Ka Leody: Bongbong’s take on endo proves his ignorance of labor relations

Labor leader and presidential candidate Leody De Guzman on Wednesday said that former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s comments on contractualization prove that he knows nothing about labor relations.

De Guzman made the remark after Marcos said on Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure bill in July 2019 because not every employee can be covered by it as there are seasonal and non-seasonal employees.

“Pinatunayan ng statement na ito na walang alam si Marcos Junior sa mga usapin ng labor relations. Mayroong kategoryang ‘regular seasonal’ sa Labor Code. Ang manggagawang pinatatrabaho sa isang panahon o season at muling pinatrabaho o na-rehire ay hindi pwede pagkaitan ng mga benepisyo bilang regular na empleyado,” De Guzman said in a statement.

(This statement proves that Marcos knows nothing about labor relations. There is a ‘regular seasonal’ category in the Labor Code. A worker who is employed for a period or a season and is re-employed or rehired cannot be denied benefits as a regular employee.)

De Guzman and his running mate Professor Walden Bello are pushing for the absolute ban on all forms of contractualization or endo through “complete prohibition on trilateral arrangements.”

“Muli nating inililinaw na ang ugat ng problema sa kontraktwalisasyon ay hindi lang ang ‘endo’ kundi ang pag-iral ng mga third-party work arrangements gaya ng manpower agencies, na ginagawang mura at maamo ang mga kontraktwal para sa mga principal employers,” he added.

(We reiterate that the root cause of the problem on contractualization is not just "endo" but the existence of third-party work arrangements such as manpower agencies, which make contractuals cheap and lenient for principal employers.)

Known for his pro-poor and pro-worker stance, De Guzman vows that his administration would focus on policies on labor and not on business to help regular workers. — BM, GMA News