6 PH firms listed in Forbes’ world’s best employers

The inclusion of six Filipino companies in the latest list of the best employers in the world by Forbes Magazine drew mixed reactions from labor groups.

In its Global 2000: World’s Best Employers, Forbes Magazine listed: *Ayala Corp.; *BDO Unibank Inc.; *Metrobank; *Aboitiz Equity Ventures; *Manila Electric Co. (Meralco); and *SM Investments, as among the 500 top-rated companies by workers.

The list was based on the survey conducted by Forbes Magazine among workers in 58 countries.

Associated Labor UnionTrade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said BDO and Metrobank deserved to be in the list for improving the benefits of their workers.

The labor union in both companies–Banco de Oro Employees Association, and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company Employees Unions–are affiliated with ALU-TUCP.

“Their Collective Bargaining Agreements are not perfect, but both are among the best CBA’s in the industry in the country right now,” Tanjusay said.

The labor leader said BDO and Metrobank are proofs that companies could still maintain their competitiveness even if they have active labor unions.

“It goes to show that as long as management highly recognizes and deeply respects their workers, particularly the right of workers to form unions, workers will work hard and even better and become productive and creative to better serve the company,” Tanjusay said.

For its part, Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed reservations about the inclusion of SM and Meralco on the list despite their practice of contractualization.

“The practice of contracting out their labor requirements, as such, lowers their labor costs but such practice is detrimental to the rights and welfare of workers being contracted out,” PM national chair Renato Magtubo said.

He also questioned the criteria used by Forbes Magazine in making the list if it included the employees’ assessment of the subsidiaries and contractors of the companies Forbes rated.