Union, employers' group oppose optional 4-day work week

A workers' group and an employers' association on Monday expressed concern over a bill that would create the option to reduce the number of work days a week to four.

House Bill No. 6152 would also increase the number of work hours a day from eight hours to 10 or 12 twelve hours a day under its compressed work week scheme.

The Kilos Na! Manggagawa worker's union staged a protest at the Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City less than a week after the bill received its final approval from the House of Representatives.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) also disapproved of the extended work hours, saying it would cause health problems among employees.

"The pressure at saka 'yung strain on the body for the four days that they work will weaken them, will really make them sick," said ECOP president Donald Dee in Tricia Zafra's report for "24 Oras."

"We might have to go to the President for the veto," he added.

Senator Joel Villanueva, who chairs the Senate labor committee, is readying a separate proposal in support for the bill's passage.

"I think it's a positive development for our workers because it will not only help in our traffic woes, but also promote work-life balance," Villanueva said in the report.

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) expressed its support for the compressed work week as long as it is voluntary.

"Kung pipilitan kasi 'yan ng mga employer, magkakaproblema tayo. Made-demoralize 'yung mga manggagagawa, hindi sila magiging productive," ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

The Labor Code of the Philippines currently permits companies and agencies to implement a compressed work week.

Should the amendments under the bill be passed, employers will no longer need to seek approval from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) before shifting their employees to the new work schedule.

Maintenance worker Hernan Kiunisala, who works six days a week, said he was looking forward to the idea of fewer days of work.

"'Yung stress, nandoon, so pag gagawin nang four days, parang itodo mo na 'yung four days mo," he told Zafra.

The DOLE has called a tripartite meeting in the coming week to go over the issue with the labor and employers' groups concerned. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News