Conclusion
Party-list Rep. Ariel B. Casilao of Anakpawis has claimed the compressed workweek bill “is a step back to the dark ages of working conditions, akin to the 19th-century European
exploitation of labor.”
Casilao added, “Extended daily work hours threaten the internationally accepted 11-hour uninterrupted rest and will certainly lead to health problems, overfatigue and occupational accidents.”
“While in world history, where the labor movement wagered sweat and blood to shorten the daily working hours, in our country, we are facing a legislative measure that aims to throw away these victories,” Casilao was quoted in the Anakpawis party-list blog post as saying.
He recalled that, during the 18th-century industrial revolution, workers were coerced to work for 10 to 16 hours daily and six days a week, which was faced by the mounting labor movement struggles that it was shortened to 10, and then to eight hours for a working day in the 19th century. It was adopted by the Treaty of Versailles on its labor provisions, which served as the precursor for the International Labour Organization (ILO) Hours of Work (Industry) Convention of 1919.
The Philippines, to note, did not ratify that convention, which was entered into force on June 13, 1921, according to the ILO web site.
Advocacy
IF there is one labor group actively campaigning to trim the total number of working hours in the country, it is the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). KMU is part of an international movement to reduce working hours to 40 hours a week from the mandated 48 hours a week.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, KMU Chairman Elmer C. Labog said their campaign to shorten working hours is rooted in the initiative of the International Trade Union Congress (Ituc).
“Such a campaign is being initiated by the Ituc and is being practiced or implemented in several countries in Europe, as well as in the Oceania region,” he said.
Labog argued a well-rested and well-paid worker will have a higher productive capacity and efficiency than that of an overworked, underpaid.
“Obviously, workers who are happy with their work would definitely have a higher productive capacity,” he said. “In the Philippines, however, such a situation is far
from reality. Here, wages, especially of rank-and-file workers, are generally low. This is so primarily due to regionalized wage policy and various government policies that generally maintains a wage freeze.”
Worse
ACCORDING to Labog, the underpaid and overworked Filipino’s lives will worsen under a compressed workweek arrangement, filed under House Bill (HB) 6152. HB 6152 aims to compress the workweek by allowing workers to labor more than the international standard of eight hours a day.
“Such a move by the government would mean the forced implementation of longer working hours in a shorter number of days, say, four to five days a week. That would amount to working 12 to 14 hours a day,” Labog said.
“Such a situation is very dangerous on the health and safety of workers. It is essentially making workers work longer but being paid much lower as overtime work beyond eight hours would be considered as normal working hours,” he added. For Labog, the government should reduce, not compress, working hours.
“International conventions provides that workers on a 24-hour life activity should do eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours on his free will for family and orher activities,” the labor leader said. “To induce a compressed workweek would destroy such a work equilibrium.”
Savings
LABOG has found an agreeing voice in Maria Ella C. Oplas, economics professor at the De La Salle University. Oplas said the government must take into consideration the health of workers before making adjustments with the workweek.
She said compressing the workweek will lead to efficient usage of resources, as employers are given the capacity to make do with a flexible working time.
“Savings can be incurred from utility, [such as] electricity,” Oplas said. However, she pointed out that compressing the workweek will have implications on a worker’s health. This, for her, is a serious consideration the government should take into account before moving on to pass HB 6152.
In the end, Oplas said she believes much is to be discussed whether workweek should be compressed or working hours must be reduced. “But, in general, the arrangement should be left to employees and employers to talk about a better arrangement,” she said.
She also said discussions must begin in the hazardous industries, particularly in the manufacturing sector, as work here is health sensitive. As for the services sector, Oplas said the industry can make use of the usual shifting of hours.
Haymarket
ACCORDING to Labog, their allies in Congress, the militant Makabayan coalition, are taking steps in promoting the reduction of working hours. However, he said KMU is focused on opposing HB 6152 for now.
“Such a proposition is a blatant violation of the international convention on the eight-hour labor law and a blatant disregard to the workers struggles that made possible the institution of an eight-hour law,” Labog said. “Most prominent of [that] is the Haymarket Square massacre, which eventually led to the commemoration of International Labor Day.”
He was referring to the labor protest rally on May 4, 1886, near Chicago’s Haymarket Square that turned into a riot. The mass-up of protesters began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes