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In most cases, on the part of the jobseekers, who are almost always breadwinners, it is a choice between joblessness and underemployment, a quick option between hunger and at-least-there’s-hope-for-survival.
Labor flexibility schemes, such as part-time/contractual labor, subcontracting parts of the production process among smaller enterprises, subcontracting certain on-site services to other firms, agency labor-only contracting, and piece rate compensation strategies, have resulted in the stagnation in the number of unionized workers.
“The state shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all” – Philippine Constitution, Article 13, Section 3.
Contractual labor is and has been thee as part and parcel of the big economic picture – in agribusiness, sweatshops, construction, and retail business. Nevertheless, the fact that it has been with us for a long time does not make it correct.
This basic human right to work and earn a legitimate means of livelihood entails a solemn duty on the part of private business sector and the government to provide ample opportunities for adequate work and full employment.
The general public is sounding the alarm on the steady growth of both unemployment and underemployment. The concrete situation of millions of sales ladies in our department stores and giant malls, some factory workers, house helpers, carpenters, gasoline boys, workers in the barber shops and parlors, whose jobs are “permanently temporary,” simply because they are contractual.
Women regarded as best suited for the repetitive and meticulous work that requires manula dexterity and great patience. They are employed while still young and productive. However, it appears in many instances, that when women workers become old and slow, they are easily dismissed and replaced (Pineda-Ofreneo, 1999)
- When they are finally dismissed from work for the period, contractual workers are not allowed to re-apply in the same farm on the next hiring period. If they want to work, they have to apply in the other farms.
In employment, it is not satisfactory to consider only the legal requirements but also the social-ethical considerations. One ethical consideration is that the basic right to adequate work and full employment is essentially attached to other fundamental rights, that is, everyone’s right to life, the support of his dependence and right to decent living.
It became the management’s policy to keep regular women workers from prolonged exposure to elements (chemicals, bodily risks, and weather) in the field. All female labor in the field is usually undertaken by contractual workers.
- This system has been imposed to prevent contractual workers from being regularized and becoming union members.