US on Human Rights in Philippines: Unsolved Cases, Unpunished Perpetrators

Allegations of intimidation and discrimination in connection with union activities are grounds for review before the quasi-judicial National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) as possible unfair labor practices. Before disputes reach the NLRC, the DOLE provides the services of a mediation board, which settles most of the unfair labor practice disputes raised as grounds for strikes before the strikes may be declared. The DOLE, through the mediation board, also worked to improve the functioning of labor-management councils in companies that already had unions.

Subject to procedural restrictions, strikes in the private sector are legal; however, unions are required to provide strike notice, respect mandatory cooling-off periods, and obtain majority member approval before calling a strike. By law, the reason for striking must be relevant to the labor contract or the law, and all means of reconciliation must have been exhausted. The DOLE secretary may intervene in some labor disputes by assuming jurisdiction and mandating a settlement if the secretary decides that the industry involved in the strike is vital to the national interest. Labor rights advocates criticized the government for intervening in labor disputes in sectors that are not vital to the national economy. DOLE reported six strikes involving 915 workers during the year; in 2006 there were 12 strikes involving approximately 1,400 workers.

In June armed men allegedly attacked seven union members on strike in the Cavite Economic Zone and demolished their picket line. At least two of the union members were reportedly injured. The unions of two garment factories in the Cavite Economic Zone launched strikes in September 2006 after management refused to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. The CHR investigated allegations of illegal dispersal, physical injuries, and food blockades against the economic zone authority and the local police; results of the investigation were pending at year’s end.

Although the labor code provides that union officers who knowingly participate in an illegal strike may be dismissed and, if convicted, imprisoned for up to three years, there has never been a conviction under this provision.

Dismissal or threatened dismissal of union members was common. Labor groups alleged that companies in the SEZs used frivolous lawsuits as a means of harassing union leaders.

Labor law applies uniformly throughout the country, including the SEZs; however, local political leaders and officials who govern the SEZs attempted to frustrate union organizing efforts by maintaining union-free or strike-free policies. The ITUC in its 2007 Annual Survey maintained that the DOLE was unable or unwilling to enforce labor law in the SEZs. A conflict over interpretation of the SEZ law’s provisions for labor inspection created further obstacles to the enforcement of workers’ rights to organize. DOLE can conduct inspections of local SEZ establishments, although local SEZ directors claimed authority to conduct their own inspections as part of the zones’ privileges intended by congress. Hiring often was controlled tightly through SEZ labor centers. Union successes in organizing in the SEZs have been few and marginal in part due to organizers’ restricted access to the closely guarded zones and to the rapid turnover of the young, mainly female, staff who worked on short-term contracts in the zones’ many electronics and garment factories.

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The law prohibits forced labor, including forced and compulsory labor by children; however, there were some reports of forced and compulsory labor, particularly by children, mainly in prostitution, drug trafficking, domestic service, and other areas of the informal sector (see sections 5 and 6.d.).

d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment

The law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15, except under the direct and sole responsibility of parents or guardians or in cases in which employment in cinema, theater, radio, or television is essential to the integrity of the production. The law allows employment of those between the ages of 15 and 18 for such hours and periods of the day as are determined by the DOLE secretary but forbids the employment of persons less than 18 years of age in hazardous or dangerous work. However, child labor remained a common problem, and a significant number of children were employed in the informal sector of the urban economy or as unpaid family workers in rural agricultural areas–some as bonded laborers. The government estimated that there were approximately four million working children, an estimated half of whom were exposed to hazardous working environments, in industries such as quarrying, mining, deep sea fishing, pyrotechnic production, and agriculture. A survey of two municipalities in Bulacan Province found 1,084 children below 17 years of age working in pyrotechnic factories.

Most child labor occurred in the informal economy, often in family settings. The government, in coordination with a number of domestic NGOs and international organizations, implemented programs to develop safer options for children, return them to school, and offer families viable economic alternatives to child labor. Although the government made attempts to devote more resources to child labor programs this year, government resources remained inadequate.

The government and NGOs implemented programs to prevent the engagement of children in exploitative child labor; they educated communities on child labor and provided counseling and other activities for children. The DOLE and the DepEd worked with NGOs, UNICEF, and the ILO International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor to assist children to return to school. The government also imposed fines and instituted criminal prosecutions for child labor violations in the formal sector, such as in manufacturing. In March the government filed chages against a garment factory in metro Manila for employing 10 child laborers. At year’s end the trial had not yet begun. During the year DOLE continued its efforts to remove child worker from hazardous situations, removing 144 minors in 57 operations, compared with 51 operations involving 218 minors in 2006.

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

The national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Tripartite regional wage boards set minimum wages, and the highest minimum wage rates were in the National Capital Region, where the minimum daily wage for nonagricultural workers was $7.62 (362 pesos). The lowest minimum wages were in the ARMM, where the daily agricultural wage was $4.20 (200 pesos). The regional wage board orders covered all private sector workers except domestic servants and others employed in the service of another person. Boards exempted some employers because of factors such as business size, industry sector, export intensity, financial distress, and level of capitalization. These exemptions excluded substantial numbers of workers from coverage under the law. During the year the regional wage boards granted minimum wage exemptions to 318 establishments out of 421 applications received. Unions have filed complaints about the minimum wage exemption policies.