A labor NGO welcomed the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) recommendations to the Philippine government to fully uphold workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain, after the international body’s first review of the country’s performance in upholding those rights, saying the government should immediately carry out the recommendations.

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) welcomed the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards’ recommendations to the government to make the country’s laws and policies consistent with ILO Convention 98, or the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention.

“We are glad that the ILO has again spotlighted the Philippine government’s refusal to uphold workers’ rights to unionize, collectively bargain and strike. The low union and CBA coverage and low strike rates despite poor working conditions all attest to such refusal,” said Kamz Deligente, CTUHR executive director.

Aside from recommendations about “union-busting practices, blacklisting and anti-union dismissals and suspensions” and improving CBA coverage, the ILO committee also made proposals regarding workers in establishments without unions, public sector workers, and workers in the electricity sector.

“The recommendations target mass layoffs, which are employers’ frequent and effective response to stop workers from unionizing. The government has not done much to prevent employers from doing this and to hold erring employers accountable,” Deligente added.

The recommendations were released in time for the International Labour Conference’s 114th session in Geneva, Switzerland and were posted in the ILO website on June 8: https://www.ilo.org/…/ILC114-CAN-PV17-Philippines…

“At the same time, we note that the recommendations are silent on the many attacks on workers’ rights to unionize, collectively bargain and strike that the government allows and carries out. We insist that the ILO look into these cases and forward recommendations to the government about these,” said Deligente.

CTUHR cited the Labor Secretary’s power to stop and repress strikes, the red-tagging of unionists and labor activists, the recent disappearance of two labor activists, the 109 cases of extra-judicial killing of labor activists since 2016, and the continuing detention of 20 political prisoners from the labor movement.

“By commenting on the government’s failure to uphold its employees’ right to collectively bargain, the ILO highlights how the main duty-bearer as regards labor rights is not upholding those rights within its own scope. Government employees face low wages, increasing contractualization, and a ban on the right to strike,” Deligente stated.