and management to thresh out their differences through dialogues and collaborative undertakings to cushion the impact of the current financial crisis particularly at the plant level. 

Despite the prevailing global economic crisis, employment prospects remain bright in Mindanao, Roque said.

Roque said thousands of jobs are available in five regions in Mindanao.

“While industries in other regions have been severely affected by the global crisis, companies in Mindanao are now rehiring and recalling workers back to regular work,” he said.

Roque said job opportunities are available in agricultural sector, mining, and business outsourcing sectors in Western Mindanao, Northern Mindanao, Central Mindanao and CARAGA regions.

He added that agri-business and food processing companies in Mindanao are also hiring crop technicians, chemists, agriculturists, and managers.

According to Roque, agriculture and plantation-related jobs, particularly those involving pest and disease control in banana, abaca and coconut industries are in demand in Mindanao.

“The continuing demand for skilled workers in plantation and agriculture industries indicate these sector are resilient to the effects of the global economic crisis,” he said.

Roque said mining companies in Mindanao have also beefed up their processing operations to sustain employment for mining engineers, geodetic engineers, geologists and heavy equipment operators.

“Business Process Outsourcing companies in Mindanao have also shown buoyancy and are expected to hire more agents, back office workers animators and medical, legal and entertainment transcriptionists,” he said.

Various government agencies, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have also offered jobs under the emergency employment program to absorb laid off overseas workers.

The militant Migrante International, however, urged the AFP against employing laid off overseas workers on fears that they might end up “militarized.”   –With Jose Rodel Clapano