BPO workers group propose options to RTO

 

With two days to go before the April 8 deadline by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for BPO companies to apply for exemption from the Return-To-Office (RTO) order, an industry workers group proposed several alternatives to full on-site work. The Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) called on the Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to convene a social dialogue so that the options they are presenting can be discussed.

 

“BPO workers are appealing to the government that our voices be heard and that we be given a seat at the table since this concerns the safety and well-being of employees. BPO workers are the ones who will get sick in case of infections, will endure hours in traffic even as public transportation remains broken, and will have their lives disrupted as they relocate back to cities and business districts from the provinces,” stated Bryan Nadua, ICCAW spokesperson and works in a BPO in Metro Manila.

 

ICCAW also expressed its support for the groups BPO Employees for Leni and Kiko and the Coalition of IT-BPO for Leni-Kiko which are having a press conference tomorrow to air their grievances over the implementation of the RTO. The RTO order took effect last Friday, April 1, as the Department of Finance and the Fiscal Incentives Review Board insisted that BPOs as economic zones must be “exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport.” In a press conference attended by several BPO workers last March 27, ICCAW called the RTO an “April Fools’ prank on BPO workers.”

 

ICCAW is proposing the following alternatives to the RTO or full on-site work:

 

1. Hybrid setup where workers are 3 days on-site (workplace) and 2 days off-site (home)

2. 50/50 ratio: 50% of the workforce are on-site and 50% are working from home

3. Compressed work week: 4 days on-site on 11 hours shift (which includes 1-hour lunch and three 15-minute breaks)

4. Conversion of existing benefits like internet or electric allowance to transportation allowance once workers go on-site

5. 70/30 ratio as proposed by PEZA but the 70% of the workforce should be on hybrid set-up (3 days on-site at 2 days off-site)

 

Nadua emphasized that “Dialogue is key and workers participation is imperative. At the national level, BPO workers seek a meeting with Secretary Bello. At the sectoral level, the IT-BPO industry tripartite council must table options presented by workers. And at the firm level, management must hear the concerns of employees and their representatives.”

 

The Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) is a DOLE-registered workers’ association that was formed in 2012 out of the struggle of 667 employees of a call center in Cebu City which unceremoniously closed down. ICCAW has core groups in Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo. ICCAW FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Inter-Call-Center-Association-of-Workers-ICCAW-649423938410656

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers

April 6, 2022

Labor group opposes gov’t order for BPO workers to return to office

                                                        

Photo from The Guardian

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) supported the call of BPO workers against the government order for all of them to return to their offices by April 1.

 

“Dapat balik trabahong ligtas para sa BPO workers. Mandating the return to office of 1.4 million IT and BPO workers on the sole basis of economic and tax reasons disregards the issue of health and safety of employees. This is a recipe for disaster,” stated Bryan Nadua of PM. Nadua is also a BPO worker.

 

The groups BPO Employees for Leni-Kiko and IT&BPO Professionals for Leni and Kiko started a petition on Change.org opposing the return to officer order by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) of the Department of Finance. The FIRB cited the CREATE Law that provides that BPO as economic zones must “exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport.”

 

In contrast the BPO workers argue that “The occupational safety and health committees, with employee representation, are in the best position to evaluate safety in our workplaces and recommend a safe full RTO or to maintain the present hybrid setup - not a government that ignores real-life conditions.”

 

Nadua emphasized that the Philippines subscribes to the principle of tripartism and social dialogue and yet the return to office order was without the benefit of consultation and discussion with BPO workers.

 

Jodelle Villanueva, a former Customer Service Representative before becoming an HR Manager in a BPO in one of her previous engagements, argued that COVID-19 is very transmissible in the enclosed office setting of BPOs. “Even before the pandemic, if one BPO employee gets a cough or cold, in a day or two, someone else will show similar symptoms due to infection. Headsets too are sometimes shared among employees and are another way by which COVID-19 might be easily transmitted in a 100% fully operational scenario,” Villanueva described.

 

Both Villanueva and Nadua are suggesting that alternatives be considered such as 50 to 75% of BPO workers returning to the office and implementing a compressed work week while maintaining the work for home or anywhere for the rest of the week.

 

PM is calling on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to initiate a tripartite social dialogue, that must include representatives of BPO workers, to come up with an acceptable solution to the return to office in BPOs.

