A National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), staffed by tribal members, implements constitutional provisions to protect indigenous people. During the year, NCIP had a budget of $7.94 million (P405 million). At year’s end, the NCIP had awarded Certificates of Ancestral Land and Ancestral Domain Titles covering over 2.75 million acres of land claimed by indigenous people in the country. It awarded such “ancestral domain lands” on the basis of communal ownership, stopping sale of the lands by tribal leaders. The law requires a process of informed consultation and written consent by the indigenous group to allow mining on tribal lands, and assigns indigenous groups the responsibility to preserve their domains from environmentally inappropriate development. The government was slow to implement the legislation, primarily because of opposition from mining and agribusiness interests, but some limited progress was made.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law provides for the right of workers, including most public employees, with the exception of the military and the police, to form and join trade unions. Trade unions are independent of the government. Unions have the right to form or join federations or other labor groups.
Through November the Bureau of Labor Relations reported 128 registered labor federations and more than 15,000 private sector unions, a slight decline from the number of unions registered in 2005. The 1.6 million union members represented 4.4 percent of the total workforce of 35.9 million. The number of firms using contractual labor, primarily large employers, continued to grow. There were 1,531 public sector unions, with a total membership of 291,343 or about 19 percent of the total public sector labor force.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) alleged that a new union may be registered only if it represents at least 20 percent of workers in a bargaining unit and that the law requires 10 unions before a federation can be formed. The ICFTU had two complaints pending before the ILO regarding these requirements.
The ICFTU and other labor rights advocacy groups expressed alarm at killings, abductions, and other attacks on 19 labor leaders and supporters since September 2005 and urged the government to greater efforts in investigating these attacks (see section 1.a.).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively. The labor code provides for this right for employees both in the private sector and in government-owned or controlled corporations. A similar right is afforded to most government workers. Approximately 5 percent of the work force was organized. Collective bargaining was practiced; however, it is subject to hindrance and union leaders may be subject to reprisal. International labor organizations noted that collective bargaining in the public sector is limited and that the right to strike is banned outright for public sector workers. Through November the number of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements declined to approximately 241,600 (approximately 11 percent of union members) from 296,000 in 2005. There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in SEZs.
Allegations of intimidation and discrimination in connection with union activities are grounds for review before the quasi judicial National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) as possible unfair labor practices. However, unions maintained that widespread ignorance of basic standards and rights was a major obstacle to union organization. Before disputes reach the NLRC, the DOLE provides the services of a mediation board, which settles most of the unfair labor practice disputes raised as grounds for strikes before the strikes may be declared. The DOLE, through the mediation board, also worked to improve the functioning of labor-management councils in companies that already had unions.
Subject to certain procedural restrictions, strikes in the private sector are legal; however, unions are required to provide strike notice, respect mandatory cooling-off periods, and obtain majority member approval before calling a strike. By law, the reason for striking must be relevant to the labor contract or the law, and all means of reconciliation must have been exhausted. The DOLE secretary may intervene in some labor disputes by assuming jurisdiction and mandating a settlement if the secretary decides that the industry involved in the strike is vital to national security. From January to November, DOLE reported that there were 12 strikes involving 1,415 workers; in 2005 there were 26 strikes involving approximately 8,000 workers.
On September 25 and 27, unions of two garment factories in the Cavite Economic Zone alleged that guards and local police illegally and violently dispersed their strikes. These strikes were launched after the management of the two companies refused to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the unions, despite DOLE’s certification of the unions as exclusive bargaining agents. The unions filed with the CHR charges of illegal dispersal, physical injuries, and food blockade against the economic zone authority and the local police. The CHR investigation was on-going as of year’s end.
Although the labor code provides that union officers who knowingly participate in an illegal strike may be dismissed and, if convicted, imprisoned for up to three years, there has never been a conviction under this provision.
Trade union officials reported that underpayment of the minimum wage and the use of contract employees to avoid the payment of required benefits were common practices, including in the government-designated SEZs, where tax benefits were used to encourage the growth of export industries. Dismissal or threatened dismissal of union members also was common. Labor groups alleged that companies in the SEZs have used frivolous lawsuits as a means of harassing union leaders.
