Name: Ma. Mikaela Andrea A.

Franco
Subject: MPA – Organization and Management

UNRESOLVED HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE

CASE #4: WORKER RIGHTS

Freedom of Association and the

Right to Collective Bargaining

The law guarantees certain workers' rights to form and join independent unions,
engage in collective bargaining, and go on strikes. It also forbids anti-union
discrimination and mandates the reinstatement of employees who have been fired
for engaging in union activity, with the exception of the military, police, short-term
contract workers, and some foreign workers. However, the law imposes a number of
limitations on these rights. Violence and threats against union leaders persisted.

Both the private sector and businesses that are owned or controlled by the
government are given the freedom to organize and engage in collective bargaining
under laws and regulations. The legislation forbids foreign nationals or migrant
workers from organizing unless there is a reciprocity agreement with the countries of
the employees' origin that states that migrant workers from the Philippines are
allowed to organize unions there. Additionally, the law prohibits unionization for non-
contractual employees, temporary employees, and those who are outsourced. The
International Labor Organization (ILO) deemed this threshold to be excessive. The
law stipulates that 20 percent of the workers in the bargaining unit where the union
intends to function must participate.

The law requires one month of forced mediation-conciliation for all labor and
employment issues. The majority of unfair labor practice cases are resolved through
mediation services offered by the Department of Labor through a board. The agency
also strives to enhance the performance of labor-management councils in
businesses where there are unions through the National Conciliation and Mediation
Board.

If negotiations are unsuccessful, the union may call a strike. A collective bargaining
deadlock, flagrant violation of the legislation governing collective bargaining, or an
unfair labor practice must be the cause of a strike or lockout. Although there has
never been a conviction for engaging in an illegal strike, the legislation stipulates a
maximum prison penalty of three years. Additionally, the law enables employers to
fire union officials who knowingly take part in an illegal strike.

Unions must adhere to mandated cooling-off periods, give prior strike notice (30
days for collective bargaining issues and 15 days for unfair labor practice issues)
and receive permission from a majority of members in order for a private sector

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strike to be legitimate. From January to July, the National Conciliation and Mediation
Board of the Department of Labor and Employment reported 351 mediation-
conciliation cases. Of them, 271 cases were filed as preventive mediation cases and
80 as strike or lockout notice cases. The National Conciliation and Mediation Board
blamed the year's relaxation of COVID-19 protocols, which increased workforce
activity compared to the same period in 2020, for the 76 percent rise in cases filed.

Government employees are not allowed to participate in strikes if they face

automatic dismissal. The Civil Service Commission, which arbitrates disputes and
resolves administrative issues, accepts complaints from government employees.
Government employees are also permitted to congregate and voice their complaints
on the job site after hours.

If either authority believes that the strike-affected enterprise is essential to the

national interest, the secretary of the Department of Labor and, in some
circumstances, the president, may step in to mediate labor disputes by acquiring
jurisdiction and ordering a settlement. Hospitals, the electricity sector, water supply
services (except small bottle suppliers), air traffic control, and other undertakings or
businesses as suggested by the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council are
examples of essential sectors. Advocates for labor rights continued to chastise the
government for upholding definitions of essential services that exceeded global
norms.

The majority of the time, the government supported the right to engage in free
association and collective bargaining and took steps to uphold the laws defending
these rights. In general, legislation pertaining to collective bargaining and freedom of
association can be enforced by the Department of Labor. The labor arbitrator of the
National Labor Relations Commission has the authority to issue urgent orders or
writs of execution for reinstatement, compelling employers to do so and reporting
any compliance. The quasi-judicial panel may evaluate allegations of intimidation
and discrimination in connection with union operations because they could be
considered unfair labor practices. The labor secretary may postpone the termination
and restore the status quo until the matter is resolved if it is clearly established in the
preliminary findings that a termination may result in a significant labor dispute or
mass layoff.

The legal penalties for breaking rules governing collective bargaining or freedom of
association were typically insufficient to deter similar crimes. Anti-union
discrimination, particularly in hiring, is an unfair labor practice that may result in
criminal or civil fines that are excessive compared to the severity of comparable
offences, however generally speaking, civil sanctions were preferred over criminal
ones.

There were protracted appeals and delays in administrative and judicial processes.

The tripartite industrial peace council is the primary forum for organized labor,
employers, and the government to confer and provide advice on labor and

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employment policy development and execution. It serves as the focal point for
coordinating the monitoring of ILO convention recommendations and ratifications.
The investigation, prosecution, and resolution of cases claiming violence and
harassment of labor leaders and trade union activists that are now before the ILO
are coordinated by the Department of Labor through the industrial peace council.

