LABOR manpower service providers and manpower cooperatives, not the workers, would benefit from the new Department of Labor and Employment DO 174 that allows contractualization which starts this week, the labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said.
In a statement, the ALU-TUCP said some 5,200 manpower service providers who act as middlemen for labor contracting scheme would only flourish and legalize the contracualization scheme, which it stressed was contrary to the order of President Rodrigo Duterte to eliminate “contractualization” and “endo” scheme.
ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said,“The middlemen labor contractors who merely supplie workers to employers and companies will now continue to flourish and will continue to economically gain from this new DO rather than the workers who contributed their labor.
“Workers under the regime of DO 174 are mere commodity. Labor slavery is now legal and permitted under this new regulation.”
Under the new DO 174, workers are now regular employees with the labor contractors but the same workers have no relationship with principal employers who needed the workers to produce certain products or service.
Tanjusay said workers or employees had no way of knowing or influencing the contracts between middlemen labor contractors and principal – it could be a month, one year or several years.
Tanjusay said, “Market forces always dictate that employers and capitalists will look for cheapest and lowest cost of contracts.
“If contracts are cheap, workers and employees will get meager pay and benefits – often way, way below the standard minimum wage.This is not how President Duterte said he would end contractualization.”
He said the ALU-TUCP remained hopeful President Duterte would realize this DO 174 was contrary to what he kept saying that he would end contractualization.
“We would like to hear President Duterte’s take on this DO 174. We are hopeful he would reject this DO because it runs contrary to what he said he would contractualization. If he’s given the right information, we think he (would) suspend its enforcement and have it reviewed,” Tanjusay said.