Proposal for 10-year strike moratorium gains support

The proposal of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce Inc. (FFCCCI) for a 10-year moratorium on labor strikes gained the support of other labor organizations led by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and the Filipino-Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICC).

As this developed, PCCI president Sergio Ortiz-Luis is calling for a roundtable discussion with the labor sector to find solutions to a series of recent labor unrest.

At least three of the country’s biggest firms – namely San Miguel Corp., SM Prime Holdings Inc., and Rustans Corp. – have experienced labor strikes.

"Such strikes lead to very bad perception of investors about the difficulty in managing workers," Ortiz-Luiz said.

He added that such a negative image, "is a severe blow to efforts by both the government and private sector in promoting the Philippines as a haven for investors."

Ortiz-Luis warned that "unless the bad perception of investors on the Philippine labor situation is countered, this would take a heavy toll on the employment situation as it would douse efforts to attract needed capital for job creation."

FICC president Vishnu Hathiramani agreed that calls for a strike moratorium have been long overdue.

"We believe with the present difficult economic situation, this moratorium definitely gives all of us years of planning and we could concentrate on expansion in domestic production and facilities," Hathiramani.

Hathiramani added that a strike moratorium "could encourage us to invite overseas investors to our country more so with the fact that some countries in our region have been affected by negative factors."

Hathiramani stressed that "this is our best moment to capture the overseas market in terms of investments, tourism and other opportunities."