In order to exercise their rights to freedom of organization and collective bargaining,

workers encountered numerous obstacles. To reduce unionization and avoid other
rights granted to "regular" workers, some businesses reportedly chose to hire people
who could not legally organize, such as short-term contract and foreign national
labor. A decrease in the number of unions and employees covered by collective
bargaining agreements, according to the nonprofit Center for Trade Union and
Human Rights, was a result of this practice. Employers frequently took advantage of
contract labor provisions by rehiring workers soon after the end of the last
agreement. The Department of Labor received numerous reports from workers
claiming that their employers were refusing to negotiate.

By upholding union-free or strike-free regulations, local government leaders and

administrators who oversaw the Special Economic Zones, according to continuing
claims by unions, blatantly attempted to thwart union organizing attempts. In
addition, unions claimed that businesses in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) filed
spurious lawsuits against union leaders and that the government stationed security
forces near SEZs to frighten workers trying to organize. As part of the powers
granted to the zones by the Knesset, local zone directors asserted exclusive
authority to carry out their own inspections. Through designated zone labor centers,
employers had control over hiring. Unions had minimal success organizing in the
Special Economic Zones for these reasons, as well as in part because organizers
had limited access to the heavily guarded zones and because zone establishments
tended to use fixed term, casual, temporary, or seasonal employment contracts.
Data on the zones' compliance with labor regulations are not available to the
Department of Labor.

Violence and threats against union members persisted. The Confederation for Unity
Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, the Alliance of
Concerned Teachers, and the union of Philippine Senate employees are the two
trade unions that the Department of Interior and Local Government ordered its
regional offices to compile lists of their members. These, according to the
department, belonged to the Communist Party.

Human rights and labor activist Manny Asuncion was among those police shot and
killed on March 7, often known as "Bloody Sunday," outside the Cavite Workers'
Assistance Center office. Asuncion, a former factory worker, has argued in favor of
raising the minimum wage. Dandy Miguel, vice-chairman of a regional labor
federation and president of the trade union at an electronics manufacturing company
in Cavite, was shot eight times on March 28 by an unidentified assailant as he was
leaving work while wearing a union T-shirt that read, "fight for wages, work, rights."
Within a month, similar attacks were carried out on nine other activists.

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Prohibition of Forced or
Compulsory Labor

All forms of compelled work are forbidden by law. The government failed to
adequately enforce the legislation, despite the fact that the legal penalties were
proportionate to the offences involved.

To stop forced labor, the government kept up its awareness-raising campaigns,

particularly in the provinces. A program for recruits for commercial fishing vessels,
who were among the employees most susceptible to situations of forced labor, was
one of the initiatives taken by the Department of Labor.

Adults and children continued to be reported to have been compelled to work, mostly
in the fishing and other marine industries, tiny factories, gold mines, domestic
service, agriculture, and other informal sectors (see section 7.c.). NGOs and
survivors claim that dishonest employers pushed women from rural areas and
underdeveloped metropolitan areas to perform household work, beg for money, and
work in small factories. In the fishing and other marine businesses as well as in
agriculture, notably on sugar cane plantations, they also subjected individuals to
forced labor and debt bondage. Trade unions claimed that the government's inability
to monitor labor practices in the informal economy was a contributing factor in the
sustained low level of legal compliance.

According to reports, some people who voluntarily turned themselves in to police and
local government agencies as part of the anti-drug campaign were subjected to
forced labor or other activities without being charged, put on trial, or found guilty by a
court of law. Only at the desire of the convicts was manual labor permitted within
jails. 

Prohibition of Child Labor and

Minimum Age for Employment

The maximum amount of working hours for children under the age of 15 is four hours
per day and no more than 20 hours per week, and the law forbids hiring anyone
under the age of 15, including domestic workers, unless they are directly and solely
responsible for them. All harmful kinds of child labor are likewise forbidden by law.

Eight hours per day, up to a maximum of 40 hours per week, are the maximum
amount of time that children aged 15 to 17 may work. The employment of those
under the age of 18 in dangerous jobs is prohibited by law. Some kids are tempted to
leave school before completing their compulsory education since the minimal age for
job is lower than the mandatory education age.

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The law was not successfully enforced by the government. Although the government
fined violators of child labor laws and started criminal investigations in the formal
sector, such as manufacturing, it did not do so in an efficient or consistent manner.
Fines for breaking the ban on child work were not proportionate to similar crimes.