March 14, 2022

Riders group call for dialogue on fuel subsidy

 

The riders’ advocacy group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) called on the government to hold a social dialogue with riders engaged in ride-hailing, food delivery and courier services for the provision of fuel subsidies. “We are asking the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to meet with riders in order to clarify its plan to distribute fuel subsidies. Riders shoulder the weekly gasoline price increases and thus deserve ayuda,” said Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general.

 

He also added that the group is supporting the call of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan for the temporary suspension of the excise taxes on oil products to reduce pump prices. The suspension is provided for under the TRAIN law but subject to certain conditions. “We believe that the extreme difficulties brought about by the weekly oil price increases for more than two months already are more than enough as supervening conditions for the suspension of excise taxes. This will benefit jeepney drivers and operators, app riders, farmers and fishers principally and the rest of the people too as oil prices impact the whole economy,” Pangan explained.

 

He added that while it welcomes the DoTr announcement that people engaged in full-time ride-hailing and delivery services are entitled to the fuel subsidy, there is no transparency in the plan. “In the first place, the DoTr does not know if the registered motorcycle owner is using his or her vehicle for platform work. Not even the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is aware of this due to the informal nature of the freelancer or independent contractor relationship,” Pangan explained.

 

“Only the apps know who their riders are. But a social dialogue should involve all stakeholders, thus riders should have voice and participation,” Pangan insisted.

 

The group averred that if riders were treated as employees not freelancers then ayuda provision would be much easier, similar to how workers were granted ayuda under CAMP or SBWS. The employment status of riders has been the subject of controversy, even sparking protests amidst the pandemic and prompting the DOLE to issue an “advisory” on the issue.

 

Kagulong earlier lambasted the DOLE advisory as “inutile” since it did not clarify the employment status of riders. “We reiterate our call for the DOLE to convene a technical working group (TWG) with riders and other freelancers. The TWG formation was a commitment of the DOLE in the 2021 labor summit meetings with workers and employers. Sadly, this is another broken promise of this administration.”

 

Kagulong is actively supporting the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Pangilinan for their commitment to the riders’ agenda and track record of participatory good governance. “Aangat ang buhay ng riders sa isang gobyernong tapat sa partisipasyon ng nasa laylayan sa pamamahala,” Pangan concluded.

Photos of riders call for fuel subsidy can be accessed here:

https://www.facebook.com/kagulong2020/posts/488947976127043

March 1, 2022

Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong

Riders group welcomes motorcycles-for-hire bill

Photo by Aris Ilagan

The riders’ rights group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) welcomed the passage of a bill regulating motorcycles-for-hire at the House of Representatives. House Bill No. 10571 or the “Motorcycles-for-Hire Act” was approved yesterday. A counterpart bill by the Senate had earlier been passed. The step would be a bicameral session to reconcile the two versions.

 

“We welcome the legalization and regulation of moto-taxis as it will promote and protect the livelihood of many of our fellow riders along with commuters. We call on the Senate and the House to expedite the bicam version and ensure that riders’ rights are protected as well,” stated Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general.

 

The legalization of motorcycles-for-hire or moto-taxis is among the priority agenda of Kagulong along with the repeal of the Doble Plaka Law, and protection for delivery and courier riders. Kagulong’s priority agenda has already received the support of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Panglinan and other senatorial candidates.

 

Kagulong pledged to monitor the bicam deliberations on the regulation of moto-taxis to guarantee no provisions denigrating the rights and welfare of riders are introduced. Most of Kagulong members are workers using motorcycles as means of mobility or riders engaged in the various apps. In November 2020, the group led some 700 Foodpanda riders in a protest that ended at the Department of Labor and Employment in Manila to seek redress of grievances over reduced pay and opaque rules.

 

The group is encouraging the formation of riders’ cooperatives which will operate as moto-taxi platforms. “We call on our fellow riders to unite for the fight to promote both our rights and our livelihood,” Pangan averred.

February 1, 2022

Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong)

Salaries of low-paid workers should rise faster than higher waged ones—labor group

Photo from Rappler

In reaction to a report that telecoms and IT jobs got the highest entry-level wages last year, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) stated that salaries of low-paid workers should rise faster than higher waged ones. “This is one way to achieve inclusive growth which is an avowed labor market agenda of the government but is evidently not materializing,” averred Judy Miranda, PM secretary-general.

