Bongbong Marcos favors 4-day workweek if employees approve

Presidential candidate former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Sunday said the proposal of reducing the workweek into four days is okay as long as the workers approve it and were not forced to do so.

In a town hall discussion with workers on Labor Day, Marcos was asked about his thoughts on some business process outsourcing (BPO) companies forcing their employees to go on a four-day workweek, which a number of them oppose for fear of contracting COVID-19 and making less of their savings.

“Sinusubukan din ito sa lahat ng mga ibang bansa na binabawasan, because naging feasible ang work from home. Well, I think kung ‘yan ang ano ng mga employer, that’s okay, pero pumayag lang ang worker, hindi po puwedeng puwersahin,” he said.

(That is also being tried in other countries because they have seen that work from home is feasible. I think if that’s what employers want, that’s okay, but the workers have to agree and should not be forced.)

The former lawmaker pointed out that working onsite should not be a problem among BPO employees as it is “very, very feasible” for them to do their jobs remotely.

“The key element is that basta pumayag ang worker, puwedeng mag-four-day week. Pero kung hindi naman pumayag, you have to let the people work. Hirap na hirap na ang Pilipino,” Marcos added.

(The key element is that as long as the workers agree, they can go on a four-day week. But if they don’t agree, they still have to let the people work. The Filipinos are already struggling.)

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Karl Kendrick Chua earlier suggested for the government to impose a four-day workweek to conserve energy and alleviate the public’s expenses amid the series of big time oil price hikes.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that employers may already implement such reduced workweek even without a new law or a department order providing for the measure.

Security of Tenure bill

Further, Marcos said if he gets elected president, he would pass the Security of Tenure bill into law if some of its provisions are amended such as making clear the functions of the DOLE for regulating and monitoring employees’ working conditions.

He said that with the establishment of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the DOLE could just mainly focus on domestic labor concerns, which include their health and safety. He said that a budget should be allocated for this measure considering the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unahin natin ang proteksyon for workers, and I think that’s the way to go. Ako nakikita ko ‘yung batas na Security of Tenure as a vehicle not only for the security of tenure concept, but also for all of these all other issues like health and safety, wage board, the protections that we are protecting na hindi nasusunod,” he said.

(Let’s prioritize the workers’ protection, and I think that’s the way to go. I could see the Security of Tenure law as a vehicle not only for the security of tenure concept, but also for all of these other issues like health and safety, wage board, and the protections that we are pushing that are not being followed.)

“The Security of Tenure bill, we hope to amend and rewrite at ayusin para maipasa na because kung ako’y palarin at ako’y naupo, kung maganda naman ang version, pipirmahan ko talaga ‘yan,” he added.

(We hope to amend, rewrite, and fix the Security of Tenure bill for its passage because if I get elected as president, I will definitely sign it if the new version is good.)

President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed in July 2019 the Security of Tenure bill or the measure that was meant to eliminate subcontracting of labor and limit job contracting to licensed and specialized services.

Ending unjust contractualization was a campaign promise of Duterte when he ran for the presidency in 2016.

For his part, Marcos said maybe Duterte has a valid reason for doing so.

Marcos previously said he will end the end-of-contract scheme or contractualization of workers for non-seasonal employees. —KG, GMA News