“[T]he Philippine government has, I would characterize it as taking their foot off the gas pedal, but they haven’t actually taken steps to resolve the violations in a meaningful way. We continue to see killings under the Aquino administration, eight in the past, since he took office,” Brian Campbell, director of policy of the Washington, DC-based International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) said during the public hearing held by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on March 28.
The USTR is reviewing the Philippines’ compliance with the conditions for enjoying the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a scheme whereby select countries can export duty-free to the world’s biggest economy.
Among the issues raised against the Philippines was its track record on respecting labor rights, based on the petition submitted by the ILRF in 2007 that alleged government-led union-busting.
The transcript of the public hearing was posted on the US government website Regulations.gov over the weekend.
“[W]e are happy to see that the killings are not in the dozens and the hundreds, as they were when we filed this case. They are eight; but, again, I don’t believe the reduction in killings is taking steps. What we want is the elimination of the killings and for everyone to be held responsible and the end of impunity,” Campbell said.
He cited a “troubling trend” of filing of criminal charges against trade union leaders.
“Instead of seeing people killed, you see people arrested, and you see them arrested on charges that are being brought that, to the unions and to the people who are being impacted, have nothing to do with what they believe was really going on, which is them taking union activities,” Campbell said.
The ILRF also alleged that Philippine laws and regulations are unclear on what constitutes a labor strike, that even demonstrations of dissatisfaction among workers and associations were already considered as constituting a strike and thus a ground for dismissal.
“[T]his is the other troubling trend in the Philippines, we have now gotten to the point where the courts in the Philippines are moving the goalpost on what is a strike. No longer is a strike a work stoppage even. You don’t even have to stop working to have a strike. All you have to do is a demonstration,” Campbell said, citing a case where several employees of a hotel in Makati City reportedly shaved their heads as a form of protest.
“This was considered a strike. They still showed up to work. They did their job. It was a violation of an employment policy, not the law. But they were brought up, and it was a strike charge. They were all fired,” Campbell said.
“We keep hearing the same from the other unions where they are starting to use temporary restraining orders and they are starting to use other mechanisms in order to violate the right to strike,” he added.
The ILRF also cited President Aquino’s intervention during the strike held by members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), who were laid off by the flag carrier in late 2011.
“[T]here was the extraordinary action by the President to assume jurisdiction over that airline employees’ strike to prevent them from going on strike anymore and to get the airline back to business,” Campbell said.
“It is against international standards, it is against international law, it is a violation of ILO [International Labor Organization] Convention 87 and 98, and they continue to do it,” he said.
Another problem the ILRF cited is the lack of support for victims as well as protection for witnesses of labor rights abuses.
“I can almost assure you that all the victims would want their cases to remain open. In terms of the witnesses, you have two problems. You have a witness protection program that the Philippine government is working hard to improve, but it is just not there yet and so the witnesses can’t come forward, or if they did they would put themselves at risk. You also have a lack of trust in a system that has promoted impunity for a long time. So that is going to be another issue in getting witnesses to come forward,” Campbell said.
During the same public hearing, Philippine labor officials defended the Aquino administration’s record on the labor front.
“This commitment can readily be seen in the fact that barely three years into office, the Aquino government has made continuing progress in addressing decade-old issues through reforms in law and practice, and awareness-raising and capacity-building for stakeholders,” said Labor Undersecretary Rebecca C. Chato.
“The ILO Committee of Experts, in its 16 February 2013 report, has recognized and notes with interest the reforms we have made on Conventions 87 and 98, particularly the measures taken to strengthen the operational capacity of the PNP [Philippine National Police] and the armed forces, the legislative measures, and positive measures addressing anti-union discrimination and interferences,” Chato said.
“There has been no let-up in our efforts. Instead of grand statements, we opted to embed a culture of compliance and respect among all actors in private or public spheres with ILO technical assistance. The results might not be as politically dramatic as they would want it to be, but it would be lasting and institutional to benefit generations to come. We have a President who abhors political gimmickry and exacts genuine reforms for the country,” Chato said.
She said the President recently signed into law several bills that would strengthen tripartism and institutionalize the mandatory 30-day conciliation mediation of labor disputes.
“Both measures, together with the enforcement of the labor and employment education services, and the labor law compliance system, are the foundation to judicialize the labor justice administration in the country,” she said.
The USTR has released post-hearing questions that the Philippine government and ILRF must answer on or before April 18.
In the 2011 Annual Review of the GSP, results of which were released last year, the Philippines was among those under review because of concern over workers’ rights.
In the first 11 months of 2012, about $1.15-billion worth of Philippine exports entered the US duty-free under the GSP—equivalent to over 12.9 percent of shipments to the US in the said period, and exceeding the previous year’s $1.13 billion.
The Philippines was the sixth-biggest GSP beneficiary in 2011, behind India, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa. The Philippines has been part of the GSP since 1989.
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