Gulf Countries: Increase Migrant Worker Protection

Gulf, Asian Labor Ministers at 3rd Abu Dhabi Dialogue

Labour ministers from Gulf and Asian countries meeting on November 26 and 27, 2014, should improve labour law protection, reform abusive immigration policies, and increase dialogue with trade unions and nongovernmental groups, 90 human rights organizations and unions said today.

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Millions of contract workers from Asia and Africa, including an estimated 2.4 million domestic workers in the Gulf, are subject to a wide range of abuses, including unpaid wages, confiscation of passports, physical abuse, and forced labor.

"Whether it's the scale of abuse of domestic workers hidden from public view or the shocking death toll among construction workers, the plight of migrants in the Gulf demands urgent and profound reform," said Rothna Begum, Middle East women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. "This should include a thorough overhaul of the abusive kafala visa sponsorship system."

The ministers will meet in the third round of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, an inter-regional forum on labor migration between Asian countries of origin and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of destination. Nongovernmental groups participated in the first two rounds but were not invited to this year's gathering. Labor ministers from the GCC states are to meet separately on November 23 to discuss a draft domestic workers contract and the proposed formation of a cross-GCC body to oversee migrant domestic work.

The kafala system, used to varying extents across the Gulf, restricts most workers from moving to a new job before their contracts end unless they obtain their employer's consent, trapping many workers in abusive situations. Many migrant workers feel intense financial pressure not only to support their families at home but also to pay off huge debts incurred during recruitment. Poorly monitored labor recruitment agencies, in both the migrants' countries of origin and in the destination Gulf states, often overcharge migrant workers, deceive them about their working conditions, or fail to assist them if they encounter workplace abuse.

In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, migrant workers cannot leave the country without obtaining their employer's consent for an "exit permit" from the authorities. Some employers have refused to pay wages, return passports, or provide permission for "exit permits" in order to exact work from workers involuntarily.

A November analysis by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), "Facilitating Exploitation," highlighted how gaps in national labor laws in GCC countries either partially or completely exclude domestic workers.

An October Human Rights Watch report, "I Already Bought You," and an April Amnesty International report, "My Sleep is My Break," found common patterns of abuse against domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar respectively, including unpaid wages, no rest periods, excessive workloads, food deprivation, and confinement in the workplace. In several cases, domestic workers reported physical or sexual abuse and had been in situations of forced labor, including trafficking.

"The proposals made by GCC countries fall far short of the changes needed to protect domestic workers' rights, safety, and dignity," said Elizabeth Tang, general secretary of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF). "GCC countries should join the growing number of countries worldwide that are extending full protection of their labor laws to domestic workers, including a minimum wage, a weekly rest day, the right to organize, and social benefits."

The GCC has discussed a potential region-wide standard employment contract for domestic workers. Recentmedia reports suggest that the GCC is also considering establishing a body to coordinate policies on hiring domestic workers that would consist of recruitment agency and government representatives. These developments have lacked transparency and have suffered from inadequate consultation with migrant domestic workers, trade unions, and migrants' rights organizations. Migrants' countries of origin are also discussing their own standard contract through a separate process.

"Standard contracts are not a substitute for labor law reform, and taken alone do not meet the standards in theILO Domestic Workers Convention," said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC. "The GCC should work in closer coordination with – not separately from – countries of origin to develop labor migration policies that fully respect the human and labor rights of migrants."

Migrants in the Gulf make an important contribution both to the economies of their own countries and those of the countries where they work. In 2011, migrant workers in GCC countries sent home more than US$60 billionin remittances. Competition for jobs among the workers' countries of origin, combined with their relative lack of bargaining power in relation to the labor-destination countries, means that the pressure they exert for better labor protections is weak.

"The meetings over the next few days provide a key opportunity to promote regional minimum standards that would avoid a counterproductive race to the bottom in labor conditions," said William Gois of Migrant Forum Asia. "The governments should develop a concrete action plan, in consultation with migrant workers themselves and the organizations that represent them, with benchmarks to monitor its progress."

