LABOR MIGRATION

& THE OFW

PHENOMENON
 What is migration?
■ Migration – refers to the movement of people
from one place to another.

■ 2 Types of Migration:
a. Internal Migration – refers to the movement of
people within one country i.e. rural to urban
migration
b. International Migration – refers to the
movement of people from one country to
another
 Causes of Migration
■ Poverty
■ Unemployment
■ Victims of natural calamities
■ Improve standard of living
■ Better education
■ Better environment
■ Economic Security
EFFECTS OF MIGRATION
Positive Effects Negative Effects

Increase labor supply Overcrowding

Cheap labor Lack of housing facilities

Traffic congestion

Heavy pollution in air,

water, noise
Unemployment
Occurrence of squatter
areas
■ Labor migration – is the
process of shifting a labor force
from one physical location to
another
■ Labor migration takes place
with the support of labor force
Causes of labor
migration
1. The desire of job seekers to
increase income and to improve
the standard of living
2. The emergence of new industries
3. The relocation of production
facilities of a given business to a
new area.
What are OFWs?
■ Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFWs) – are Filipinos who
are presently and temporarily
working outside the country.
They may be land-based of
sea-based workers.

Ex. Domestic Helpers,

Teachers, Seamen, Nurses
Total Number of OFWs Estimated at 2.3 Million (Results
from the 2018 Survey on Overseas Filipinos)
April 30, 2019
The number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who
worked abroad at anytime during the period April to
September 2018 was estimated at 2.3 million. Overseas
Contract Workers (OCWs) with existing work contract
comprised 96.2 percent of the total... Read more about
Total Number of OFWs Estimated at 2.3 Million (Results
from the 2018 Survey on Overseas Filipinos)

https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-force/sof-index
 TABLE 1.1 Distribution of Overseas Filipino Workers
by Sex and Region: 2018

Both
Region Male Female
Sexes

Philippines 2,299 1,016 1,284

Number (In thousands)

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

National Capital Region (NCR) 9.7 10.6 9.0
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) 1.8 1.0 2.4
Region I (Ilocos Region) 9.7 7.4 11.6
Region II (Cagayan Valley) 6.5 3.8 8.7
Region III (Central Luzon) 14.3 17.6 11.7
Region IV-A (CALABARZON) 17.9 22.3 14.4
MIMAROPA Region 1.8 1.9 1.7
Region V (Bicol Region) 3.7 3.8 3.7
Region VI (Western Visayas) 8.9 9.6 8.3
Region VII (Central Visayas) 5.6 6.8 4.6
Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) 2.2 2.3 2.0
Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) 2.5 2.1 2.8
Region X (Northern Mindanao) 3.5 3.6 3.4
Region XI (Davao Region) 3.3 2.0 4.4
Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) 4.6 2.3 6.5
Region XIII (Caraga) 1.8 1.7 1.9
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
2.1 1.2 2.9
(ARMM)

Notes: Details may not add up to totals due to rounding.

The estimates cover overseas Filipinos whose departure occurred within the last five years and who are
 REASONS
BEHIND THE
OFW
PHENOM ENON
1.High Unemployment Rate
- Newly graduates join the
labor force that increases the
competition in the labor
market. Instead of waiting for
them to be hired locally,
Filipinos seek employment
overseas.
2. Low Salary offered by
employers in the Philippines
- Filipinos are willing to work
abroad due to low salary. Even
professionals like nurses,
engineers and teachers would
prefer to work abroad as
household help or office workers
because of the higher salary
offered overseas.
3. Discrimination in job hiring in
the Philippines
- local employers tend to hire
candidates even if they’re not the
most qualified for jobs. The
qualified and overage applicants
who were not able to find jobs
decide to work abroad.
4. High Withholding Tax
- The Philippines has a high
income tax rates for workers.
Workers’ take home pay decreases
after deducting the withholding tax,
GSIS/SSS premium, Pag-ibig and
Philhealth and other mandatory
deductions.
 Philippine Government
Policy Framework on Migration

