Rights of Filipino Workersby Atty. Manuel J. Laserna Jr.http://attylaserna.blogspot.com/2007/10/rights-of-filipino-workers.html

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INTRODUCTIONThis paper discusses the rights of workers

(public and private sectors). Specifically, it covers the following topics:

1. The provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution on the rights of workers;

2. The provisions of the relevant International Conventions on the rights of workers;

3. The recent Philippine laws on the rights of workers; and

4. The official "social teaching or doctrine" (Magisterium) of the Catholic Church on the rights of workers.

1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION1. Under Sec. 18, Art. II of the Constitution,

the State recognizes "labor as a primary social economic force" and it endeavors to "protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare";

2. Under Sec. 8, Art. III of the Constitution the State recognizes the "right of (workers) xxx in the public and private sectors to form unions";

3. Under Sec. 2, Art. XIII of the Constitution, the State pronounces "the promotion of social justice" as one of its main goals;

4. The most specific labor-related provision of the Constitution is found in Sec.3, Art. XIII thereof, which provides:

a) That the State shall afford "full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized";

b) That the State shall aim to "promote full employment";

c) That the "equality of employment opportunities for all" shall be respected;

d) That the State shall protect the "right of all workers to:

- self-organization,- collective bargaining and negotiations,

and- peaceful concerted activities,- including the right to strike, in

accordance with law";e) That the right to "security of tenure"

of workers shall be respected;f) That the workers are entitled to

"humane conditions of work";

g) That the workers are entitled to "a living wage";

h) That the workers shall be afforded the right to "participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law";

i) That employers and workers must be guided by the precept of "shared responsibility";

j) That the State encourages the "preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes" (i.e., conciliation, mediation, and voluntary arbitration);

k) That the State has the power to "regulate the relations between workers and employers";

l) That the State respects the "right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production"; and

m) That, balancing capital with labor, the State recognizes the "right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments, and to expansion and growth".

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONSA. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the following

basic rights of workers:

1. The "right to social security" (Art. 22);2. The "right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and

favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment" (Art. 23 [1]);

3. The "right to equal pay for equal work" (Art. 23 [2]);4. The "right to just and favorable remuneration xxx worthy of

human dignity, and supplemented xxx by other means of social protection" (Art. 23 [3]);

5. The "right to rest and leisure xxx, reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay" (Art. 24);

6. The "right to form and to join trade unions" (Art. 23 [4]); and7. The "right to xxx medical care and xxx social services" and

the "right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, (and) old age" (Art. 25).

B. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL ANDCULTURAL RIGHTS

The 1966 International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights protects the following basic rights of workers:

1. The right to "fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value" (Art. 7);

2. The right to "safe and healthy working conditions" (id.);3. The right to "equal opportunity" for job promotion (id.);4. The right to "rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of

working hours and periodic holidays with pay" (id.);5. The right "to form xxx and join the trade unions of his

choice" (Art. 8);6. The "right of trade unions to function freely" (id.);7. The "right to strike" (id.); and8. The "right xxx to social security (and) social

insurance" (Art. 9).

C. INTERNATIONAL LABOR OFFICE (ILO) CONVENTIONS

The International Labor Office (ILO) has adopted the following conventions:

1. ILO Convention No. 29 - on Forced Labor (cf. with ILO Convention No. 85, re: Abolition of Forced Labor);

2. ILO Convention No. 87 - on the Right To Organize;3. ILO Convention No. 98 - on Collective Bargaining;4. ILO Convention No. 100 - on Equal Pay for Men and Women

Workers;5. ILO Convention No. 111 - on Employment Discrimination;6. ILO Convention No. 122 - on Employment Policy of Member

States.

This document exhorts all member-states to achieve one goal: that "there is work for all who are available for and seeking work" (Art. 1).

It also encourages tripartite consultations among the State, Labor, and Management (Capital) in the formulation of employment policies of the State (Art. 3).

D. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

The 1966 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights respects the "right (of workers) to form and join trade unions" (Art. 22 [1]).

 E. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION

OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION The 1966 International Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Racial Discrimination protects the following basic rights of workers:

 1. The "right to form and join trade unions" (Art. 5 [e] [ii] to

[iv]);2. The "right to housing" (id.);3. The "right to public health, medical care, social security,

and social services" (id.); and4. The "right to education and training" (id.).

The fairly recent Philippine laws on the rights of workers are the following:Republic Act No. 7641 - entitled "An Act

Providing for Retirement Pay to Qualified Private Sector Employees";

Republic Act No. 7658 - entitled "The Anti-Child Labor Law".

Republic Act No. 7877 - entitled "Anti-Sexual Harassment Act".

Republic Act No. 8042 - entitled "The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995".

Republic Act No. 8187 - entitled "Paternity Leave Act of 1997".

THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS

In Pope Paul's address on the occasion of the 75th anniversary ofRerum Novarum, supra, he stressed the following points:

1. The Church's social teaching on labor is based on "love and justice";

2. The Church takes "a position besides the defenseless" (cf. the social teaching on "preferential option for the poor" enunciated by the Pastoral Council of the Philippines II (PCP II);

3. The Church respects the "dignity of labor of whatever kind, so long as it is honest";

4. The Church calls for the equitable distribution of wealth ("principle of the progress of social justice"; and the "just distribution of the advantages and burdens of life in society");

5. "Individual charity" and "social charity" must guide the relationship between capital and labor;

6. The Church respects of workers "to form trade unions";

7. The Church believes that the worker is not a "mere executive tool, but xxx a sharer xxx and xxx (a) participant in the productive cycle";

8. The Church denounces the principles of "radical Marxism", "atheism", "materialism", "totalitarianism", and "class struggle" because they "extinguish his (worker's) true spirituality", "impedes social peace", "ends in violence and oppression", and leads to "abolition of liberty"; and

9. The Church believes that Christ is the "light of your individual consciences" and "the center of the movement of christian workers". (see The Catechism of Modern Man: All in the Words of Vatican II; Answers to Contemporary Man's Problems, St. Paul Publications, Pasay City, 1967, pp. 508-514).

CONCLUSION The 1987 Constitution contains provisions which promote and

protect the rights of workers. But labor law violations continue.

To minimize the same requires tripartite vigilance.

Congress and the Executive must look into our rate of compliance with various international conventions affecting rights of workers.

The present jurisprudence prohibiting public-sector workers from striking must be re-examined. Congress needs to review E.O. No. 180 and CSC Circular No.6, s. 1987.

The issues raised in the Philippine Human Rights Plan of 1995 must be given a more serious look by Government, Management, and Labor in the spirit of tripartite consultation.

The social teaching of the Church on employer-employee relationship deserves deeper consideration by all sectors of the Philippine society.