Kuwait University Law School will host an event on November 23, 2014, at which panelists from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, IDWF, the ITUC, and Migrant Forum Asia will discuss the rights of migrant domestic workers.

The groups recommend that the governments:
 Establish and enforce comprehensive labor law protections for migrant workers, including domestic workers;
 Reform the kafala (sponsorship) visa system to ensure that workers can change employers without being required to first obtain their consent; 
 Remove the "exit permit" requirement in Saudi Arabia and Qatar;
 Strengthen regulation and monitoring of labor recruitment agencies, including eliminating recruitment fees for workers;
 Ensure that migrants have access to justice and support services; and
 Expand the Abu Dhabi Dialogue to include labor-origin countries from Africa, such as Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya, and participation by nongovernmental groups.

Governments should ratify and implement international labor and human rights standards, the groups said. These include the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, the ILO Forced Labor Protocol, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

The first round of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue was hosted by the United Arab Emirates in 2008 and the second meeting was held in Manila in 2012.

The groups signing on to this statement include:

1. Amnesty International
2. Building and Woodworkers' International
3. Human Rights Watch
4. International Domestic Workers Federation
5. International Trade Union Confederation
6. Migrant Forum Asia
7. Solidarity Center
8. Action Aid
9. Anti-Slavery International
10. Asian Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
11. Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL)
12. International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association
13. Migrant Rights International
14. Post 2015 Women's Coalition
15. Public Services International
16. SOLIDAR
17. General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, Bahrain
18. Domestic Workers Rights Network (DWRN), Bangladesh
19. Association for Community Development (ACD), Bangladesh
20. National Domestic Women Workers Union (NDWWU), Bangladesh
21. Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit, Bangladesh
22. WARBE Dev, Bangladesh
23. Cambodia Domestic Workers Network (CDWN), Cambodia
24. Legal Support for Women and Children (LSCW), Cambodia
25. Hong Kong Domestic Workers General Union (HKDWGU), Hong Kong
26. Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU), Hong Kong
27. Overseas Domestic Workers Union (ODWU), Hong Kong
28. Progressive Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong (PLUDW), Hong Kong
29. Thai Migrant Workers Union (TMWU), Hong Kong
30. Union of Nepalese Domestic Workers in Hong Kong (UNDW), Hong Kong
31. Center for Indian Migrant Studies, India
32. Migrant Domestic Workers Trust, India
33. Migrant Forum India
34. Migrants Rights Council, lndia
35. National Domestic Workers Movement, India
36. Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Union, India
37. Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Welfare Trust, India
38. Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (CITU) KSPI/CITU, Indonesia
39. Congress of Domestic Workers in Yogyakarta (KOY), Indonesia
40. JALA PRT, Indonesia
41. KAPPRTBM (Domestic and Migrant Workers Protection Action Committee), Indonesia
42. Konfederasi Serikat Buruh Sejahtera Indonesia (KSBSI), Indonesia
43. Merdeka Domestic Workers Union, Semarang, Indonesia
44. Migrant CARE, Indonesia
45. Rural Women's Voices, Indonesia
46. Sapulidi Domestic Workers Union, Jakarta, Indonesia
47. Tunas Mulia Domestic Workers Union, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
48. All Nepal Federation of Trade Unions (ANTUF), Nepal
49. Home Workers Trade Union of Nepal (HUN), Nepal
50. Migrants' Center AHRCDF, Nepal
51. POURAKHI, Nepal
52. Pakistan Rural Workers Social Welfare Organization (PRWSWO), Pakistan
53. Center for Migrant Advocacy, Philippines
54. Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Philippines
55. Federation of Free Workers Women's Network (FWN), Philippines
56. KAKAMMPI, Philippines
57. Kanlungan Center, Philippines
58. Scalabrini Migration Center, Philippines
59. Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, SENTRO, Philippines
60. Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Philippines
61. Unlad Kabayan, Philippines
62. Domestic Workers Union (DWU), Sri Lanka
63. Good Shepherd Sisters, Sri Lanka
64. Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (SLNSS), Sri Lanka
65. Hope Workers Centre, Taiwan
66. Hsinchu Catholic Diocese Migrants & Immigrants Service Center (HMISC), Taiwan
67. Homenet Thailand, Thailand
68. Network of Domestic Workers in Thailand, Thailand
69. Thai Domestic Workers Network, Thailand
70. Mehru Vesuvalia (individual capacity)
71. Domestic Services Workers Union, Ghana
72. Jamaica Household Workers Union, Jamaica
73. Solidarity with Migrants, Japan
74. Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea (JCMK), South Korea
75. National House Managers Co-operatives (NHMC), South Korea
76. Cambodian Migrant Workers Solidarity Network (CMSN), Malaysia
77. Centro de Apoyo y Capacitación para Empleadas del Hogar (CACEH), Mexico
78. Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria
79. Federación de Trabajadoras del Hogar del Perú (FENTRAHOP), Peru
80. Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) Singapore
81. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), Singapore
82. Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU), Somalia
83. South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU), South Africa
84. Trade Unions' Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA), Tanzania
85. National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE) Trinidad and Tobago
86. The Service Workers Centre Cooperative Society Limited (Trinidad)
87. AFL-CIO, USA
88. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, USA
89. National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), USA
90. United House and Domestic Workers Union in Zambia, Zambia

