Progressive parties push for workplace safety, labor rights after Cebu BPO companies force employees to continue working despite strong earthquake.
After Cebu-based business process outsourcing companies (BPO) were revealed to have prevented employees from evacuating during last week’s monster quake, the Makabayan Coalition this week filed two bills at the House of Representatives to push for labor rights.
Gabriela Women’s Party, together with various workers groups, filed House Bill 5221, amending the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Law to criminalize violations and strengthen penalties against employers who endanger workers’ safety and welfare.
The women’s party said their legislative action was filed on the World Day for Decent Work last Tuesday in light of the recent Cebu incident where BPO companies reportedly forced employees to continue working despite a strong earthquake.
“[The incident is] an alarming situation that exposed gaps in workplace safety enforcement and accountability,” the partylist said.
Kabataan Partylist Assistant Minority Leader Atty. Renee Co on Tuesday also filed House Bill No. 5166, the Magna Carta for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Workers, reviving a legislative push that has languished for over a decade despite the Philippines’ status as the world’s leading destination for outsourced labor.
“It is become clear that BPO are treated as dispensable labor. The turnover is high, there is no substantial salary increase since the early 2000s, they are being forced to report for work in the midst of a calamity,” said Co.
“Last week alone, Cebu-based BPO companies ordered workers to report onsite despite continuing aftershocks and destroyed homes,” she added.
The Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE 7) said it has begun investigations of at least four companies that may have violated workplace safety protocols during the destructive temblor.
Cebu Province was hit by a 6.9 magnitude quake last September that has so far killed 74 and injured hundreds.
DOLE said that the companies may face penalties and sanctions if proven to have forced employees to remain at their workstations instead of assisting them in evacuating once the tremors subsided.
Rep. Co said that BPO companies also forced workers to wade through floodwaters in Metro Manila just to clock in, as detailed in House Resolution 72 she filed last month.
“This is not resilience. This is exploitation dressed up as flexibility,” Co lamented.
Makabayan’s HB 5166 seeks to establish minimum labor standards, workplace protections, disaster and health protocols, and the right to organize for the over 1.8 million workers in the BPO and IT-enabled services sector, Co explained.
Co also complained about anti-union practices and red-tagging in the industry.
“If you complain, they brand you as ‘disruptive.’ If you organize a union, you are tagged as ‘subversive,’” she said.
Companies weaponize non-disclosure agreements, performance metrics, and even surveillance to suppress collective action,” Rep. Co explained.
“We are filing this Magna Carta to codify protections that should have been guaranteed long ago—living wages indexed to inflation, paid leaves including mental health days, safe and humane work schedules, protection from arbitrary discipline, and the unqualified right to unionize without fear of retaliation or red-tagging,” Co said.
The proposed Magna Carta shall mandate disaster preparedness protocols, prohibits forced onsite reporting during calamities and health emergencies, ensures occupational safety and health standards for 24/7 operations, and provides penalties for union-busting and discrimination, among other benefits. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
