Laguesma defends exclusion of workers in new labor organizing panel
MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma defended Wednesday the lack of workers’ representation in the new inter-agency committee that will look into incidents of harassment and violence allegedly done by state agents against trade unions.
Laguesma said that workers cannot be both the complainant and the judge of their complaints before the Inter-Agency Committee for the Protection of the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize of Workers created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Remember, the (International Labor Organization) report stemmed from complaints from workers. How can the complainants also be the judge as to what the next steps should be?” he said in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum.
Marcos’ Executive Order No. 23, which created the committee, was issued in response to reports of “incidents of acts of violence, extrajudicial killings, harassment, suppression of trade union rights and red-tagging allegedly perpetrated by state agents, targeting in particular, certain trade unions and workers’ organizations.”
The membership of the panel, which also excludes employers’ representatives, consists of the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense, Department of Trade and Industry, the National Security Council and the Philippine National Police.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin sits as its chairperson, while Lagueams is its vice-chair.
Where are the workers in the panel?
Labor groups decried their absence from the committee, with Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Elmer Labog telling reporters at the sidelines of the Labor Day protest in Manila that they are “major stakeholders” when it comes to attacks against the freedom of association.
"And yet, in the decision to create this committee, they did not even consult trade unions. They formed the inter-agency committee without a representative of the Filipino worker,” Labog said in Filipino.
Even though workers and employers were not included in the panel, Laguesma said this does not mean that they would not be consulted.
“They are still our principals who will be given the chance to add and express their support for their complaints,” he said.
Still, he doubled down on the lack of tripartism in the committee as he said that “representatives of workers and businesses are not needed everywhere.”
“But that doesn’t mean that they are not important or not needed. They’re needed because they should be part of the solution,” Laguesma said. “Perhaps it’s not necessary that all we hear are complaints. We also need suggestions that will positively help to address outstanding issues.” — with a report from Kaycee Valmonte
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