WITH its concerns on the killings of trade unionist leaders still left unaddressed, a labor group called on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to replicate the creation of a task force by United States President Joe Biden to initiate much-needed labor reforms to address the said issue.
The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment created by Biden and led by Vice President Kamala Harris came out with 70 recommendations last February in favor of American workers.
It noted the said recommendations resulted in significant achievements, including a 20-percent increase in union membership in Federal agencies.
“By learning from the successes of the Biden-Harris Presidential Task Force, the Philippines can address the alarming number of trade union and human rights violations and create a safer, more equitable environment for workers across the nation,” FFW said in a statement the organization issued last Sunday.
The FFW statement comes as Malacañang and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have yet to issue its position on the recommendation of the International Labor Organization-High Level Tripartite Mission (ILO-HLTM) for the creation of a presidential body to look into labor-related killings.
Labor leaders were hoping they could personally raise the matter with Marcos in a Labor Day dialogue, which previous administrations used to hold.
However, Marcos will be flying to the US on May 1 to conduct a bilateral meeting with Biden at the White House in Washington, D.C.
No opposition
THE FFW said their members are “perplexed” by the still pending position of the government on the ILO-HLTM recommendation.
“The proposed commission was already discussed by workers and employers, who expressed no opposition to the body, with the Office of the Secretary of Labor, but no definitive action has been taken by the government on this recommendation, yet,” FFW said.
This view was echoed by Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) Director General Jose Roland A. Moya who stressed they are “neither in favor nor against the creation of the said commission.”
“ECOP believes that there are already existing mechanisms, including the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council, which could handle these matters. However, we agree with labor that the NTIPC needs to be strengthened,” Moya told the BusinessMirror in a message via Viber.
“We leave it to our counterparts in the labor sector to work out with the government the appropriate steps,” he added.
The ECOP maintained allegations of violations against freedom of association and collective bargaining must be addressed more aggressively.
In a joint report, labor groups reported they submitted to the ILO-HLTM, there were at least 68 incidents of killings of local trade unionists nationwide.