Through its Sagip Batang Manggagawa (Rescue Child Laborers) program, the
Department of Labor carried out nine operations between January and July, freeing
18 juveniles from risky and abusive working situations. Six children were saved when
the government issued a temporary closure order against a construction company in
July for breaking child labor regulations. In addition to the regular labor inspection
procedure, operations under the Sagip Batang Manggagawa program were carried
out in karaoke bars, massage parlors, saunas, bathhouses, and farms to target child
labor. They were prohibited from searching private residences for minors working as
domestic helpers or in home-based companies.

The government continued to undertake programs to create safer options for kids,
get them back in school, and provide families with viable economic alternatives to
child labor in conjunction with local NGOs and international organizations. Under the
Convergence Program, the Department of Labor persisted in its attempts to curtail
the worst types of child labor and remove kids from dangerous jobs. Inspections
conducted in October revealed four businesses employing 24 minors. The Anti-Child
Labor Law was determined to have been broken by all four establishments, which
were then promptly rectified.

Despite these initiatives, child labor remained a significant issue. Cases that were
reported to the Department of Labor mainly involved domestic work and agriculture,
particularly the fishing, palm oil, and sugar cane sectors. In the informal economy
and frequently in familial situations, child labor was most prevalent. Children were
exposed to dangerous working conditions in such industries and in jobs including
gold mine, manufacturing (including the production of fireworks), domestic work,
drug trafficking, and garbage scavenging.

Government officials and NGOs have kept track of instances where family members
sold kids to employers for sexual or domestic work.

Discrimination with Respect to

Employment and Occupation

The law forbids discrimination based on age, sex, race, creed, handicap, HIV,
tuberculosis, or hepatitis B status, or marital status, in regards to employment and
vocation. The legislation does not forbid discrimination in the workplace because of a
person's race, country origin, political views, gender identity, sexual orientation, or
status with regard to other contagious diseases. Although there are certain local anti-
discrimination laws at the municipal or city levels that forbid hiring discrimination
against lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender people (but not intersex
people), there was no equivalent law in the federal constitution. The majority of
government organizations and government-owned businesses are required by law to

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reserve 1% of their posts for people with disabilities; social development
organizations are required to reserve 5%. According to the law, the government must
offer "sheltered employment" in separate workplaces and facilities to people with
impairments. A cooperative and self-employment project for people with disabilities
was encouraged by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Local Employment, which
also kept records on these individuals' talents and abilities.

Despite this, hiring and employment practices discriminated against people with
impairments. According to the Department of Labor, 10% of employable people with
impairments were successful in finding employment. No cases were known to have
been brought to enforce the handicap discrimination law between January and July.
The government failed to properly enforce legislation that forbade discrimination in
the workplace or encouraged the hiring of people with disabilities. The severity of the
penalties corresponded to the crime. The government had few resources to help
people with impairments find employment, and their options for legal action and
administrative remedy when potential employers violated their rights were severely
constrained.

Several LGBTQI+ organizations received anecdotal evidence of discriminatory

behaviors that affected the employment of LGBTQI+ people. LGBTQI+ people have
experienced discrimination in employment and occupation. Enforcing laws,
procedures, and regulations that adversely affected LGBTQI+ employees in the
workplace was a kind of discrimination.

Both in hiring and at work, discrimination against women was prevalent. According to
several labor unions, pregnant female employees were subjected to retaliation.
Women worked at all levels of the workforce while facing prejudice at work.

Age discrimination was practiced consistently against both men and women,
especially when hiring.

Acceptable Conditions of Work

Wage and Hour: Official minimum salaries were insufficient to meet basic needs. For
the majority of industrial job categories, the typical workweek is 48 hours, while it is
40 hours for government employees, with a maximum of eight hours each day. Every
week, one day of relaxation is required by law. On regular business days, 130
percent of the hourly rate is required for overtime; on special nonworking days, 200
percent; and on regular holidays, 125 percent of the hourly rate is required. The
number of overtime hours that an employer may demand is not constrained by the
law.

Since wage boards exempted many firms, including distressed businesses, start-
ups, retail and service establishments with less than 10 employees, and
establishments impacted by natural disasters, the wage and hour law did not cover
many workers.

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Domestic employees were covered by a different wage and benefit system that
established weekly rest requirements, payments into social welfare programs, and
minimum wage standards that were much lower than ordinary minimum wage
requirements. Although there were no solid recent statistics, knowledgeable
observers believed that there were at least two million domestic employees, with
over 85% of them being women or girls, some as young as fifteen.

