by Alnem Pretencio

MANILA, Philippines — The Church-Labor Conference or CLC reiterated its ten-point agenda during the forum held in Quezon City Friday (3 November) afternoon.

Rene Magtubo, chairman of Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Co-chairman of CLC said the ten-point agenda was already submitted to the labor department since July 16, 2016, but until now, there is no positive response from the DOLE and even in the office of the President.

Magtubo believes, it is high time for President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to fulfill his campaign promise to eliminate the contractualization and truly help alleviate the plight of the Filipino working people of whom the President owed his Presidency.

Magtubo adds that since the assumption of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III from DOLE, only two from the ten-point agenda they have presented have been acted upon.

Meanwhile, members and officers of CLC vowed that they will continue the campaign against contractualization and will put more pressure on the government in the total eradication of end of contract or ENDO and push for the absolute recognition of labor rights in the workplace.

Part of the guidelines that CLC lay down in pursuing the campaign against contructualization are as follows;

1. Continue engaging Congress and the Office of the President with the end view of gaining further protection to workers from employers illegal practices of labor contracting by holding to PDU30’s campaign promise.

2. Conduct a campaign at declaring an industry or export zone “endo free or FOA compliant by making DOLE to effectively implement laws and regulations to labor-only-contracting.

3. Fight to improve workers organizing, collective bargaining, social dialogue, and dispute settlement mechanism by making the Labor Department to effectively implement and expand its programs and services.

4. Conduct series of dialogue with church institutions employing workers aimed at compliance with relevant laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting and FOA.

5. Mobilize labor formations activities related to CLC’s campaign against Contractualization and protection of workers rights and welfare.

6. Continue conducting forum and education activities aimed to deepen workers and church people for the struggle to protect rights and welfare of working people.

Present during the church labor conference forum and also the resource persons are NAPC sectoral representative Edwin Bustillos, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Sonny Matula and Wilson Fortaleza of Partido Manggagawa. CPM