Labor group holds protest near Senate on eve of worker regularization hearing

Members of the labor group Nagkaisa! staged a protest near the Senate building in Pasay City on Thursday as the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development is poised to conduct a hearing on the issue of worker regularization.

Nagkaisa! chairperson Atty. Sonny Matula told reporters that they will attend the hearing to air their grievances about contractualization, especially on the alleged harassment of striking workers.

“A-attend kami sa hearing mamaya tungkol sa NutriAsia, at ‘yong iba pang violation ng trade union rights,” he said.

“Gusto namin imbestigahan ito ng Senado para maka-craft ng mas matibay na batas lalong-lalo na ‘yong isyu ng kontraktwalisasyon,” he added.

It would be recalled that during the campaign period for the 2016 polls, then candidate and now President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to end “endo,” or the practice of ending a work contract before an employee reaches his or her sixth month of probation with the company.

INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA

Officials from the Department of Labor and Employment, which previously released a list of companies with the most number of contractual employees, have repeatedly said that labor-only contracting has long been banned.

  READ: Jollibee tops DOLE list of labor-only contracting companies

The President also signed an executive order against “endo” on Labor Day 2018, but has admitted that it is ‘toothless’ without proper legislation.  /muf

 READ: Duterte signs EO vs illegal contracting

READ: Duterte admits his executive order on ‘endo’ has no bite