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MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) The sample contract being promoted by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration for overseas Filipino workers prohibits them from joining unions, an international labor group said Friday.
The sample contract is available on the POEA website, UniGlobal Union said.
POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili said the sample contract was developed in the 1980s for countries in the Middle East, whose laws prohibit union activities.
However, she said, the POEA is currently reviewing the provisions of the contract.
Item 14a, or Termination by Employer, lists "just causes" that would allow employers to terminate the contract, and it includes "engaging in trade union activities."
The other reasons for which employers might fire their employees include: serious misconduct, willful disobedience of employer's lawful orders, habitual neglect of duties, absenteeism, insubordination, revealing secrets of establishment, violating customs, traditions, and laws of the host country.
In these cases, according to the POEA contract, "the employee shall shoulder the repatriation expenses."
Bobbit Librojo, of the Uni-Philippine Labor Council, said this prohibition clearly violated Convention 87 of the International Labor Organization, the Philippine Constitution, and the Labor Code.
Freedom of association, including the formation of unions, is guaranteed in these laws.
"[Section 14a of the sample POEA contract] invites foreign employers to violate the rights of Filipino migrant workers and makes them more vulnerable to abuse," he said.
Librojo said his organization has written the POEA and the Department of Labor and Employment about it.
"Uni-PLC is already demanding redress and [its mother organization] Uni Global Union is prepared to launch a global campaign" if it finds the response of the POEA and DoLE "unsatisfactory," he said.
Late October, the Philippines hosted the Second Global Forum on Migration and Development with the theme "protecting and empowering" migrant workers.
Many times during the forum, the Philippines was praised not only for pioneering in the systematic and orderly processing of migrant workers, but also for its commitment to protecting and ensuring migrant workers' rights.