For more information on the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) '12+12' campaign:http://www.ituc-csi.org/domestic-workers-12-by-12?lang=en

Source: ITUC -  Increase Migrant Worker Protection

Related News: Gulf Countries: Increase Migrant Worker Protection

RTWPB 7 sets 2 hearings on Cola-wage integration

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 will conduct two public hearings this month to get the sentiment of the labor sector on the proposal to integrate the P13 cost-of-living allowance (Cola) in the basic wage.

RTWPB 7 labor sector representative Jose Tomungha said that the hearings are set on Oct. 13 in Bohol and Oct. 14 in Cebu City.

Tomungha said that RTWPB 7 will deliberate the inputs from the participants and the result of the public hearings on Oct. 15 and 21.

Tomungha said that the labor coalitions in Cebu are also now conducting research on the amount of the wage increase that could be filed by the workers in May 2015.

He said May 2015 is just seven months away that’s why it is appropriate to start the research now.

Early this year, the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) filed a petition for a P90 across-the-board wage increase, while the Alliance for Progressive Labor (APL) wanted an increase of P132 per day.

The regional wage board, however, only granted a P13 Cola for workers that dismayed Tomungha and other labor sector representative, lawyer Ernesto Carreon.

RTWPB 7 is co-chaired by the director of the Department of Labor and Employment 7 and the director of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The RTWPB 7 members who also voted for the Cola are the director of the National Economic and Development Authority 7 and two representatives of the management sector.

With the P13 Cola on top of the P327 basic wage, the total minimum compensation now of a minimum wage worker is P340.

The decision of RTWPB 7 was affirmed by the National Wage Commission and it took effect last March 21, 15 days after it was published in a newspaper of general circulation last March 6.

Tomungha said that unlike Cola, which can be removed from the payroll anytime, a basic pay is permanent under the labor law. - By Elias O. Baquero / SunStar

Defending rights from corporate power: The case for a Peoples’ Treaty

More than a year has passed since the Rana Plaza disaster, which on 24 April 2013 claimed the lives of more than 1,100 garment workers. Those who died, mostly women, were making clothing in terrible working conditions for high-profile retailers including Walmart, Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Mango, Matalan and Primark.

Public outrage over the avoidable disaster forced retailers to join initiatives such as the Bangladesh Safety Accord (BSA) to prevent future workplace deaths; the Accord which covers 1600 factories in Bangladesh and which legally enforces fire and safety standards is a significant step forward.

However neither the BSA nor other similar agreements signed in the wake of the tragedy provide any recourse for victims to seek damages from any of the transnational corporations (TNCs) that profited from the unsafe, low-wage clothing production; in fact, only half of the companies linked to Rana Plaza deigned to offer compensation to the survivors and families who lost loved ones.

