THE country is still not producing enough “quality” jobs despite the lifting of restrictions on economic activities, which were imposed during the pandemic, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
The country’s largest labor group is now pushing for the government to come out with “pro-labor policies” to help attract more job-generating investments in the country.
In a statement, TUCP Vice President Luis C. Corral expressed concern over the quickening of the underemployment rate to 12.9 percent last April from 11.2 percent last March.
He said this translates to 6.20 million employed, “who are still seeking additional work because their measly salaries, further depressed by inflation, are no longer enough to feed their families and lead decent lives.”
“The economic managers cannot solely rely on the reopening of the economy and the private sector for job creation,” Corral said.
To help create more quality employment, the labor leader said the government must play a more active role in attracting more foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country with “pro-labor policies.”
“The TUCP believes that the Philippines’s pro-labor pivot and adopting [our] ‘Jobs Agenda’ can bring us out of the rut of precarious work and set us on the right track towards the creation of new, permanent and decent jobs,” Corral said.
The TUCP believes such reforms include addressing local incidents of labor rights violations by “upholding fundamental labor rights, ensuring core labor standards.”
It also pushed for the construction of a national railway system connecting agri-industrial hubs; sustainable industrial policy; and providing financial and technical aid to micro-scale, small-scale and medium-sized enterprises.
He noted the said reforms are now more crucial especially since the government is now seeking the resumption of the negotiations for the Philippine-European (EU) Free Trade Agreement (PH-EU FTA) as well as pushing for the renewal of the EU GSP+ set to expire by the end of 2023.
The EU GSP+ provides the Philippines’ tariff-free access to over 6,274 product lines to the EU market.
“All these trade privileges and prospective bilateral agreements are tied to the Philippines’ compliance with the fundamental labor rights and core labor standards,” Corral said.
“We remind our economic managers, state security forces and employers that addressing workers’ issues and passing pro-worker policies serve as an international seal of good housekeeping for sustainable businesses to export tariff-free to foreign markets and Filipino workers to get new, permanent and decent jobs,” he added.