AUTHORS of a bill allowing workers to organize without interference from employers and armed authorities have called for its immediate passage, citing that the measure complies with the recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on addressing abuses faced by labor groups.
House Bill No. 407 passed the committee level on Wednesday and is set for plenary deliberations.
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel, one of the authors, said in a press conference on Thursday that the administration “is expected to report back to the ILO by June 5, 2023 regarding its progress on implementing (its) recommendations.”
ILO representatives visited the Philippines in January to assess and give policy recommendations on the conditions and treatment of trade unions.
The bill “definitively establishes the prohibited acts that will violate the right to organize, that has always been explicitly allowed under the Bill of Rights and the Labor Code,” Mr. Manuel said.
Deputy Minority Leader France L. Castro told the same briefing that the passage of the bill is also relevant because “only less than 10% of industries and factories are unionized.”
Under the bill, workers should not be stopped from joining labor organizations or carrying out their duties as members.
Workers or workers’ organizations also cannot be vilified or tagged as subversives or terrorists by the military, police, and the anti-communist task force. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz