BPO workers group calls for stronger labor enforcement after NCCC fire

Photo from Philstar.com

A BPO workers association today called for stronger labor enforcement and inspection in response to the deadly fire at the NCCC Mall in Davao City that claimed the 37 employees of the call center SSI. The group also expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

“Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards,” Rossie Hong, chairperson of I-Shield (Secured and Healthy Initiative Enabling Labor Defense). I-Shield was formerly named the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW).

Hong added that “Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths and injuries to our fellow BPO workers. While employers were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace.”

I-Shield lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for lax implementation of labor and safety standards. The deaths of SSI workers comes on top of the loss of lives in the industrial fires at Kentex in Valenzuela and HTI in Cavite ecozone.

I-Shield called on the DOLE activate the trade unionists who were recently trained to be labor inspectors. The deputization of unionists as inspectors was a demand of labor groups in the wake of the Kentex and HTI tragedies as a means to augment the number of inspectors and involve labor groups in enforcement. However months after being trained and deputized, none of the unionists have been given mission orders by the DOLE for actual inspections.

“Is the DOLE waiting for another industrial tragedy before it mobilizes trained unionists for labor inspections?,” Hong insisted.

I-Shield also appealed to the DOLE to immediately hold new batches of trainings for more unionists from different labor groups who are waiting in line to be deputized as inspectors.

ICCAW was formed in 2012 but changed its name to I-Shield this year. I-Shield is the accredited labor representative in the Region VII ICT industry tripartite council. Its website is https://bposhield.com.

I-Shield

December 27, 2017

DOLE asked to deputize unionists as labor and safety inspectors

(Photo from Cavite Provincial Government)

In the wake of a third fatality in the massive factory fire at the House Technology Industries (HTI) in the Cavite ecozone, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deputize unionists as inspectors to ensure enforcement of general labor and occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. Cavite Governor Crispin Remulla confirmed the third death due to the HTI factory fire last February 10.

“We ask DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello to approve the pending proposal that union officers be accredited as labor inspectors to beef up the labor standards enforcement system. With just a twist of Sec. Bello’s pen, labor leaders can be deputized, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved as a result,” appealed Rene Magtubo, PM national chairperson.

He added that “We take exception to the opinion of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) head Charito Plaza that HTI has no fault since the fire was caused by an accident. In OSH 101, it is a basic tenet that accidents are not acts of divine providence but are the result of unsafe acts that are preventable by strict enforcement of safety rules. Even if HTI is compliant according to inspection, obviously there are violations of safety rules that led to the recent fire and a previous 10-hour blaze in October 2012.”

Citing deaths of workers in HTI, Kentex in Valenzuela, Hanjin shipyard in Subic and in several construction sites natiowide, Magtubo argued “Government through the DOLE and PEZA must make policy changes regarding enforcement of labor standards and occupational health and safety so that workers do not die in vain.”

“The DOLE only has some 600 inspectors to cover around a million establishments nationwide. In 2013 just around 40,000 enterprises were subjected to inspections, self-assessments and visits. The numbers can easily be increased several fold by deputizing union officers as labor inspectors. Even if just 10% of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, this is already thrice the present number of inspectors,” elaborated Magtubo.

PM insisted that the DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical safety inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement. “All the DOLE has to do is train union officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,” Magtubo added.

In the DOLE's Labor Standards Enforcement Framework, unions with collective bargaining agreements are given a role in self-assessment for their enterprises. “If unions play a responsibility in ensuring labor standards and occupational safety in their own workplaces, it does not take a leap of logic to allow them a task in inspecting other enterprises,” Magtubo argued.

February 14, 2017

Transparent, tripartite probe asked of Cavite EPZA factory fire

With the massive factory fire at Cavite EPZA finally put out, the group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asked for a transparent probe and the participation of labor organizations as part of the tripartite system.

“Given the conflicting reports from government officials on the number of workers missing after the fire, it is imperative to conduct an investigation that is open and inclusive. It is also necessary to verify numerous eyewitness accounts of workers trapped inside the burning factory,” stated Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

He noted the fact that yesterday Cavite Governor Crispin Remulla said six workers of House Technology Industries (HTI) were unaccounted for while Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza mentioned only one.

PM members trooped to the Cavite EPZA last Thursday morning to call for immediate aid to HTI workers and justice for the victims. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) later announced financial assistance for HTI workers.

