Working draft prepared by Homenet Southeast Asia
with inputs from Homenet Philippines
for the Conference-Workshop, UPSOLAIR, 13-14 July '07
ADVANCING THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH
CONCERNS
OF INFORMAL SECTOR WORKERS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Changing Employment Trends
The informal sector has expanded as a consequence of worsening unemployment
due to retrenchment in industries, declining agricultural production,
falling real wages due to inflation, and the widening inequality.
Having gained acknowledgement as a stubborn fixture of any developing
economy, the informal sector has so far helped build markets, expand
trade, manage natural resources, fight poverty, generate employment,
strengthen communities, support families and feed most of the world's
children.
Throughout the decades, the activities of informal workers have
gained acceptance as a survival strategy of the poor. In the Philippines,
their number has progressed to become a major provider of urban
jobs under a wide range of industries, occupations and working situations.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), there
are an estimated 22.5 million Filipinos belonging to the sector,
which represents 75 percent of the total work force. Of this number,
almost half or 49 percent are women household heads who provide
the main source of income for the family. Critical times bear witness
to an increased participation of women who dominate homework in
the garments, food, footwear and manufacturing industries either
as subcontracted or piece-rate workers or as self-employed.
The National Census and Statistical Board (November 2002) characterizes
the Philippine Informal sector as
Units engaged in the production of goods and services with the primary
objective of generating employment and incomes to the persons concerned.
It consists of household unincorporated enterprises that are market
and non-market producers of goods as well as market producers of
services. These enterprises are operated by own account workers,
which may employ unpaid family workers as well as occasional, seasonally
hired workers. These enterprises may also be owned and operated
by employers, which may employ less than 10 employees on a continuous
basis.
As an economic and social group, the informal sector is composed
of a variety of people with different types of work – homeworkers,
microentrepreneurs, street vendors and peddlers, drivers and operators
of taxicabs, jeepneys, tricycles and other public conveyances, petty
retailers, barter traders, small-scale construction workers, small
miners, small farmers and fisherfolks. .”(NSCB 2002).
Just like its Asian neighbors, the Philippines has succumbed to
the pressures of globalization, liberalization of trade and rapid
technological progress. As dictated by newer trends of employment
patterns and work organization, competitiveness is now defined as
seeking higher productivity and "quality" of the products
at a lower cost, but compromising the quality of working conditions.(Forastieri,
Valentina, ILO, 1999) Thus, prevention and protection are viewed
as a barrier to trade instead of being considered an integral part
of quality management. This trend has resulted, thus far, in inadequate
safety and health standards, lack of basic social protection and
environmental hazards, particularly manifested in the case of the
informal sector.
Critiquing and Expanding OSH and Social Protection Definitions
Before proceeding, however, it is important to clarify what is meant
exactly by “occupational safety and health” and “social
protection. The prevailing definition of OSH is the one adopted
by the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its first
session in 1950 and revised at its twelfth session in 1995. The
definition reads: "Occupational health should aim at: the promotion
and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social
well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst
workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions;
the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting
from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the
worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological
and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation
of work to man and of each man to his job."
An oblique critique of this definition was advanced by Benjamin
O. Alli in his work Fundamental Principles of Occupational Safety
and Health. (ILO Geneva): “The special position of women workers
need attention.”
He quoted a unionist who said that OSH is male dominated, with a
preponderance of male inspectors, preoccupied with male industries,
with safety standards based on the model of the male worker, and
with tasks and equipment designed for the male body size and shape.
he also said that homebased workers, part-time workers and other
vulnerable groups of women workers are especially disadvantaged.
A focus group discussion conducted by Homenet Philippines among
its members also came out with the conclusion that occupational
safety and health should mean a violence-free workplace, especially
for women and children. This means that there should be no sexual
harassment, no battering, no physical, verbal, and emotional , economic
abuse directed at any worker.
The ILO definition of social protection is as follows: “the
protection which society provides for its members through a series
of public measures: to offset the absence or substantial reduction
of income from work resulting from various contingencies (notably
sickness, maternity, employment, injury, unemployment, invalidity,
old age and dealth of the breadwinner); to provide people with health
care; andto provide benefits for families with children.”(ILO
World Labour Report 2000).
This has since been expanded by advocates who after conducting
research saw the need for the development of an integrated and empowering
approach to social security and protection for informal workers,
taking into consideration the following factors: an income that
is sufficient to cover basic needs; the ability to secure sufficient
food for self and family; access to sufficient health services (particularly
occupational and reproductive health) , along with income and food,
so that health status can be secured; freedom from violence in the
home, the workplace, and the community; a secure place of work –
a place in which work can be done safely and productively; a place
in which to live (land and housing) a level of education that will
enable economic participation in society; opportunities to reproduce
and change skills in accordance with changes in the market; opportunities
to work and to pursue a career; and for the self employed, access
to capital for enterprise development and sustainability, as well
as a reasonably reliable market or demand for the commodity or service
(or the means to change what is produced and sold). (Doane, Pineda
Ofreneo, Jirapatpimol et al, Social Protection for Homebased Workers
in Thailand and the Phlippines, 2006).
OSH Problems and Concerns of Workers in the Informal Sector
In general, the occupational safety and health problems of informal
sector workers vary considerably, in terms of industry and occupation.
