Labor groups hit draft DOLE order as pro-contractualization

Labor groups on Monday urged Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III not to sign a draft department order on contractualization which they say would only push contractualization to further develop in the country.

"Kami sa FFW (Federation of Free Workers) ay naniniwalang may pagkakataon pa ang Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)... na baguhin ang present na sistema ng contractualization sa bansa... Sa draft department order talagang magpeperpetuate 'yung present contractualization," a representative of the FFW said in a press conference in Quezon City.

He was referring to a draft department order on contractualization which would also issue the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to amend Department Order (DO) 18-1 which bans the repeated hiring of employees under a short contract, commonly known as "endo."

The DOLE earlier said the draft IRR will regulate contracting and subcontracting in the country, which labor groups say would only allow companies to continue practicing contractualization in other forms.

"The draft new DO may seem to restrict labor contracting to seasonal and project employment but these employment schemes may, however, be extended to cover jobs, work or services which are directly related to the business operations of a company," Partido Manggagawa Chair Renato Magtubo, however, said in a separate statement.

"As such, contractualization of labor would still proliferate in the guise of describing the job, work or service as seasonal or project employment," he added.

The working draft was presented during the Tripartite Executive Committee of the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council last week.

"It is a mere rehash of what current laws already provide. It gives nothing new to workers. Change requires a DO that further restricts contractualization while a new law is needed to end contractualization," Luis Corral, executive director of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said.

Bello earlier said ending contractualization in government will be his priority , but private companies must also implement such rules.

Some 25,000 workers were regularized in November, as part of the push to end contractualization by 2017.

During the election campaign, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he will stop endo as soon as he steps in.

"The moment I assume the presidency, contractualization will stop. They have to stop it ... That is an injustice committed against the people of the Republic of the Philippines. I will not allow that as President of this country," he said in April.

He also warned companies to stop contractualization. "Sundin ninyo ang batas na wala na akong inspection o sarahan ko kayo. Mamili kayo," he said.

For its part, the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) challenged Duterte to make good on his promise and order the strict prohibition to all forms of contractualization in the country.

"The new draft DO is a mere attempt to rehash DO 18-A with sophisticated words to continue justifying contractualization under the Duterte regime. Thus, BMP now directly challenges President Duterte to immediately issue an Executive Order to strictly prohibit all forms of contractualization by urgently signing a draft EO which BMP crafted and submitted to the Office of the President last November 10, 2016 for instant presidential executive action," said BMP President Leody De Guzman. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News