|
At least 40,000 workers nationwide were deprived of
their wages and other benefits during the first quarter of the year as
more than 2,000 firms were found to have violated general labor standards.
Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said the government is
set to implement a new inspection system to ensure compliance with general
labor standards by commercial firms.
Figures from the Department of Labor and Employment showed that 2,695 out
of the 6,603 commercial establishments inspected between January and March
have not been giving their workers wages, 13th month pay, overtime
compensation, and other benefits due them under the law.
Non-compliance with the minimum wage law accounted for 16.2 percent of the
total recorded violations of the commercial firms inspected.
However, DOLE officials said the 1,159 violators this year was "way below"
the 3,845 reported during the same period last year.
Of the delinquent firms, 59.2 percent had immediately complied with legal
requirements after inspection, which benefited a total of 10,926 workers,
officials added.
Earlier, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines warned of more
violations of general labor standards after a new law exempting small
enterprises from paying the minimum wage takes effect.
Meanwhile, the militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said yesterday large
garment exporters are liable for the substandard working conditions in
their subcontractors, although they are following labor standards in their
factories.
"Workers are less paid and more abused in subcontracting firms because the
sole reason why garments exporters resort to subcontracting is cheap and
docile labor," said PM chairman Renato Magtubo.
He said reforms should be introduced to the Labor Code to provide "harsher
penalties" like imprisonment for abusive employers.
"Labor Code violations should be criminalized and sweatshop operations
must be considered a heinous crime," he said.
"Garments exporters subcontract part of their production process to small
and medium scale enterprises, where workers endure the most appalling
working conditions and severest forms of capitalist abuse."
The "epidemic of contractualization" is the root cause of abuses against
workers, he added.
Magtubo has condemned the proliferation of sweatshops in the garments
industry. |
