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Research, Inc.
The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), a non-profit nongovernment organization based in Quezon City, strongly expresses its appeal to junk
Department Order 18-A signed by Labor Secretary last Nov. 14, 2011, on the basis that the said
department order blatantly violates the workers right to security of tenure by further promoting
and even institutionalizing contractual arrangements.
It is the policy of the State to assure the right of workers to self-organization, collective
bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work. Department Order 18A, however, pose clear barriers to the enjoyment of these basic labor rights, as it expressly lays
down legitimate procedures to engage in contracting and subcontracting, which essentially
distort job security.
We strongly assert that DO 18-A will run counter to the state policy of assuring workers rights
based on the following major points:
1) DO 18-A legitimizes contracting and subcontracting which gravely undermine
workers rights to security of tenure, self-organization, and collective bargaining.
The main contention with DO-A is that by defining legitimate contracting and
subcontracting (Section 4) and setting forth procedures for registration of legitimate
contractors (Section 14), the order legitimizes contractual arrangements, which undermine
the basic rights stipulated in the declaration of state policy. By legitimizing contractual
arrangements, the order also essentially encourages more establishments to engage in
contracting and subcontracting.
Numerous cases are out there to prove the grave social costs of contracting and
subcontracting. A glaring case in point is the Eton Residences tragedy last Jan. 27, 2011,
wherein 10 construction workers were killed while another one was seriously injured. These
workers were employed under multiple subcontracting chains, which were nonetheless
recognized by the Labor department as legitimate subcontracting. Despite the employment
arrangements legitimacy, these workers were found out to earn poverty wages (P260/ day),
contractuals, and had no sufficient personal protective equipment. Based on EILERs
research, these violations stemmed from the principals desire to minimize costs via
subcontracting.
DO 18-A is incapable of addressing these grave labor rights violations even if stipulates
the rights of contractual workers (Section 8) since it is actually promoting contracting and
subcontracting which are in fact the root of the violations. Hence, the department order is
merely window-dressing the dangers being presented by contractualization.