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Philippine affiliates affirm sustainable industrial policy as a priority issue

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22 July, 2015Philippine unions reiterated their commitment to promote sustainable industrial policy as a priority issue at the conclusion of a one-day workshop on the topic on 18 July.

The IndustriALL Global Union Philippine affiliates attending the workshop conclusively agreed to work together to pursue engagement with the government and other key stakeholders in crafting a sound and sustainable industrial policy based on economic growth that creates decent jobs and industrialization with social justice, environmental protection and respect for trade union rights.

To stimulate the discourse on the need for industrial policy taking into account the national context, a resource person from the Action for Economic Reform in the Philippines presented the results of their study that highlight the fact that despite growth in GDP unemployment still persists. A situation best described as “jobless growth”.

An affiliate from the textile and garment sector lamented why the garment industry declined and recalled that during the 1980s the sector was considered as an engine for growth and a key employment generator that peaked at almost 900,000 jobs in 1995.

Kan Matsuzaki, director for ICT, Electrical and Electronics at IndustriALL presented the potential and industrial trends in ASEAN plus India, highlighting how companies in the electronics and electrical sector move from one country to another. IndustriALL’s discussion paper on sustainable industrial policy was presented and highlighted the points where manufacturing as potential for growth for national economies and building solidarity among workers against the negative impact of further opening up of economies to market forces and unabated trade deals.

“In order to further the workers’ agenda on sustainable industrial policy, trade unions have to unite and increase their membership to have a strong voice that will enable them to influence government and policy makers. So the key message is still organize, organize and organize,” said Annie Adviento, IndustriALL regional secretary for South East Asia.

Affiliates identified specific actions to take in furthering their agenda for sustainable industrial policy in the areas such as:

  • Prioritizing key industries to be covered e.g. electronics & ICT, garments, chemicals, plastics, auto, energy & mining
  • Conducting research and industry studies together with key allies and stakeholders
  • Integrating social, economic and environmental goals in the policy
  • Developing common positions among affiliates, proposals and recommendations on what sustainable industrial policy should be for the workers
  • Influencing government and policy makers through tripartite mechanisms and other forums
  • Utilizing social media and other mediums where affiliates disseminate information, issues and concerns on industrial policy to their membership 
  • Undertaking capacity building activities and networking among trade unions

Against the backdrop of the recent mining tragedy on 17 July in Antique where nine workers died, affiliates agreed to come up with a statement integrating safety and health in the mining sector as a policy in industrial development and strongly urged the government to come up with a responsible mining policy.