Labor group urges Senate to pass security of tenure bill

A labor group has urged the Senate to pass its version of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill that is seen to end the labor-contracting scheme in the country.

The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) urged Senate President Vicente Sotto III to priotize the bill so that the initiative to end contractualization gets back on track after President Rodrigo Duterte “reneged” on his campaign promise.

“Barely a year is left before the 17th congress ends. We are wary that the 20-year effort of the workers would be wasted and the Congress would miss its golden opportunity to correct a grave injustice – the rampant exploitation of workers through contractualization,” Sentro secretary general Josua Mata said.

Senate Bill 1116 or the Endo Act filed by Senator Joel Villanueva is still pending at the committee level.

The group said employers have gained an upper hand in the contructualization issue by forcing the President to issue an executive order against contructualization which does nothing to end it.

On Labor Day this year, President Duterte signed an executive order that prohibits illegal labor contracting but still allows some forms of contractualization.

The order dismayed labor groups and critics say the policy was already existing.

“Social justice demands the passage of the SOT bill,” Mata said.

“Of equal importance, the passage of a security of tenure bill that would make direct hiring by principal employers as the norm will also induce increased productivity, which will give a much needed boost to a visibly weakening economy,” he added.  /muf