ILO urges PH to probe killings of unionists

FREE DETAINED UNIONISTS Fellow workers and kin of detained unionists demand the release of all jailed trade unionists seeking just wages, regularization and better working conditions. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

A committee of the International Labor Organization (ILO) doubled down on its call to the Philippine government to investigate alleged killings of unionists and hold perpetrators to account, saying that violations of workers’ rights to organize remain unresolved.

In its draft report dated June 15, the ILO’s Committee on the Application of Standards expressed “deep concern” over the numerous allegations of murders of trade unionists as well as “serious and systemic violations of the right to freedom of association.”

This includes about 70 Filipino trade union leaders and organizers who were killed, arrested, harassed and Red-tagged during the term of former President Duterte.

The committee then ordered the Philippine government to submit by Sept. 1 this year a new road map that will effectively address the alleged labor violations.

The draft report was presented during the 111th International Labor Conference (ILC) held in Geneva, Switzerland, nearly five months since the ILO high-level tripartite mission visited the Philippines to check whether the government fulfilled its obligations under international labor conventions—specifically ILO Convention No. 87, on freedom of association and protection of the right to organize.

While the Philippine government has “taken some steps” to implement the recommendations made by the high-level tripartite mission, the committee lamented that many of the labor issues remain unaddressed.

End to violence

Among the committee’s urgent recommendations in ensuring that workers’ freedom of association were: “put an immediate end to any acts of violence and intimidation against union members for the legitimate exercise of their rights;” “determine culpability and punish perpetrators” in killings of union organizers; capacitate monitoring bodies on alleged killings; and ensure workers are able to freely form and join organizations. It also stressed that the Philippine government failed to submit a joint implementation report to be crafted with employers and workers, as recommended by the tripartite mission.

“Decisive and effective” measures should be put in place to “promote a climate of nonviolence and constructive social dialogue and labor relations,” it noted.

In a statement on Friday, the All Philippine Trade Union described the development at the ILC as a “serious setback,” especially in job generation in the country.

The coalition of labor groups said that the decision of the committee “bears grave implications for the larger interests of … our economy and efforts to restore and renew key trade preferences with the United States and Europe.”

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