Regulation: legislation (Labor Code and R.A. ) licensing, rules and standards on
recruitment and placement, pre-departure orientation, sanctions, ratification of
international instruments (ILO Conventions 97 and145; UN Convention on Migrants,
CEDAW)
Protection: self-organizaiton (unionism and mutual benefit associations) bilateral
labor agreements, protection from illegal recruitment activities, welfare program and
services, voluntary social insurance, group life insurance, training, support to OFW
families and during emergency repatration, adjudication of worker-employer
conflicts, on-site monitoring and assistance
Re-integration: training and re-training, domestic employment matching, self-
employment assistance, assistance in setting up businesses, family counselling and
community organizing, loans for livelihood

The overall framework is good but its application is faulty,

especially in respect to self-organization. 17
 Constraints to Protecting Migrant Workers

Workers’ Education and Self-Organization

Narrowing the Development Gap
Cultural Divide
Absence of Counterpart Protective Mechanism in Destination Countries
Absence of Binding International Protocols

Protection of Migrant Work is a shared responsibility

between and among the social partners and the Source and
Destination countries

Source: Sto. Tomas, Patricia, “Protecting Migrant Workers from the Philippines”,
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ILO Asian RegionalProgram on Governance of Labor Migration, Working Paper # 21, 2009
 What more is needed in both sending and receiving
countries?

Informed and transparent

labour migration admission Combating trafficking and
system exploitation

Standards-based approach Promoting decent work in

to migration management migrant work

Plan of action against Solidarity with migrant

discrimination and workers
xenophobia Combating the “police “
Creation of specialized approach and regulating the
labour market
institutions
Bilateral & multilateral labor
agreements

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 Part IV: Unionization and Union Actions
on Migrant Workers

Global Patterns of Union Action

Improving Trade Union Models
What FFW is Doing
What else should Unions do?

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 What Unions are doing
Large scale political action and
mobilization: e.g, postcard
campaign, anti-racism and
xenophobia
Advocacy for the protection of
migrant workers
Continuing large scale organizing
among migrant workers in their
workplace and communities
Organizing “area-wide works
councils and issuing “agricultural
employment vouchers
Providing direct services for migrant
workers: legal, education and
training, accommodations,
Negotiating collective bargaining
agreements and bargaining for
equality
Production of tool kits and
facilitating access to information via
online services
union to union agreements between
sending and receiving countries
“UNI passport”
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 Improving the Trade Union Models

Union to union arrangement, including GUFs

Employment Promotion and Cultural Integration through skills
development and language learning
Institutional Social Protection plus union-based social protection scheme
Regional Advocacy: in APEC, AFTA, SAARC
TU-NGO Cooperation and Networking
Decent Work as an Overall Framework

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 FFW Programs and Actions on
Filipino Migrant Workers

Organization of communities of Migrant Households

Prosecution of Migrant workers’ claims in adjudication mechanisms
Language Training (Finishing course in English)
Advocacies for the protection of migrant workers’ rights and promotion of
their interest and welfare
Facilitate access to public services in training and in enrollment with the
Flexi Fund of the SSS
Proposed Union to Union Agreements in Managing the Flow of Migrant
Workers

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 Legend:
FFW Proposal: Union2Union ROLE PHIC : Philippine Health Insurance Corporation
• Governor OWWA: Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration
Design for Managing Deployment • Mediator SSS; Social Security Commission
DFA: Department of Foreign Affairs
• Arbiter POEA: Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
DOLE: Department of Labor & Employment
ROLE: Union (SC) MFA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
EB: Equivalent Body
ITUC/GUF GUF: General Union Federation
• Organizing workers and membership
enrollment ROLE: Union (RC)
• Manpower pooling, data-basing and
documentation INTERNATIONAL
• Placement
• Skills training, assessment and INSTRUMENTS • Representation
certification • Protection
• Recruitment, Selection, hiring and UN Conventions & Protocols • Training, assessment and
placement ILO Convention and Recommendations Certification
• Pre-departure orientation seminar • Post-placement in-country
• Rights and interests representation services
• Post-placement services • Repatriation
• Repatriation
DEPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
• Re-integration
PHIC DFA • Private to Private MFA EB
• Government to Government
Union • Government to Private Union
Sending POEA EB EB Receiving
Country (SC)
OWWA • Private to Government Country (RC)

SSS DOLE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS EB EB

Worker Employer

LAW AND PRACTICE and IFAs

Private Private
Agency(ies) Agency(ies)
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