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Philippines (Tony Salvador) |
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First Session - February 13, 1999
Venue: Institute of Social Order - Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon
City
1. What significant changes have you experienced in your workplace over the past 10 years?
There has been marked reduction in the workforce and hours of work as management resort to all sorts of cost-cutting schemes including forced early retirement. However, there were also those who complained of forced overtime because of the drastic reduction in the workforce or the refusal of management to hire additional personnel. One of the participants also cited instances where forced leaves were brought about by the failure of the company to pay its suppliers, thereby causing delay in the delivery of materials. As far as migrant Filipino workers are concerned, because of competition from other third world countries, foreign vessels are hiring less Filipinos.
To make matters worse, there is also a reduction in the number of regular employees and a marked increase in the number of casual, contractual, agency, subcontracted employees. Unlike regular workers, they have short term contracts, are given wages and benefits way below that provided by law, and are unable to join unions.
In order to prevent the existence of employer-employee relationship between the real employer and the employees, many firms avail of the services of bogus subcontractors which are owned also by the principal employer, often housed in the same premises and/or which are spin-off corporations which used to be part of the parent corporation. Also, some subcontractors are not really subcontractors but mere labor recruitment agencies. Thus, the problem basically boils down to inadequate legal protection of the right to security of tenure.
Loss of jobs, especially regular jobs, could also be attributed to job combination and multi-skilling, where a single employee is assigned new tasks not contemplated in the original job description. Modern technology with concomitant labor-saving devices, while creating jobs in some industries, also destroy jobs in others.
For those fortunate enough to hold on to their jobs, their wage increases are insignificant and cannot catch up with rising prices.
The difficulty in organizing workers is worsened by the proliferation of labor-management councils.
Because of the anxiety that workers go through in the face of the above problems, workers become less focused on their work.
2. How have these changes affected workers and trade unions?
The above changes in the workplace have adversely affected the workers and the unions. As mentioned earlier, workers have lost their jobs, and those who replace them, if any are hired, are classified as casuals or contractual employees who do not enjoy security of tenure and who cannot join unions. The assault on the right to security of tenure in turn is the most effective union-busting device. The iron hand of martial law was not as effective in stifling the right to self-organization as the violation of the right to security of tenure.
The collective bargaining unit is decimated since regular workers are dismissed sometimes without being replaced or replaced by non-regular workers.
Also, because of the ease with which workers are dismissed and the difficulty to be reinstated either through arbitration or negotiation, workers are too scared to join unions, lest they run the risk of being dismissed for union activities. In the end, union membership is decreasing as it becomes extremely difficult to organize. Reduced membership then translates into reduced union strength, thereby making them less effecting in fighting for workers’ rights. And while union strength is decreasing, problems of workers keep on mounting. Consequently the union’s focus is spread over so many concerns. In the end, the unions become less stable politically and financially. Concerted actions then become less effective and do not threaten management.
Because of business competition and/or because they want to increase their profits , companies are forced to cut costs by reducing the workforce and at the same time assigning more work on the remaining workers. However, the increase in the amount of work do no translate into corresponding increase in pay. Annual increases are negligible. It is difficult to convince members to join seminars, and one of the reasons often given is that management has ordered them to work overtime. Thus, during general membership assemblies, most of the members find it difficult to understand union issues.
On the other hand, there are workers who experience diminution of benefits and reduced earnings because their employers had to reduce their output.
With respect to seafarers, they are often left without adequate legal protection since shipping companies resort to "flag of convenience" where the foreign owner registers the vessel in a country where there is less legal protection for workers, and where they can enjoy less taxes.
3. What do you think have caused these changes?
Global competition in a market economy where trade barriers are being removed or reduced precipitously, as well as the desire for even more profits or the need to simply survive in an increasing ruthless capitalist system have forced employers to cut costs.
Unfortunately, employers all too often react through the simple expedient of dismissing workers or reducing their hours of work and benefits.
In addition, laws do not adequately protect the workers, even as business will take advantage of every opportunity to weaken the unions. Also, companies do not want standardisation of benefits, giving unjustified differences in benefits to different kinds of workers doing the same kind of job.
One of the participants also mentioned that in the face of more intense and more ruthless competition, a lot of companies are unstable and are fighting for their survival. Many operate even though they lack the necessary capital, thereby causing work disruption and reduced worker benefits.
4. What questions do you have for workers in other countries about changes in their workplace?
Session 2 - 9am to 1pm, February 20, 1999, SALIGAN -NLI office - G/f Hoffner Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES
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