US Dep’t of Labor grants $1M to boost PH labor inspections

Inside a Philippine factory. DOL PHOTO

WASHINGTON, DC — Two grants to help strengthen workers’ rights in the Philippines and Peru through technical assistance projects to bolster labor inspection capacity in those countries were announced today, December 23, by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs.

In the Philippines, a grant of $1,000,000 is intended to help improve the effectiveness of labor inspections, particularly in the area of occupational safety and health and labor rights monitoring by workers, employers and their representatives.

In Peru, the department awarded $2,000,000 to help build the labor law enforcement capacity of the Peruvian Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion’s newly formed National Superintendency of Labor Inspection.

“Labor inspections as a means of enforcing existing labor laws are essential to raising standards for workers around the world,” said Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs Carol Pier.

“These projects will build on existing efforts within Peru and the Philippines to help those countries better enforce their labor laws and protect workers’ rights,” Pier added.

The Philippines has taken a number of steps to increase staff and enhance technology in labor inspections. To assist in these efforts, the grant awarded to the International Labor Organization will help improve labor law compliance and labor rights monitoring.

In Peru, the funds awarded to Capital Humano y Social Alternativo will help the MTPE centralize its labor law inspection and enforcement system and enhance labor law enforcement at the national and regional levels. The project will focus particularly on improving the MTPE’s enforcement of laws, regulations, and other legal instruments governing subcontracting, outsourcing and the use of short-term employment contracts, especially in the country’s nontraditional export sectors (e.g., mining, agriculture, fishing, and textiles).

Since 1995, ILAB has worked with other governments and international organizations to identify aid that countries may require to improve the labor conditions of their workers.

ILAB’s Office of Trade and Labor Affairs currently provides approximately $76 million in technical assistance to improve worker rights, livelihoods and labor law compliance in more than 72 countries around the world.

For more information about ILAB’s technical assistance projects, visit www.dol.gov/ilab/.