Employers have joined the calls of labor groups for a review of the government’s anti-insurgency policies so it will not undermine the right to Freedom of Association (FOA) of workers.
The proposal was among action of the Leaders Forum (LF), a bilateral group composed by the employers and labor organization last Thursday.
Labor groups claimed the anti-insurgency policies had led to the persecution of trade unionists by authorities.
The list also includes strengthening of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council-Monitoring Body (NTIPC-MB) through adequate resources so it can keep track of FOA-related violations.
The other recommendations of the LF include the immediate implementation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS), Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions (CEARC), and Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA).
“The LF recognizes that the aforementioned principles and courses of actions are essential to put in place an enabling environment conducive for investment creation and decent work that will ultimately benefit the whole nation in general and both workers and employer, in particular,” the LF said in its two-page statement.
The labor signatories of the statement also reiterated their call for the creation of the Presidential Commission for the Promotion of FOA and the formation of a Truth Commission for trade union victims of extrajudicial killings.
The LF together with the labor groups Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Partido Manggagawa (PM) issued the said statements in line with the inquiry conducted by the ILO-High Level Tripartite Mission (ILO-HLTM) this week.
The ILO-HLTM looked into the alleged mass FOA violations, which includes the killing, red-tagging and filing of trumped up charges against trade unionists.