Sadly, the impunity of TNCs related to the Rana Plaza disaster is not an isolated case. In Ecuador, Amazonian indigenous communities have been waiting for three decades for compensation from oil giant Chevron for the oil spills that contaminated their soil, rivers, forests and groundwater. Chevron has not only failed to clean up their mess but has also fought every legal recompense, refusing to pay $9 billion dollars in damages awarded by Ecuadorian courts.

The same story goes for the people of the polluted Niger Delta, where victims of violence and pollution have been blocked from justice and compensation on countless occasions.

Encouragingly though, a meeting of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in Geneva this week (23-27 June) could offer the first steps towards an international legal process that would provide avenues for justice against corporate crimes.

Ecuador,  backed by 84 governments has proposed a binding legal instrument for TNC operations in order “to provide appropriate protection, justice and remedy to the victims of human rights abuses directly resulting from or related to the activities of some transnational corporations and other business enterprises.” The call has been backed by more than 530 civil society organisations (CSOs).

Ecuador’s proposal is being fiercely resisted by EU member states, US, Canada and other nations – an indication of a bumpy road ahead in a world where public policy in most nations is influenced so strongly by corporate money. 

Nevertheless,  the fact that the proposed binding treaty has received significant government supports marks an important turning point in a global economic order where until recently the very idea of introducing laws to regulate corporations was seen as heretical.

It also reflects growing awareness that international codes of conduct and corporations’ own voluntary, self-policing efforts known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may have been great for projecting positive images of corporations, but have had much less impact in actually changing corporate behaviour.

One of the largest EU-funded systematic investigations of CSR released in 2013 assessed the impact of CSR initiatives by 5300 small and medium enterprises and more than 200 large firms . The investigation hardly minced its words in concluding that: “There is little empirical evidence which explains the concrete impacts of CSR activities and programmes on the organizational performance of companies, the wider economy, or the social and environmental fabric of Europe, its nations and regions.”

In order to expose the  ‘architecture of impunity’ that continues to protect corporations, human rights activists in various countries have held Permanent Peoples’ Tribunals – including one to be held this week in Geneva – to hear testimonies from affected communities and to publicise otherwise undocumented abuses committed by TNCs.

Hundreds of organisations have also got together in a global campaign to dismantle corporate power and to demand a Peoples’ Treaty (PT) to regulate corporations, which includes a call for legally binding codes taken up by Ecuador’s government.

A people’s treaty seeks to end the current framework of privilege and impunity enjoyed by TNCs. It is rooted in a belief that improvements in corporate behaviour should not depend on public outrage at avoidable tragedies such as the Rana Plaza, but should instead be integral to our laws and society.  This will require a shift away from corporations policing themselves towards allowing society to police them; making corporations subject to public regulation and public interest rather than controlling it.

Labor Coalition Nagkaisa Chides PNoy: Hindi Tuwid, Hindi Tama, Hindi Makatuwiran Kapag Pag-unlad ay Para sa Iilan Lamang!

Labor coalition Nagkaisa chided President Benigno Simeon Aquino III
for continuing to dishonor workers on Labor day by failing to respond
to important issues raised by labor representatives during the
non-ceremonial pre-labor day dialogue in Malacanang the other day.

"President Aquino continues to ignore for four years the issues which
we believe would help impact the plight of the working people. Workers
are feeling deprived of the benefits due them despite of their great
contribution to improving economy," the Nagkaisa said in a statement.

"Since assuming presidency in 2010, Mr. Aquino is always being
remembered by workers in every Labor day memorial as a leader who has
abandoned and failed them at the critical moment when they needed his
leadership in view of growing joblessness, rising cost of living,
rampant and unfettered precarious work arrangement, high cost of
electricity rate and by conceding social protection services to greedy
capitalists," they added.

"Hindi tuwid, hindi tama, hindi makatuwiran kung pag-unlad ay para sa
iilan lamang (it is not straight, it is not right, it is unjust if
growth is shared only by a few)," the group stressed as they plan to
muster 30,000 of their members march from Welcome Rotonda to Mendiola
in today's Labor day commemoration. The group will assemble along
Espana at around 8a.m.

