Nagkaisa welcomes ICC report

World leaders must always be reminded that they are accountable to the people they represent. When those in power fail in their responsibilities to their people, domestic and international laws provide us with the instruments or remedial measures to correct injustice. 

The NAGKAISA Labor Coalition (NAGKAISA) welcomes the report by the International Criminal Court that a “reasonable basis” has been found for crimes against humanity committed in the course of the Duterte government’s “war” on drugs. This report provides glaring evidence that the Philippine government has horribly failed in its duty to protect the lives and dignity of its citizens. Instead, what we have seen under Duterte is the intensification of violence against our fellow Filipinos. From the drug war killings to the red-tagging, intimidation, as well as  murder of trade unionists and progressive activists, the Duterte government does not represent a break from previous administrations, rather merely showing its preference for violence when compared to earlier regimes. 

NAGKAISA, together with the broader progressive movement and our friends in civil society,  welcomes the ICC report. We believe that impunity and the abuse of power has continued for too long in the Philippines. While a warning to self-serving government officials, Duterte’s possible indictment for crimes against humanity is also a huge boost to the struggle of people’s organizations on the ground. International pressure will bring much needed support to the various groups and individuals that have devoted their lives to the service of Filipinos. 

It is these activists, unionists, and reformers that have been the focus of government repression, not the thieves in power that have robbed Filipinos of a dignified life for decades. We look forward to holding the Duterte government accountable for its crimes against the working people of the Philippines.

Those victims of atrocities are not hopeles. Since the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials after WW2, a number of civilian and military key  leaders  have been brought before domestic and international courts to be held accountable to charges including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Many were convicted and some were acquitted.

Labor group hoping Senate will act swiftly on Security of Tenure Bill

For the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, House Bill 7036 or the Security of Tenure (SOT) Bill, is already a small step in fighting contractualization.

Nagkaisa chairperson Atty. Sonny Matula said the fight against contractualization remains a work in progress and they appreciate the positive provisions of the bill that advance the workers’ interest.

The group cited the bill’s recognition of regular employment as a norm and disallows fixed-term employment except in the cases of overseas Filipino workers, workers on probation, relievers who are temporary replacements of absent regular employees whose engagements shall not exceed six months, project employees, and seasonal employees.

“This is a big step towards addressing the practice of “555” or ‘endo,'” said Matula.

The group also welcomed the bill’s guarantee that the rights and benefits of relievers, project and seasonal employees shall be at par with regular employees.

Nagkaisa also cited the increase on the administrative fine on violators in the bill.

“A penalty of P30,000 for each victim employee by businesses engaging in end-of-contract arrangements and labor-contracting, while still small, remains an improvement over current law where a negligible P1,000 to P10,000 fine may be imposed regardless of the number of victimized employees,” said Matula.

The new definition of prohibited “labor only contracting” in the bill, Nagkaisa said, further reduces the business space for unscrupulous employers.

“We welcome this development with caution and we continue to lobby missing provisions which are needed to effectively address the widespread contractualization that abuses millions of workers,” Matula said.

Nagkaisa expressed hope that the Senate will now act and act with dispatch to adopt its own version. - by Leslie Ann Aquino

It also suggested the inclusion in the Senate of such provisions as: the finding of labor-only contracting and the order of regularization of the regional director shall be immediately executory; the termination of employees while the appeal on his or her regularization is pending shall automatically effect the finality of his or regular employment and result to the dismissal of the appeal.

HB 7036, which seeks to amend PD 442 or the Labor Code of the Philippines, passed on final reading on December 1. - by Leslie Ann Aquino

Open letter to Sec. Bello to help Food Panda workers

NAGKAISA! LABOR COALITION

November 18, 2020

Hon. SILVESTRE H. BELLO III

Secretary

Department of Labor and Employment

Intramuros, Manila

Attention: Atty. BENJO SANTOS-BENAVIDEZ

Dear Secretary Bello:

The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition comes to your good office in solidarity with some 700 riders of the food delivery app Foodpanda who held a “unity ride”  this morning to seek redress of their grievances in front of your office. Nagkaisa would like to request an inspection under Article 128 of the Labor Code (PD 442, as amended) in relation to the constitutional rights to security of tenure and to humane condition of work (Sec 3, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution). 

