Top issues for tomorrow's Labor Day

Tomorrow, the Philippines and almost all the countries all over the world except the United States (which holds its Labor Day on the first Monday of every September ), will celebrate the International Workers' Day, or Labor Day. In such countries as China, Russia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Egypt, Mexico, Canada and the whole South America, workers would stage rallies, demonstrations and other peaceful concerted actions to show force and to voice out their demands for better working conditions, higher wages, better occupational safety and health standards, and security of tenure.

In the Philippines today, the number one issues are unemployment, joblessness, and underemployment. The investors are not coming to put up manufacturing and other companies because of many causes. First, our infrastructure stinks. Roads and bridges are too narrow and the traffic is horrendous. The cost of power is too high vis-à-vis the world market. The government makes it difficult to put up new businesses. The DO LE keep son bullying businessmen with visitorial powers. They do not only implement the general labor standards laws. They also focus on occupational safety and health. And many of the labor compliance officers are compelling principal employers to absorb the workers of the agencies and contractors. Then, the investors are terrified by kidnappers and terrorists, and it seems the government's campaign against drugs has been suspected of fomenting summary executions (which we do not believe).

The next issue is the endless diaspora or massive outward migration of Filipino talents. Our talents in very critical areas are pulled by the tremendous magnetism of dollars and other foreign exchange earnings. However many of the unskilled OFWs are compelled by necessity to accept dirty, difficult, dangerous, deceptive, and degrading jobs. The domestic helpers in the Middle East are reportedly subjected to very harsh working conditions, long hours, and lack of rest, and a number of them have been raped, maltreated and even murdered. There are many who are languishing in jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers. The budget of DOLE and DFA and the personnel sent there are not enough to be able to address all these issues adequately and with a sense of urgency. This has been the nagging problem since many decades ago. The government has not been able to resolve this problem with finality.

Then, we have the problems of delays and too many expenses in the adjudication of labor disputes. Workers still cannot afford and are still frustrated by high costs of labor justice and too many delays in the resolution of labor disputes. The labor arbiters and the commissioners should work harder and improve the efficiency of compulsory arbitration as compared to voluntary arbitration. Many government agencies like the POEA and the regional offices of DO LE, NC MB, and N LR C need to increase their level of efficiency. They should address the problems of delays and corruption. The voluntary arbitration system has remained a "poor cousin" to compulsory arbitration. They are faster but they cost money. The NC MB does not pay salaries to the arbitrators, and yet, these unsung heroes are performing a public function.

Tomorrow, President Rodrigo Duterte and Secretary Silvestre Bello III should lay down the Labor Agenda for the next five years for the country and for our working class.And such agenda should address the above-cited problems. The working class, who break their backs to make this country productive, deserves no less.