 

The Jobs Street report revealed that entry-level jobs in telecoms and IT command an average monthly salary of P19,000 to 20,000. “Telco and IT workers deserve those wages and maybe even more. In comparison, the monthly minimum wage in the NCR, which is the highest nationwide, is less than P14,000 and has not risen in three years. In Eastern Visayas, the minimum wage is just above P8,000. This wage disparity in non-agricultural wages is bad for workers and not good for inclusion,” explained Miranda.

 

She added that “We should remember that many workers, many of them women, are paid even less than the minimum. In the NCR, there are 1 million minimum wage earners but more than 800,000 workers paid below the minimum. It is worse nationwide: 2.4 million minimum wage earners but 8 million paid below the minimum. These are numbers culled from the October 2020 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority.”

 

PM is calling for raising the minimum wage through direct wage increases combined with price discounts, social security subsidies and public services provisioning. The group also advocates for the abolition of regional wages and the institution of a national minimum wage.

 

“President Rodrigo Duterte once upon a time promised to end the system of provincial wages. But similar to his betrayal of the end endo pledge, Duterte will end his term with the regional wage system firmly in place to cheapen workers’ wages. In contrast, Vice President Leni Robredo has signed a covenant with labor groups which includes a provision for establishing a national minimum wage and ways to achieve a living wage,” Miranda avowed.

 

“Not only is a national minimum wage rational since cost of living varies little across the country, it is also efficient since dozens of regional and local minimum wages are difficult to enforce,” Miranda argued.

 

PM is signatory to the covenant along with labor centers and federations that have committed to support the tandem of Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan. 

January 27, 2022

Labor group slams firing of unvaccinated workers

 

Press Release

October 22, 2021

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

 

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the opinion of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello that unvaccinated workers can be fired and their salaries withheld on the basis of an IATF resolution.

 

“While refusing unvaccinated workers to work in facilities prohibited by alert levels is a practical health measure that employers may impose, terminating them from work is a cure worse than the disease. We demand that Secretary Bello withdraw this statement,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM chair.

 

The group declared that the call to defend the jobs and wages of unvaccinated workers will be included in the demands to be raised in the motorcade tomorrow of the Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni (ALL4Leni). The ALL4Leni contingent of the “Unang Arangkada ng TROPA” will assemble by 8:00 am in the vicinity of the ABS-CBN compound in Quezon City. The motorcade will start by 9:00 am and wind its way around Quezon City before turning to EDSA and converge with other groups at the People Power Monument by 11:00 am.

 

Magtubo added that “We do not agree with the interpretation of Sec. Bello that the IATF resolution on alert levels can form the legal basis for terminating employees. Said resolution on vaccination is never and should never be part of just and authorized causes for terminating employment contracts. What can be done is place our workers in the order of priority in reporting for work based on alert levels, but never that their unvaccinated status be a ground for their termination.”

 

Following their expression of full support for the candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo, ALL4Leni called on their members and workers all over the country to join the “Unang Arangkada ng TROPA” this tomorrow, a nationally coordinated action calling for all sectors of society to unite and support the Team Robredo-Pangilinan (TROPA) in the May 2022 elections.

 

“TROPA will end the regime of killings and repression, and provide space for the labor movement to campaign for workers’ demands. That space is key since it is the movement that will win change,” Magtubo insisted. ###

STATEMENT ON VP LENI’S FILING OF COC

VP Leni Robredo’s final decision may have come late in the day, yet it can be a game-changer in a tightly contested presidential race. Leni may also have failed to assemble the broadest opposition to the Duterte-Marcos camp, yet she surely has earned more allies at the grassroots who come to know her better as a firm, agenda-based leader compared with those whose political train of thought is win first, lead later.

Our labor agenda does not end with Leni, but a Robredo presidency, based on her earlier commitments, opens new opportunities for workers’ continuing struggle for democracy. For now, we hold the common view that ending the bloody Duterte regime and preventing the return of the plundering Marcoses need collective effort. Yet organizing electoral resistance against authoritarianism also necessitates a platform that embodies the collective aspirations of the basic sectors, including the working class.

07 October 2021