Militant labor group urges Duterte to fire Bello amid order on ‘endo’

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Thursday hit Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III for issuing an order that will "perpetuate" contractualization in the country.

The group also called on President Rodrigo Duterte to replace the Labor chief.

"We urged President Duterte to fire Bello and require a new labor secretary to draft a DO (department order) that conforms to his desire of eradicating contractualization [and] short-term work arrangement that has been preventing workers from experiencing the benefits of inclusive economic growth," Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of ALU-TUCP, said in a statement.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), on Thursday, issued DO  174, Series of 2017, ordering a prohibition on the repeated hiring of employees by contractors under an employment contract of short duration that falls short of the mandated six months to qualify for regularization.

But the labor group said it was still not satisified with the current version of the anti-endo DO.

"By issuing a DO that further perpetuates the abhorred contractualization in the country, Mr. Bello has violated the direct policy pronouncement of President Duterte who expressed time and again that all forms of contractualization including 'endo' and agency hiring must stop," Tanjusay said.

"This particular action is outright defiance and insubordination of President Duterte's wishes," he added.

The labor group's official further alleged that Bello has "betrayed" millions of contractual workers who have been "languishing in poverty being powerless to access lawful wages, social protection benefits and security of tenure."

He added that under the new DO, manpower cooperatives and labor contractors, along with principal employers, will reap the benefits while the workers or employees who helped build the economy will remain poor. — John Ted Cordero/MDM, GMA News