DOLE urged to deputize trade union representatives

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been urged to immediately deputize the trade union representatives in the assessment of compliance of establishments with general labor standards and occupational safety and healthy standards, particularly in the agribusiness, mining, fishing, and construction.

TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza said President Duterte himself nodded to the deputization of trade union representatives with budgetary allocation during a labor dialogue in Malacañang last month.

He noted that the funding for such purpose will be sourced from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“Trade union participation insulates DOLE Labor Law Compliance Officers (LLCOs) from bribery and ensures the quality of compliance with all standards by all establishments. However, noncompliance remains as shown by fatal accidents,” he said, citing the recent House Technology Industries (HTI) fire and increasing occupational diseases as noted in the Philippine Statistics Authority survey released in Oct. 2015.

Mendoza stressed that the participation of trade union representatives in the conduct of assessment of compliance of establishments is a built-in component of the new Labor Law Compliance System of the DOLE.

“There are about 200,000 establishments legally required to be assessed nationwide and the number of DOLE LLCOs is just about 574, which is not at par with the International Labour Organization’s recommended whole-year world standard ratio enforcement of one compliance officer for every 120 establishments; hence, the need to deputize trade union representatives,” Mendoza said.