Senate urged to ratify ILO Convention 189

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino called on the Senate to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189, which would provide Filipino domestic workers all over the world protection, respect and dignity.

Also known as the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers, ILO Convention 189 would require all the signatory states to ensure the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of all workers.

The Convention was adopted by the General Conference of the ILO in June 16, 2011.

“Under Article 21, the Convention shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two members have been registered with the Director-General of the International Labour Office. Thereafter, the Convention shall come into force for any member twelve months after the date on which its ratification is registered,” the President said in a letter to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

“The Department of Labor and Employment and the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council were consulted and concurred with the ratification of the Convention. After examining the text thereof, I find it advisable to ratify the ILO Convention 189,” he added.

Under the Convention, each member shall take measures to respect, promote and realize the fundamental principles and rights at work of domestic workers, namely: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; the effective abolition of child labor; and elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Senate committee on foreign relations chair Loren Legarda previously pushed for the ratification of the Convention, which she said would create the legal mechanism that would ensure that the rights of household workers are protected.

Legarda noted that household helpers are among the lowest paid workers and are usually subjected to poor working conditions such as longer hours of work with no overtime pay and lack of social benefits.

Citing statistics from the Visayan Forum Foundation, she noted that there are 1.9 million household workers in the country who would benefit from the provisions set out in the Convention.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration records indicate that 96,583 Filipinos were deployed under the category “Domestic Helpers and Related Household Workers” in 2010.

Seafarer’s protection also sought

The protection of Filipino seafarers also got its much-needed boost from the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), according to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) administrator Hans Cacdac.

Cacdac noted that MLC provides international standards to protect the seafarers’ rights and welfare, including recruitment, compensation, medical examinations and health benefits, among others.

After the Senate has concurred with the ratification, the Philippines will be the 27th country to do so, following Liberia, Marshall Islands, Bahamas, Panama, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, Croatia, Bulgaria, Canada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland, Gabon, Benin, Singapore, Denmark, Latvia, Antigua and Barbuda, the Government of Luxembourg, Kiribati, the Netherlands, Australia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu, Togo, and Poland.

MLC needs to be ratified by 30 countries before it can take effect.

The ILO website showed the “Convention aims to secure economic interests in fair competition for quality ship owners.”

There are some 1.2 million seafarers worldwide.

“As an estimated 90 percent of world trade is carried on ships. Seafarers are essential to international trade and the international economic and trade system. The new labor standard consolidates and updates more than 68 international labor standards related to the maritime sector adopted over the last 80 years,” the website further showed.

In an earlier interview, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the agency is now conducting an assessment with the ILO on how the MLC provisions can be implemented using the country’s Labor Code.

“For example, the leave provision in the MLC. The ILO examined our Labor Code and considered the different types of leaves that workers enjoyed under the Labor Code, which can be treated as a substantial equivalent to what the convention requires,” Baldoz added.

For MLC conditions not covered by the Labor Code, DOLE will issue department orders to compensate.

“For domestic ships, DOLE will have to issue the regulation governing the terms and conditions, including the enforcement of labor standards,” she said.

Baldoz added the Philippines need not come up with any legislation to comply with MLC because the Labor Code and DOLE department orders governing the labor standards in the domestic maritime industry will be enough.  – Sheila Crisostomo