“We call on DOLE and PEZA to form a Task Force Cavite EPZA that includes workers groups. The Task Force Valenzuela convened in the wake of the Kentex industrial tragedy is a good template to follow,” Sequena elaborated.

After the Kentex fire that killed 72 factory workers, the DOLE formed the Task Force Valenzuela to conduct unannounced inspections to ensure compliance with labor, occupational safety and other standards.

Sequena also took to task PEZA head Plaza for pre-empting the probe by announcing that she does not expect any fatality to be uncovered. He argued that “The PEZA head must be more circumspect in her statements given that it is her agency that has jurisdiction over economic zones. What happens if the police and fire personnel uncover facts contrary to Plaza’s declaration?”

PM is also asking for clarification on the compliance certification issued to HTI. “Is HTI’s compliance based on an inspection by DOLE or based on self-assessment by the company? If it was self-assessment, were workers involved and were they handpicked by management given that HTI is not unionized? Regulations allow self-assessment if the establishment has more than 200 workers. Self-assessment however means that the DOLE is allowing the wolf to guard the sheep and thus we should not be surprised that the sheep gets slaughtered,” insisted Sequena.

He averred that despite HTI’s compliance certification, there are apparent occupational health and safety issues since there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012. A 10-hour fire started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

February 4, 2017

Cavite EPZA factory fire prompts call for stronger labor enforcement

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) demanded stronger labor and safety enforcement from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the wake of the massive factory fire at the Cavite EPZA that resulted to some one hundred injuries and one confirmed dead as of today.

“Export zones should not be independent republics where weak labor and safety rules lead to low wages, proliferation of contractualization and unsafe working conditions. The DOLE should exercise its labor enforcement and inspection powers to the full within economic zones. A big number of the country’s factory workers are now employed in the numerous export zones across the country and especially Calabarzon,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Yesterday members of PM and the Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino (KMP) trooped to the Cavite EPZA to demand a transparent investigation of the factory fire at House Technology Industries (HTI) and immediate assistance for workers injured or killed in the industrial tragedy reminiscent of the Kentex fire in 2015.

“We express our sympathies for HTI workers and their families. Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards,” Magtubo insisted.

He noted that despite HTI’s compliance certification, there are apparent occupational health and safety issues since there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012. A 10-hour fire started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

“Also we are gravely concerned that out of HTI’s total workforce of some 10,000, only 4,000 are regular workers and the rest are contractual workers deployed by several agencies. Labor inspection should reveal if these agency workers are actually doing the job of regular workers but are being used to evade implementation of mandated wages, benefits and rights,” Magtubo elaborated.

He added that “Further, due to their short-term employment, contractual workers may not be properly informed of health and safety procedures, and probably not participate in fire drills. The proliferation of contractual workers from manpower agencies and labor coops must be stopped not just to advance decent working conditions but also workplace health and safety. Thus we call on DOLE not just to probe HTI but also its sister companies Wu Kong and SCAD where conditions are no different.”

February 3, 2017

Assistance, justice asked for victims of Cavite EPZA factory fire

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for immediate assistance to victims of the massive factory fire in the Cavite ecozone. Members of PM and the Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino (KMP) trooped to the Cavite EPZA this morning to demand a transparent investigation and justice for workers injured or killed in the industrial tragedy reminiscent of the Kentex fire in 2015.

“We condole with the victims of the fire at House Technology Industries (HTI). We ask too the Singaporean owners for prompt aid for the victims and a thorough probe of the accident. Justice must be served for casualties among HTI workers,” stated Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

He noted that there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012 and so it seems occupational health and safety standards may not be up to par. There was a 10-hour fire that started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

Sequena insisted that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“Stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection are needed in response to the deadly industrial fires at HTI and Kentex, and loss of lives at several construction sites amidst the current real estate boom,” he argued.

PM reminded employers not to cut corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and called the attention of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards inside the ecozone.  “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying and being injured in the workplace all around the country,” Sequena elaborated.

He added that “HTI and its sister companies Wu Kong and SCAD employ thousands of workers but a lot of them are contractual even though they do the job of regular employees. Due to their short-term employment, contractual workers may not be properly informed of health and safety procedures, and probably not participate in fire drills. The proliferation of contractual workers from manpower agencies and labor coops must be stopped not just to advance decent working conditions but also workplace health and safety.”

2 February 2017