Labor group laments workers’ rights violations

CEBU, Philippines — The All-Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) has called out the government for neglecting their urgent concern to solve the killings of trade unionists and blatant violations of workers’ right to unionize.

The APTU, a network of trade unions and workers’ associations who endorsed the joint workers’ report to the International Labor Organization High Level Tripartite Mission’s (ILO-HLTM), are gathered for a two-day consultation in Cebu City from May 30 to 31, 2023.

This is the first in a series of regional consultations regarding the 15-point Labor Agenda and the HLTM recommendations.

In particular, the APTU criticized Executive Order 23 where workers are left out of the Inter-Agency Committee supposedly created to strengthen coordination and expedite the investigation, prosecution and resolution of cases for violations of the right to organize.

Ayik Casilao of the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) said that the Inter-Agency Committee created under EO 23 is nothing but an extension of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) wherein it is composed of the same government agencies.

“It's like NTF-ELCAC 2.0. It's enraging that the perpetrators themselves get to be part of the investigating body while the workers who are the victims of the attacks are excluded from the process," said Casilao.

The 111th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) commences in less than a week. During the ILC, the ILO expects to receive a joint tripartite report on the progress made on their recommendations.

According to APTU, however, the government would have nothing concrete to show except the killing of another trade unionist Alex Dolorosa of the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN), among other new cases of trade union rights violations.

“Before Alex was killed, he devoted his time to paralegal work. He handled labor disputes involving BPO employees, and even won cases in court. Contrary to what the authorities insist, we know for a fact that Alex's killing is labor-related," shared Anne Krueger of BIEN.

Armand Dayoha of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and Dyan Gumanao of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) also shared updates on their abduction case.

According to them, their experience with government agencies tasked to handle their case has proven to them how useless and ineffective the existing grievance redress mechanisms are.

Meanwhile, Roger Igot of Partido Manggagawa - Cebu spoke about the arrest and detention of trade unionists attending the Bonifacio Day mobilization in 2021. To this day, state forces have not been made accountable for the wrongful arrest.

APTU added that the Philippine government is once again in danger of being called out by the ILC for the severity of cases of violation of freedom of association and other trade union rights.

It said that for the seventh straight year, it is also set to be included in the International Trade Union Confederation’s Top 10 Worst Places for Workers to Live In.

Julius Cainglet, vice president of the Federation of Free Workers, said that if government fails to act on the ILO-HLTM recommendations accordingly, including leaving workers out of the presidentially mandated body to oversee the implementation of FOA in the country, the country is in danger of being included in the ILO’s notorious list of countries which failed in the implementation of ILO Conventions.

“This has great repercussions on trade as we will be removed from the ‘General System of Preference (GSP)’ of the USA and European Union that exempts the Philippines from paying tariffs for selected products entering their territories. We will lose more jobs,” Cainglet added.

Jaime Paglinawan, chairperson of AMA SUGBO-KMU, said that APTU reiterated their urgent demands to the Philippine government that includes:

• A thorough investigation on the killings of Alex Dolorosa and Manny Asuncion;

• The EO23 must be amended to align with the aspirations of labor and the spirit of ILO HLTM recommendations;

• The DOLE-DTI-PEZA MOA on promoting industrial peace in SEZs must be amended;

• The revised 2011 Guidelines on the Conduct of the DOLE, DILG, DND, DOJ, AFP, and PNP Relative to the Exercise of Workers' Rights and Activities must be converted into an Executive Order; among others.

The APTU added that the Philippine government must prioritize policies and programs that will truly benefit Filipino workers instead of passing anti-worker legislation like the Maharlika bill that will only jeopardize further workers' wages and benefits.

The APTU is composed of the FFW, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), among others. —/GAN (FREEMAN)