Contractualization affirmed, set to worsen under Aquino

Three days before the first anniversary of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s inauguration, labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno slammed the president for affirming contractualization of the country’s work forces and said the scheme is set to worsen under the Aquino government.

KMU cited the following cases:

>> Philippine Airlines. The Aquino government, through the Department of Labor and Employment, allowed Lucio Tan’s contractualization via outsorcing scheme which will retrench more than 2,600 regular workers under one of the country’s oldest unions only to re-hire them as contractuals.

>> ABS-CBN. While the DOLE affirmed that ABS-CBN’s contractual workers under its Internal Job Market should be recognized as regular workers, the Aquino government has failed to compel the Lopez-owned company to abide by the ruling. It has also failed to put ABS-CBN to task for illegally terminating from work more than 100 contractuals who formed a union.

>> Banking industry. The Aquino government has retained Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 268 which allows the outsourcing of all banking functions, putting all bank employees in danger of losing their regular jobs and being re-hired as contractuals.

>> Export-processing zones and service sector. The Aquino government has not made any move to reverse the widespread contractualization in the country’s export-processing zones and service sector, where the overwhelming majority of workers are contractuals.

“The scourge that is contractualization was affirmed in a big way by the Aquino government in its major decisions on Philippine Airlines and ABS-CBN and in its inaction in relation to the banking industry, export-processing zones and service sector. Noynoy is set to continue making us a nation of contractuals,” said Rogelio Soluta, KMU secretary-general.

Contractual workers are subjected to less pay and benefits and temporary work. They can be terminated from work easily, making it difficult for them to form or join unions. In many instances they are compelled to take on the difficult, dirty and dangerous work in companies.

“Most of the recently-announced 11 billionaires in the country are the top contractualizers in the country with Henry Sy, Lucio Tan and Danding Cojuangco leading the pack. Contractualization is a bane to the Filipino workers and people and a bonanza for big foreign and local capitalists,” Soluta said.

“This is what the Aquino government means when it says its policy is to attract investors, especially foreign ones, to the country: offering a workforce composed of contractual workers. Seen from the angle of contractualization affecting the majority of the country’s workers, the Aquino government does not at all value the Filipino workers and people,” Soluta added.