Gov’t top labor contractor with 720k contractuals —state workers’ union

A state workers' group on Saturday slammed the Philippine government's hypocrisy for excluding itself from the list of firms engaged in labor-only contracting.

"Ang worst violator na dapat nandun [sa listahan] is 'yung Philippine government kasi ... mahigit 720,000 ang contractual workers nito, the Confederation for Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) said.

"...Karamihan diyan [workers] ganun din ang concept, labor-only contracting, job order contract of service," COURAGE national president Ferdinand Gaite said at a forum in Quezon City.

Gaite was referring to the list of the top 20 companies suspected of, or have been found, engaging in labor-only contracting on the list released by the the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). 

Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Food Corporation topped the list with 14,960 contractual workers.

"Mantakin mo 720,000. So, dapat ang number one sa listahan hindi ang Jollibee... kundi ang GRP -- Government of the Republic of the Philippines," Gaite said.

"Nagtuturo sila ng dumi sa mukha ng mga kapitalista sa pribadong sektor, e tumingin sila sa salamin kasi sila mismo ang violators," he added. 

Gaite said that COURAGE is pushing for a measure that will institutionalize the regularization of a government worker after six months of service in the bureaucracy.

"[At] dapat bigyan ka ng dagdag karapatan. Una, seguridad sa trabaho, pangalawa yung eligibility kasi requirement 'yun sa gobyerno para sa promotion. 'Yan ang isinusulong namin," Gaite said.

DOLE issued the list after compiling a report on 99,526 inspected firms out of the more than 900,000 establishments nationwide.

The inspection is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's Executive Order 51, which prohibits illegal contracting and sub-contracting. —LBG, GMA News