Some 1,000 members of the largest coalition of labor unions and workers’ organization called Nagkaisa held a protest rally in Mendiola today to denounce contractualization and outsourcing scheme amid its growing prevalence today to express our continuing opposition against the impunity and rampant practice of contractualization and outsourcing work schemes in the country,” said Rene Magtubo, chairman of Partido Manggagawa.
“We also gather here today to express our solidarity with various other labor federations and workers’ cause-oriented groups in 42 other cities in the world on this Global Day of Action in denouncing the workers’ nemesis also known in private as job contracting, 5-5-5 or “Endo”. In government workers, this is popularly known as job orders,” he added.
It is estimated there are 9 out of ten workers in malls, export processing zones and industrial parks across the country are employed for only five months. The same scheme is imposed by private companies on more than 400,000 work force in call centers and other business process outsourcing companies.
“As we speak, there are about thousands of them about to be laid off following the termination of their individual five month contract or expiration of job orders without any benefits, or bargaining power,” said Alan Tanjusay, advocacy officer of the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP.
“This endless cycle of work flexibilization set in motion by heartless capitalists must be brought to an end. We, members of Nagkaisa, are here today to renew our vow in opposing contractualization or outsourcing—we will never throw in the towel, we will fight it until the end,” he added.
Launched on April, the Nagkaisa is a coalition of 47 major labor centers, federations and workers’ organizations on various modern day anti-labor and anti-worker issues.
Convenors of the NAGKAISA includes AFW, AGLO, AIWA-SENTRO, ALU-TUCP,APL-SENTRO, APSOTEU-TUCP,ATU-TUCP, BMP,CIU,CLASS-TUCP,FCCU-SENTRO,FFW,KAMAGFI, KAMAO-SENTRO, KILUSAN-TUCP, KKKP-TUCP, LIBO-SENTRO, MAKABAYAN, MARINO-SENTRO, NABU-SENTRO, NAFLU, NAMAWU, NCL,NCTU-SENTRO, NUPP-TUCP, NUWHRAIN-SENTRO, PALEA-TUCP, PEUP-SENTRO, PGEA-TUCP, PIGLAS-SENTRO, PILLU-TUCP, PIPSEA-SENTRO, PM, PMA-SENTRO, PSLINK, PTGWO-TUCP, TESDA-ACE,VIMCOMTU-TUCP, WSN-SENTRO.
The group is pushing for the approval of security of tenure bill now pending in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. The bill proposes that a contractual employee can become regular after he/she has rendered six months of duty and become entitled to the privileges of regular employees.