Aside from chastising Aquino, labor groups belonging to Nagkaisa also
lambasted Energy (DOE) Secretary Jericho Petilla and (BIR) Bureau of
Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares for failing to offer
government solutions to pressing long-standing workers' issues raised
by Nagkaisa (United) during the yearly Labor day dialogue with
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III held the other day.

The group also tagged the duo as "the weak link that help makes Aquino
appear out-of-touch, out-of-tune and widely disconnected with workers'
issues raised by Nagkaisa in the past four years."

"Out of the several cabinet secretaries who responded to the issues
that Nagkaisa raised, it was Ms. Henares and Mr. Petilla who appears
to be badly serving the president by refusing to offer solutions to
the high cost of electricity and tax issues as a way and means of
non-wage economic relief to workers in view of not benefitting from
despite of significant contribution to make the economy performed
excellently in the past years," the Nagkaisa said in a statement.

During the span of the two-year Nagkaisa dialogue with the executive
government, the alliance have demanded for Henares to provide tax
breaks to workers by way of taxing only the incremental amount of the
negotiated minimum wage of regular workers and expand the tax exempt
de minimis fringe benefits enjoyed by employees from their employers
as performance incentive.

"It is clear to us that Ms. Henares wants to meet her revenue quota by
making workers bleed in the sand, clearly ignoring the fact that these
workers are the backbone of the economy and were responsible for high
economic growth that she, the employers, and this administration are
flaunting about," the group said.

On the issue of the high cost of electricity, Nagkaisa have demanded
that to make the country attractive to investors that creates jobs a
Presidential Commission on Power must be created immediately.

"We proffered that the Commission to be made up of a national
multi-sectoral and multi-agency actors who will craft a 24-month
national strategy response that will craft a 24-month roadmap aimed at
lowering the cost and ensuring sufficiency of energy supply. That way,
a reduced electricity cost will make workers spend more on their food
and basic necessities at the same time invite foreign and local
investors put up more shops, offices and factories creating jobs for
the millions unemployed," the alliance said.

"However, it was clear to all that Mr. Petilla downgraded the proposal
to just create a task force under the auspices of the Department of
Energy (DOE) rather than a presidential commission is a signal that he
wants the Filipino people to be continued hostage by the monopsony of
a few powerful elites that controls the entire energy sector. Nagkaisa
condemns his arrogance and we will continue to hold him into account.
Nagkaisa will insist on the establishment of a commission."

On the issue of contractualization otherwise known as "555" or "endo",
a precarious scheme of employment arrangement, as the most important
issue that Nagkaisa raised in the dialogue, the group welcomed
Aquino's announcing his middle-ground response to this issue on May
28th.

Aside from eliminating contractualization scheme, lowering electricity
rates and providing tax breaks to workers, Nagkaisa welcomes the
response of Trade and industry Secretary Gregory Domingo, Justice
Secretary Leila De Lima, Yolanda Rehab and Reconstruction czar
Secretary Panfilo Lacson for acceding to Nagkaisa demand for labor
sector to be included in the crafting of a jobs-led agro-industrial
plan, monitoring and evaluation of the prosecution of extra-judicial
killings of union organizers and journalists, and inclusion of
Nagkaisa representatives in the formulation and implementation of
Yolanda-hit reconstruction and rehabilitation strategies.

Nagkaisa also welcomes the assurance of Aquino to immediately ratify
the ILO convention 151— a convention concerning protection of the
right to organize and procedures for determining conditions for
employment in government service.

The group also awaits Aquino's unequivocal policy statements in the
next dialogue on the issue of revision in the EPIRA law, providing
affordable in-city housing program, non-violent transfer of urban poor
communities in danger zones, appointment of a workers' sector
representative in the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), and approve
into law the Freedom of Information bill.


