CEBU, Philippines - Militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu called on the Department of Labor and Employment to deputize union presidents and officers as labor inspectors in order to strengthen the enforcement of labor standards and safety rules.
PM-Cebu spokesperson Dennis Derige, in a statement said, that DOLE has some 200 inspectors to cover around 800,000 establishments nationwide.
He said that even if just 10 percent of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, the numbers can easily be increased ten times the present number of present inspectors.
Derige said that by deputizing labor leaders, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers’ lives and limbs can be saved as a result.
He said that DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical safety inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement.
“All the DOLE has to do is train union president and officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,†Derige added.
Under DOLE’s Labor Standards Enforcement Framework, unions with collective bargaining agreements are given a role in self-assessment for their enterprises.
“If unions play a responsibility in ensuring labor standards and occupational safety in their own workplaces, it does not take a leap of logic to allow them a task in inspecting other enterprises,†the statement further reads. (FREEMAN)