Organization in ASEAN flagged the Philippines for its alleged rampant violations of human and labor rights, while ILO confirmed that a high-level mission will arrive in 2023 to look into the killings of trade unionists.
The trade unions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) flagged the Philippines for its alleged rampant violations of human and labor rights.
On the Southeast Asia conference on Trade Union Strategies for Resilience and Renewal post-COVID-19, 30 labor representatives from 10 countries issued a joint resolution at the forum which was organized by the Internal Labor Organization (ILO).
Representatives at the conference came from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam.
The group stressed the importance of respecting freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively in countries where workers do not enjoy basic human and workers’ rights such as the Philippines to foster a sustainable recovery from the pandemic, Business Mirror reported.
The group also asked for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar after the military took over its country’s government last February 2021.
The resolution would be an important role in labor participation or catastrophe recovery measures to ensure such policies will translate to decent work.
One of the representatives during the forum, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Secretary-General Jerome Adonis said the inclusion of the country in the resolution should be a “wake-up” call for the country.
“The government of the Philippines should be concerned because the country is now marked for violating labor rights, particularly freedom of association,” Adonis said.
“This should be an additional pressure to the government of the Philippines to stop the attacks against workers,” he added.
Last Monday, KMU condemned the Philippine National Police (PNP) for allegedly arresting two of its leaders without due process and using fabricated accusations.
Further, KMU and other labor groups will seek the ILO High-Level Mission to look into the matter.
ILO’s confirmation
Internal Labor Organization Bureau for Workers’ Activities Director Maria Helena Andre confirmed today, October 12, that the mission is scheduled to arrive in January 2023.
The missions will look into the incidents of attacks against trade unionists which were raised by local labor groups before the ILO’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in 2019.
In line with this, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice President Julius Cainglet said they have already registered 56 killings of trade unionists.
“Every and all case that are added to the original 43 cases of union killings in 2019 up to the present will be raised before the ILO high-level mission,” Cainglet said.
He also emphasized that upon the arrival of Mission, the group will demand that the government be held responsible for all the killings.
They will also call for an end to anti-labor government policies such as the red-tagging of trade unionists.
ILO Director Andre voiced her confidence in the Philippine government’s ability to address the problems to assure the international community of its compliance with international labor standards.
“I think the Philippines is well positioned in making sure that the rule of law is respected. You are a country that has a lot of good laws. We need to make sure these are respected and implemented,” Andre said.
Further, The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is already crafting a roadmap to prevent incidents of labor rights violations in the country.
Tags: #ASEAN, #TradeUnion