After President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the anti-endo bill, having contractual workers has become the new "normal," according to the Associated Labor Unions - Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).
ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay told DZRH that Duterte's rejection of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill in 2019 gave more manpower agencies the courage to expand and grow.
Now, Tanjusay said that out of 100% of workers, 90% of them are end-of-contract (endo) or contractual workers, while only 10% remain regular employees.
"Lalong dumami ang endo at contractual dito sa ating bansa dahil two years ago ay vineto ni Pangulong Duterte [ang anti-endo bill]," he said.
(The number of endo and contractual [workers] grew in the country because President Duterte vetoed the anti-endo bill.)
"Mas lalong lumaki ang lakas ng loob ng mga manpower agencies na magtayo nang magtayo ng mas marami pang mga manpower agencies," he added.
(Manpower agencies got more strength to establish more manpower agencies.)
"Ngayon, ang normal ay endo at contractual workers. Halos sa 100% na mga manggagawa, 90% ngayon ang mga contractual at endo at 10% na lamang ang mga regular workers."
(Now, the normal is endo and contractual workers. Out of 100% of workers, 90% now are contractual and endo, while only 10% are regular workers.)
Duterte previously vetoed the SOT bill saying that it "unduly broadens the scope and definition of prohibited labor-only contracting, effectively prescribing forms of contractualization that are not particularly unfavorable to employees involved."
"I believe the sweeping expansion of the definition of labor-only contracting destroys the delicate balance and will place capital and management at an impossibly difficult predicament with adverse consequences to the Filipino workers in the long term," Duterte said in his two-page veto message.
The SOT bill was poised as landmark legislation that was supposed to fulfill Duterte's promise of ending contractualization in the Philippines.
