Workers, employers urged to use voluntary arbitration

CEBU, Philippines – A former top official of the Department of Labor and Employment yesterday encouraged workers and employers to go into voluntary arbitration to settle their labor disputes.

Lawyer Bienvenido Laguesma, a former Labor Secretary, said the nagging problem on corruption and red tape in the labor arbitration and adjudication system should be given top priority.

"Employers and workers groups were challenged and being encouraged to aggressively utilized their grievance machineries in settling disputes and to partner with the NCMB to strengthen this process" he said

Laguesma, now a voluntary arbitrator, yesterday talked about the labor and employment agenda of President Benigno Aquino during 8th National Conference and Regular Retooling labor justice through Voluntary Arbitration of the members of the Philippine Association on Voluntary Arbitration (PAVA) at the Cebu Grand Convention Center.

Laguesma expressed his concern on the need for reforms in the areas of employment facilitation, workers welfare and protection, labor relations and governance.

According to him, there are three categories in dealing with the arbitration and these are the legal measures, administrative measures and the individual measures, where most of these measures are already in place. It is also incorporated in the provision of the Labor Code of the Philippines that talk about grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration.

DOLE Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac said that there should be improvements in labor settlement system, the arbitration approaches, enhance labor system, management education, labor management, stakeholders and the workplace. - Aldwin Gevera and Maluna Sanguenza, USJ-R Masscom interns/WAB (FREEMAN)