The protest this morning started in front of the Film Center/Cultural Center of the Philippines area and ended at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Though they encountered some police harassments in front of the DOLE office, leaders of the Food Panda Riders Association and Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (KAGULONG) successfully delivered a letter addressed to your office. The groups are asking the DOLE to conduct an inspection for the purpose of resolving the grievances of the Foodpanda riders. 

Nagkaisa was informed that the riders were contesting  the recent changes in Foodpanda policies that have negatively affected their pay and working conditions. 

Nagkaisa is cognizant of the fact that their pay is tied to bookings which are affected by so-called ‘grades.’ But the grading system is vague and not clear. Grades have fallen due to changes in the system which penalize riders and, thereby, reduced their take-home due to a new system adopted by Foodpanda  Further, the new provision  called “undispatch” forces riders to rush in order to pick up an order, thereby putting their health and safety at work in peril.

Nagkaisa joins in their demand  for the removal of “undispatch” provision and calls on transparency and fairness in the implementation of policies. They also call for the review of the computation of the pay for deliveries.

Most importantly, Nagkaisa calls for the DOLE to declare Food Panda as employer of its riders since the latter are subject to control and supervision of the company as shown by the impact of policy changes on pay and condition. 

Nagkaisa supports their contention that FoodPanda riders are not independent contractors but ordinary employees of the company owning the app.

Nagkaisa expresses its solidarity and deep admiration for the riders of Panda and calls on your good office to address their concerns in the soonest possible time.

Lastly, Nagkaisa manifests its protest on harrassment and interference that happened on said peaceful assembly. One of the leaders was arrested by the police  (though released after some talks and negotiation). 

Thank you and warm regards.

Very truly yours,

Atty. SONNY G. MATULA

Chairperson

Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

Workers ask PH government to declare climate emergency, press carbon majors and rich countries to pay for climate debt

The cost of damage from extreme natural disasters is too much to bear for victims living in the most climate-vulnerable countries like the Philippines. Thus, for the labor coalition Nagkaisa, the most responsible for the climate crisis – the rich industrial countries or the Annex 1 countries in the climate negotiations, and the ‘carbon majors, a hundred companies responsible for 70% of carbon emissions in the world –  should be the ones footing the bill for the climate damage being suffered by developing nations. 

The Philippines contributes less than 1% in carbon emissions, yet we suffer the most from climate devastations. 

“How can we recover from COVID-19 and advance into a sustainable future when we pay so much for damages not of our own making? To us, the government must be present not only in calamity-hit areas but also in the negotiating tables pressing rich countries and their TNCs to pay for climate debts they owe us,” said the group in a statement.

Nagkaisa noted that the billions of pesos in damages require the same amount or even higher in the recovery and restoration efforts alone. Preliminary estimate of damage from “Ulysses” has already breached P10B. It was also reported that “Rolly” and “Quinta” left some P11B in total damages.  

These are all preliminary estimates, the group said, but it added that between 2006 and 2015 the government estimated the damages from natural calamities to have reached P374B based on official accounting made by the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Compendium of Philippine Environmental Statistics in 2016. Another report from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies puts the total damage at P571B from “Yolanda” (2013) alone. The same PIDS study puts the average annual damages due to typhoons at P133.2B. 

Meanwhile, the government allocates a declining budget to the calamity fund from the 

“We’re running on a trillion peso deficit now due to COVID-19 and here these damages are, asking for the same attention and resources for recovery and rebuilding.  Either we, the taxpayers, will continue footing those bills forever or we charge them all to the world’s biggest polluters,” asserted Nagkaisa. 

Annex 1 countries are the richest industrial countries, while carbon majors are transnational companies (TNCs) involved mostly in the extraction and production of fossil fuel.

The Commission on Human Rights has already ruled on the moral and legal culpability of these carbon majors on the petition filed by trade unions and social movements in 2015. 

Nagkaisa has been pushing for a labor agenda which include income and employment guarantees. Included in the group’s public employment agenda is a nature and employment-based recovery program such as the creation of green and climate jobs in renewable energy, housing and building sector, transportation, and nature conservation.