ABOUT NAGKAISA

Launched on April 2012, the Nagkaisa is the biggest alliance of labor
groups and workers organizations in modern history of trade union
movement in the country. It is composed by the Alliance of Free
Workers (AFW) , All Filipino Workers Confederation (AFWC), Automobile
Industry Workers Alliance (AIWA), Alab Katipunan, Association of
Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), Associated Labor Unions (ALU),
Associated Labor Unions- Association of Professional Supervisory
Officers Technical Employees Union (ALU-APSOTEU), ALU-Metal,
Associated Labor Unions-Philippine Seafarers'Union (ALU-PSU),
ALU-Textile, ALU-Transport, Associated Labor Unions-Visayas Mindanao
Confederation of Trade Unions (ALU-VIMCOMTU), Alliance of Progressive
Labor (APL), Association of Trade Unions (ATU), Bukluran ng
Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Confederation of Independent Unions
(CIU), Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services (CLASS),
Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS), Federation of Coca-Cola Unions
(FCCU), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Kapisanan ng Maralitang
Obrero (KAMAO), Katipunan, Pambansang Kilusan sa Paggawa (KILUSAN),
Kapisanan ng mga Kawani sa Koreo sa Pilipinas (KKKP), Labor education
and Research Network (LEARN), League of Independent Bank
Organizations (LIBO), Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan
(MAKABAYAN), MARINO, National Association of Broadcast Unions (NABU),
National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU), National Mines and Allied
Workers Union (NAMAWU), National Association of Trade Unions (NATU),
National Confederation of Labor (NCL), National Confederation of
Transport Union (NCTU), National Union of Portworkers in the
Philippines (NUPP), National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and
Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN), Philippine Airlines Employees
Association (PALEA), Pepsi Cola Employees Union of the Philippines
(PEUP), Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA),
Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS), Philippine
Integrated Industries Labor Union (PILLU), Philippine Independent
Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA), Partido Manggagawa (PM),
Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA), Public Services Labor
Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Philippine Transport and General
Workers Organization (PTGWO), SALIGAN, Trade Union Congress of the
Philippines (TUCP), Workers Solidarity Network (WSN).

Nagkaisa Labor Groups' Labor Day Demands Are Now in Aquino's Hands

The eight workers' issues and non-wage benefits raised by labor group
coalition Nagkaisa since May 2012 are now in the hands of President
Aquino to act on following a last minute series of meetings with
members of his cabinet with the representatives of the group on
Wednesday.

Final details of the issues were threshed out in meetings that took
place on April 8 with the secretaries of the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI), and on the following day with the Department
of Energy (DOE), said Alan Tanjusay, spokesman of the Trade Union
Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

"After more than 100 man hours of discussions with different
government staffs, undersecretaries and secretaries within the two
year period, we think it is more than fair enough to say that the ball
is in the hands of President Aquino. These issues are now on his
table," said Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated
Labor Unions-TUCP and a convenor of Nagkaisa.

The issues that were finalized by the Nagkaisa and the cabinet level
are for government to (1) ensure security of tenure of workers by
eliminating contractualization scheme and deter extra-judicial killing
of union organizers and journalists, (2) provide exemption and
enhancement on minimum wage taxation, (3) institutionalize core labor
standards in the agro-industrial plan, (4) lowering of the cost of
electricity and protect consumers from the cartelization of power, (5)
provide affordable housing program and non-violent transfer of urban
poor communities from danger zones, (7) ratification of ILO Convention
151--a convention concerning protection of the right to organize and
procedures for determining conditions for employment in the government
service, and (8) ensure a jobs-led and workers' sector participation
in the planning and implementation of programs of the rehabilitation
and reconstruction of Yolanda-hit areas.

The group also expects Aquino to make an unequivocal commitment to his
promised regular dialogue with Nagkaisa on emergent issues affecting
the working class.

Labor groups in Nagkaisa were always dismayed at Aquino's alleged
disconnect with workers' issues raised by Nagkaisa every time he meets
with labor group representatives in the traditional labor day
breakfast since 2010 in Malacanang palace.

"If we want to emphasize how important these issues are to labor
groups in Nagkaisa, well, we have expended substantial amount of
unions' financial and manpower resources for these meetings to
enlighten executives the need for government to address these issues
that endangers Filipino workers and their families today. As
representatives of workers, we have done our part in transmitting
these concerns to the administration. We will now observe very closely
how the president will respond to these issues and how he treats the
working people on or before May 1 Labor day," said Frank Mero,
chairperson of Sentro.

