Labor groups belonging to a coalition announced on Tuesday they will seek the intervention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on ending contractualization if President Duterte fails to sign a new executive order (EO) banning it next month.
“If the President remains firm on not signing the EO…and there are still inadequacies in our laws and regulations to address contractualization, this will become part of the agenda of the workers’ representative during the ILO conference in June,” Nagkaisa Spokesman Renato Magtubo told reporters in an ambush interview on Tuesday, following the joint news briefing of Nagkaisa and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).
The 107th session of the ILO Conference (ILC) will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 28 to June 8.
During the event, the ILO will discuss support for the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations; addressing violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work; and follow-up on ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization.
Magtubo said the forum will also allow them to inform the ILO and its member-countries about the plight of local workers and the proliferation of contractualization. “Nagkaisa has a representative there every year.”
Nagkaisa and the KMU are set to meet with President Duterte on March 15 to discuss the possible signing of their draft EO.
Under the proposed EO, contractualization will be banned except for professions to be determined by the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council.
The EO was supposed to have been signed earlier this month during Duterte’s meeting with labor leaders, but the President asked for additional time to review its legality and its impact on foreign investors.
Nagkaisa and the KMU were dismayed by the delay, but they said they are willing to give Duterte until next month to fulfill his campaign promise of ending widespread contractualization. “We, Filipino workers, strongly convey to President Duterte that signing anything less than the labor sector’s executive order against contractualization is unacceptable,” Magtubo said.
KMU Vice President Lito Ustarez said they will hold mass actions and public forums starting Friday up to March 15 to generate public support for their cause.
“On February 23, there will be a simultaneous hanging of streamers and mass actions in the DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment] regional offices,” Ustarez said.
He added this will culminate in a massive demonstration by Nagkaisa and KMU members in Mendiola on March 15. Federation of Free Workers (FFW), an affiliate of Nagkaisa, will also launch a signature campaign.
“Starting from today [February 21] until March 12, we also plan to collect a million signatures through an online an printed petition calling on President Duterte to sign the labor sector EO versus contractualization,” FFW Vice President Julius Cainglet said.
2 comments
DoDirty is not going to sign the EO, the Chinese love the
contractualization
Tama!