PH among 10 worst countries for workers for 8th straight year

AP FILE PHOTO

For the eighth consecutive year, the Philippines was named one of the 10 worst countries for working people by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), an organization that promotes and defends the rights of workers.

In the group’s Global Rights Index 2024 report released on June 12, the country received a rating of 5—the same as last year—on a scale of 1 (sporadic violation of rights) to 5+ (no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law). The rating is based on the degree of respect for workers’ rights, with violations recorded annually from April to March.

A rating of 5 means there is “no guarantee of rights” for workers. Despite laws that cover labor rights, “workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices,” the report noted.

It observed that 22 trade unionists were killed in six countries, including the Philippines, where workers and union members remained “vulnerable to violent attacks, being blacklisted by the government, abductions, and arbitrary arrests.”

READ: April unemployment rate at 4%, up from 3.9% in March

Also included in the ITUC report were the murders of two prominent Filipino trade unionists last year—Alex Dolorosa, a call center organizer with the BPO Industry Employee Network and Jude Thaddeus Fernandez, an organizer from Kilusang Mayo Uno.

“The government fostered a climate of fear and persecution, silencing the collective voice of workers. Workers across many sectors still faced significant obstacles when attempting to form trade unions,” the report said. National disgrace

The nine other countries on the list were Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Guatemala, Myanmar, Tunisia and Turkiye.“It is a national disgrace that our country has been listed among the world’s ten worst countries for eight consecutive years,” Joanna Coronacion, deputy secretary general of local labor group Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro), said in a statement.

“This black mark on our nation’s record threatens to unravel all the investment efforts the Marcos government has been painstakingly courting,” she added.

From 2016 to 2023, a total of 72 union members were killed over their union activities, Sentro secretary general Joshua Mata said.

In a statement from the Department of Labor and Employment, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the government remains committed to complying with labor standards in the employment sector.

2024 International Trade Union Confederation Global Rights Index report