However, the group emphasized Nagkaisa will proceed with their Labor
day activities regardless of Aquino's response.


"With or without President Aquino's imprimatur on these issues,
Nagkaisa labor groups will go on with our May 1 Labor day simultaneous
activities nationwide. President Aquino may chose or not chose to
favorably or unfavorably respond to some or to all issues we have
raised to his attention, he has that choice. But Nagkaisa will pursue
resolution of the issues at will whatever the cost and in any possible
way because these issues are legitimate and important for workers,"
added Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman of the Partido Manggagawa.

Aside from ALU, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), PM and
Sentro, there are 47 other member labor federation and workers'
organizations in Nagkaisa. It was established in April 2011, the other
members of Nagkaisa includes Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP),
Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Public Services Labor Independent
Confederation (PSLINK), Philippine Government Empoyees Association
(PGEA), Confederation of Independent Unions (CIU) and KAMAO.

Labor group urges ERC to order full stop in rate hike

Workers want a full stop, not a mere recalculation of spot market prices which triggered sharp spikes in the December 2013 and January 2014 billing of Meralco. 

 

It is also demanding for the suspension of operations of the electricity spot market.

 

Groups belonging to the country’s biggest labor coalition Nagkaisa made these calls during a picket held outside the offices of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) this morning, two days after the Commission issued an order voiding the applied rate hike of Meralco. 

 

“It would be pointless to invoke the State’s police powers if the ERC cannot impose a full stop to all rate hike petitions, including that of Meralco and other distribution utilities in Luzon that were affected by ‘market failure’ during the maintenance shutdown of Malampaya gas platform between November and December last year,” declared the group in a statement.

 

Based on the findings of ERC, WESM prices during that period would not qualify as “reasonable”, “rational”, and “competitive”, thus it ordered the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) to do a recalculation of such prices. 

 

But initially the Commission has already found evidence of market abuse by way of physical and economic withholding of capacities by several plants that led to the tightening of supply during the said period. 

 

Nagkaisa, however, was cautious about a recalculation that may simply result to reduction in rates rather than the full prohibition of the amount applied, which in the case of Meralco totalled P4.15/kWh in December and P5.33/kWh in January. 

 

The group added that any collections made by Meralco reflecting such unjust prices must be refunded to the consumers.

 

“Let we remind the ERC of the principle that unjust prices resulting from market failure cannot be passed on to or borne by the consumers,” said the group. 

 

Workers had been accusing the ERC of ‘regulatory capture’ during the last 12 of years of EPIRA implementation.  It also played dead on many reports pertaining to market abuse in the spot market.  No wonder it suffered downright condemnation when it approved the Meralco rate hike of P4.15/kWh last December. 

 

According to the group, the ERC is fully aware that the WESM itself is a failure since it began operating in 2006.  By concept it is supposed to be at WESM where we can buy the cheapest electricity since the product is sold here at marginal cost of declared excess capacities of power plants. 

 

In July 2006 the inaugural price at WESM was P2.00/kWh.  During the Malampaya shutdown between November and December last year prices at WESM breached the maximum cap of P62.00/kWh. 

 

“There is no reason therefore to perpetuate this farce,” concluded Nagkaisa.

Revoke Meralco Franchise, Pull the Plug on EPIRA

On Valentine’s Day, the Power to the People Coalition tell Meralco, “It’s Over.”

Meralco has failed the Filipino people. They promised cheap, widespread access to electricity, yet the only thing they mustered thus far are scandalous electricity rates that they expected ordinary Filipinos to meekly comply with.  

Meralco has consistently regarded ordinary Filipino consumers with the heartless, corporate greed for profit. The most recent spike in power rates proved this. Meralco made the absurd argument that it is not responsible for the record-high electricity rates simply because it had no power over the forced outages their power suppliers implemented. It became even more ridiculous when Meralco played the victim by claiming that it had no choice but to source power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for the power deficit. 

