Contractual workers tap social media for labor advocacy

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MANILA, Philippines – Non-unionized contractual employees may now turn to social media to voice their labor concerns.

“Making their voices heard at least online is necessary, as they are unable to form and join unions due to the temporary nature of their work,” said Anna Leah Escresa-Colina, executive director of The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, Inc. (Eiler).

Eiler, a labor non-government organization (NGO), recently launched “Contractuals for Change Media Collective,” which aims to bring contractual workers and their stories to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

“We expect discussions of their plight online to snowball into some sort of campaign for policy reforms,” Escresa-Colina said in a statement.

She said they want to maximize social media to bring together contractual employees and raise awareness of their plight.

“Social media is here to stay, and that’s why we are maximizing it to adapt to the insecurity of their work tenure,” she added.

The group said they will soon post stories and insightful data on the Philippine labor landscape to be circulated online. It also plans to hold online discussions through Google Hangout and YouTube.

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