Modest fines, one- to two-year terms of imprisonment, or both may be imposed as

punishment for failure to comply with minimum wage laws. In addition to fines, the
government encouraged firms to make corrections voluntarily through administrative
processes and moral persuasion. Similar offences carried similar punishments.

The minimum wage legislation were not successfully enforced by the government.
Standards for the minimum wage were frequently broken. Even though their kind of
work lacked official training, many businesses recruited workers at apprentice rates,
which were lower than the minimum wage. At businesses in Special Economic
Zones, complaints about payment of less than the minimum wage and nonpayment
of social security contributions and bonuses were particularly prevalent.

Occupational Safety and Health: A complete set of suitable occupational safety and
health standards are set forth in the law. Examples of dangerous techniques that are
prohibited by regulations for small-scale mining include the use of mercury and
underwater, or compressor, mining. The law gives employees the freedom to leave
circumstances when their health or safety are in danger without risking their jobs.

Worker compliance with wage, hour, and occupational safety and health rules is
monitored and inspected by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Working
Conditions. This includes both traditional and nontraditional workers as well as those
employed in the formal and informal economy. Additionally, it looks into the
enterprises operating in Special Economic Zones. For the workforce of 42 million
people, especially in rural regions, there were not enough labor inspectors to monitor
and enforce the law, including by checking for compliance with core labor and
occupational safety standards and minimum pay. While noting that a lack of
inspection funding continued to limit its ability to properly investigate labor law
breaches, particularly in the informal sector and in small- and medium-sized
businesses, the Department of Labor emphasized hiring more inspectors.

The Labor Laws Compliance System for the private sector is still being used by the
Department of Labor. Joint evaluations, compliance checks, and investigations into
occupational safety and health were all part of the system. Inspectors from the
Department of Labor also conducted unannounced compliance visits and
investigations into workplace safety and health standards in addition to conducting
joint evaluations with representatives from the employer and the workforce.
Additionally, the Department of Labor and the ILO persisted in their use of a mobile
information management system to gather and transmit data from the field in real
time. Due to COVID-19 quarantine requirements, there were significantly fewer
violations from January to July compared to the same time in 2020.

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If a deficit is discovered, the Department of Labor may issue compliance orders,
which may include a fine, or, if the shortfall poses a serious and immediate risk to
employees, may order the suspension of operations. Penalties were comparable to
those for offences of a similar nature. Throughout the year, no businesses were shut
down by the Bureau of Working Conditions of the Department of Labor. Hearings
and prior notification are required for these closures.

Numerous labor organizations condemned the government's enforcement efforts

throughout the year, particularly the Department of Labor's inadequate oversight of
workplace occupational safety and health requirements. The Bureau of Working
Conditions documented 84 work-related accidents between January and July that
resulted in 64 fatalities and 43 injuries. Statistics on diseases and accidents at work
aren't complete because incidences, particularly in agriculture, aren't reported.

Guidelines for the utilization of labor contracts and subcontracting are outlined in a
Labor Department order. However, some labor groups condemned the ruling for
allowing subcontracting and frequent, short-term temporary work, which they claimed
might be exploited to erode worker protections.

There were also gaps in the law, and the government implemented contracting and
workplace safety and health standards inconsistently. Media cited, for example,
challenges in the implementation and enforcement of the domestic worker’s law,
including a cumbersome registration process, an increased financial load on
employers, and difficulty in monitoring business compliance.

The majority of the nation's foreign nationals were contract or temporary employees
of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, but the government and various
NGOs campaigned to defend their rights. Even if the agency registered and oversaw
domestic recruitment procedures, authorities frequently lacked the resources
necessary to guarantee full worker protection abroad. Through its legal help fund,
the Overseas Worker Welfare Administration aids foreign employees in complaining
to their employers. The fund pays the administrative expenses that would otherwise
discourage foreign employees from lodging grievances. The payments for contract
termination, visa cancellation, and court translation are all covered expenses.

Domestic recruiting companies found guilty of unfair labor practices continued to

face financial penalties from the government and criminal prosecution.

Informal Sector: The informal sector employed close to 40% of the workforce in the
nation. Despite being protected by labor laws, they were not entitled to the same
social benefits as those who worked in the formal sector. Small and
microbusinesses, agricultural laborers, and domestic assistants all fall under the
informal sector. The government's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating
Disadvantaged/Displaced Employees program is a community-based initiative that
offered displaced, underemployed, and informal sector workers temporary
emergency employment.

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