Nothing could be farther away from the truth. Documents submitted to the Supreme Court showed that it was Meralco’s order to power supplier Therma Mobile, which it controls, to bid at the maximum allowable price of P62.00 per kilowatt hour no less than 25 times during that period that was responsible for the skyhigh clearing price at the WESM. In short, Meralco gamed the market to benefit itself and other power producers. By doing so it defrauded its consumers whom it is obligated to supply electricity at the least possible cost. 

We belie Meralco’s claims that it was powerless over the simultaneous forced outages of its power producers. The shutdown of Malampaya for maintenance, and the shutdown of two other power plants for the same reason, were all scheduled. Meralco saw it coming, and they took the most convenient and profitable course of action. They chose to sit back, game the power industry, and make consumers pay for it all. 

That Meralco systematically abused the Filipino people is but a symptom of the failure of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). We must not forget that EPIRA is the main source of the problem; it put the whole industry under the gang rule of private power – from generation to transmission sectors, all the way to the cooperatives in the distribution sector. Privatization of the power industry has resulted in monopoly control, inefficient power delivery and sky-high prices, in direct contradiction to the promises EPIRA made to attain efficiency and break the monopoly in the electricity industry, and lower power prices. That Meralco’s profits have risen over 100 per cent since EPIRA went into effect in 2001, and that Meralco has the power to game the market at the expense of the people is a monstrous example of EPIRA’s failure.

13 years of Meralco’s greed and EPIRA’s exploitation of power consumers have pushed the people to a deeper level of destitution. To this, we raise our voice and declare that this abusive relations is over.  We call on the government to heed the people’s call: it is high time the government revokes Meralco’s mega-franchise and pulls the plug on EPIRA.

Oppose Meralco's Threat to Trigger Brownouts if TRO is not Lifted! Revoke Meralco's License and Repeal EPIRA!

Meralco, the electricity monopoly, threatened its 5.3 million consumers with brownouts if the temporary restraining order (TRO) on its scandalous 4.5 peso per kilowatt hour is not lifted.

The threat was made by Meralco lawyer Victor Lazatin during the Supreme Court hearings on the rate hike on Feb. 4.

Consumers will not tolerate this blackmail.

On the pretext of losing vast amounts of money, this monopoly, which made 17 billion pesos in profits in 2013, is trying to derail the investigation of its role in the suspicious series of events that led to the rate increase. Meralco has put the blame on seven of its power suppliers that went offline when the Malampaya natural gas plant underwent maintenance from Nov. 11 to Dec. 10, 2013, allegedly forcing Meralco to go to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for its power deficit. But documents submitted to the Supreme Court showed that it was Meralco’s order to a power supplier--Therma Mobile—that it controls to bid at the maximum allowable price of 62 pesos per kilowatt hour no less than 25 times during that period that was responsible for the skyhigh clearing price at WESM.

Meralco gamed the market, to the detriment of its consumers whom it is obligated to supply at the least possible cost. Moreover, Meralco would not have resorted to buying at WESM’s inflated prices had it made provisions for reserve power from its suppliers in the event of a foreseeable event like the Malampaya shutdown. As President Aquino himself has said, ““There is periodic maintenance [of Malampaya] required. That’s a foreseeable event. If you know what producers of fuel will not be able to produce, then you have to find a substitute. So preparation should have been made for foreseeable events.”

But the problem goes beyond Meralco. It goes beyond the Energy Regulatory Commission, which is the classic example of a regulator that is in the pocket of the regulated. It goes beyond the Department of Energy, which has shown itself to be completely incompetent in planning for the energy needs of the country. The main source of the problem lies in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), which has placed power generation, transmission, and distribution completely in the hands of the private sector.

Privatization has resulted in monopoly control, inefficient power delivery, and sky-high prices, not in more efficiency, less concentration, and lower prices. Meralco, whose profits have risen over 100 per cent since EPIRA went into effect in 2001, is a monstrous example of EPIRA’s failure.

13 years of exploiting consumers is enough! We demand the revocation of Meralco’s license and the repeal of EPIRA.