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11 October, 2013
IndustriALL affiliate, the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) joined the tens of millions of Filipino workers in observing the World Day for Decent Work on 7 October. Workers called on the Philippine government to provide a living wage, scrap its contractualization policy, and respect the Filipino workers’ right to unionize.
According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), only 7 per cent of workers in the formal and informal sectors are organized into unions. In the Philippines, less than 10 per cent of the workforce is unionized and a smaller number of workers have collective bargaining agreements.
The workers called for:
- A living wage
- Regular and secure jobs
- Respect for basic labour rights especially the right to unionize, the right to strike and the right to bargain collectively
- Safe and healthy working conditions
- Humane treatment at work
In the Philippines precarious work continues to exist and spread. It is most widespread in the metal and machine industry, which includes electronics, automotive, mining, shipbuilding and steel manufacturing. The number of contractual workers dwarfs that of regular workers, posing a very big challenge to organizing unions. Contractual employment is being used to crush unions. Even as contractuals are severely exploited – provided with lower wages, deprived of job security and not accorded with benefits – they are not allowed to organize nor join unions. They are treated like rags that can be disposed off anytime the employers want.
On the World Day for Decent Work, Filipino metal workers raised their voices in unison with the workers of the Philippines and the world. “Let us fight to end precarious work and to realize our dream of decent work. Let us raise our just demands and fight for our right to unionize. Let us fight for our right to life – for us, our families and the future of the world” they chanted.
4 October
In Makati, Philippines, hundreds of affiliates from the All Workers Alliance of Trade Unions (AWATU), Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), Integrated Labour Organization (ILO-PHILS), and Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS) joined together with other trade union groups and non government organizations to call attention of the Philippine President and the Congress to fully abolish the roots of all corruption in the government, eliminate all precarious work, and promote living wage and decent work.
All the local and multinational employers take the situation that workers face in terms of unemployment as an opportunity to gain more capital through extensive use of contract and casual workers in their factories. The Filippino workers urge the government to make changes in legislation.