But they have common roots in problems of poverty, insecurity of
land tenure, poor education, low awareness of environmental issues,
lack of institutional support, and weak organization.
• Invisibility of IS Workers
According to the ILO, “if it is difficult to find reliable
information about those who work in the informal sector, it is even
more difficult to pinpoint their problems relating to occupational
safety and health.” .(Forastieri, Valentina, ILO, 1999). This
has been a dilemma owing to the sector’s invisibility as workers
are imperfectly covered in the national statistical collections
such as labor force surveys. Oftentimes, informal sector operators
and workers may not be registered with the appropriate regulatory
authorities. Very few informal sector workers are covered by social
security, and workers' compensation, so much so that they are ignored
in reports of claimants on occupational accidents and diseases.
Among developing countries in general, compliance with occupational
safety and health standards are not strictly adhered to nor enforced,
thus, exposing informal workers to the risks and dangers in the
workplace.
The above situation has been evident in the Philippines. As Dr.
Dulce P. Estrella-Gust, Executive Director, Occupational Safety
and Health Center (OSHC) observed, “the OSH protection gap
of the disadvantaged workers in the informal economy went largely
unrecorded and unattended, for a number of reasons: OSH standards
were only compulsory for formal sector establishments; there was
no inspection for enterprises that employed less than 10 workers
and there was no mandatory reporting of accidents or injuries. Owners,
managers and workers were largely unaware of work-related risks
and preventive measures; the availability and use of Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) and first aid kits was the exception rather than
the rule.”(ILAPI Colloquium on Workers’ Protection in
the Informal Economy Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), July
3, 2006).
• Hazards in the Home cum Workplace
Usually, informal sector workers operate from their homes, which
also double as their workplaces. Women’s microenterprises,
and women homeworkers who do subcontracted work in the confines
of their home are notable examples. Since women‘s options
are focused on work that allow them to combine both reproductive
and productive endeavors, their unpaid work within the household
is considered equally important as their earnings. Under this circumstance,
the distinction between working and living conditions often becomes
blurred. Vulnerability to diseases and poor health result from a
combination of undesirable living and working conditions. Majority
of them live in poor areas that lack basic health and welfare services,
where work is often carried out in an unhealthy and unsafe environment.
Another issue is the legality of land ownership on which most of
the informal microenterprises operate. Absence of the right to ownership
practically translates to not having the access to sanitary facilities,
permanent and suitable working environments, potable water or electricity,
as these services are provided only to lawful land owners. More
often than not, informal workers are not covered by existing occupational
safety and health (OSH) regulations or by regulatory standards implemented
by local governments.
• Health Problems and Work-related Injuries
The interaction between occupational hazards and poor living conditions
can exacerbate workers’ health problems. This is exemplified
by the effects of poor working practices and poor working conditions,
usually present among microenterprises. While hazards may vary according
to occupation, some of the most prevalent problems identified in
ad-hoc surveys carried out by the ILO among selected countries that
include the Philippines were: poor lighting, lack of ventilation,
excessive heat, poor housekeeping, inadequate work space and working
tools, lack of protective equipment, exposure to hazardous chemicals
and dusts and long hours of work. The most prevalent health impairments
were musculo-skeletal disorders and low back pain; allergic reactions
and other respiratory disorders; physical strain, fatigue and stress.
Injuries with tools were also frequent.
The same survey observed the adverse effects of inadequate tools
and facilities, specially during high production demands, and the
usual poor work organization in the manufacturing and construction
sectors. Additionally, repetitive working movements, carrying of
heavy loads and awkward postures, result in unacceptable levels
of physical workload which could cause unnecessary strain and fatigue
on the part of the workers, contributing towards injuries.
The case of the fashion accessories production in Laray, Cebu as
experienced by PATAMABA producers/homeworkers can be cited here.
Machines used in the manufacture of fashion accessories are dangerous
and could harm adult and child workers whose fingers could be cut,
pierced, or sliced at the slightest lack of attention. No masks
are usually worn by cutters and grinders/polishers of shells and
beads, nor by those who handle the chemicals involved in shell bead
making.
• Child Labor and Environmental Abuse
The fashion accessories industry cited above is one example of a
production process that easily absorbs child labor. While it may
not be the main cause for a child to drop out of school, it is among
the factors that determine how a child’s time can be used,
and how skilled a child can become. This has been one of the major
concerns of the ILO and Unicef.
Furthermore, lack of awareness on environmental issues is very evident,
as in abuse of the environment through unrestrained extraction of
natural raw materials (shells and wood) and of the pollution caused
by their processing in the community.
Since fashion accessories production is export-oriented, subcontracted
work is the usual arrangement in the placement of orders. The production
process also wreaks havoc in the home, and pollutes, and cramps
the already small and crowded home. Doing multiple work, like trying
to earn income, performing household duties, child care, and other
activities like studying and keeping up with family obligations,
combined with a polluted environment (especially in the areas where
shell and wood are cut, ground and polished, and the air is full
of fine powder-dust), can (especially during peak season) have a
negative impact on the health of workers, especially women and children,
and their community at large.
• Effects on Productivity
In general, hazardous working conditions not only harm informal
sector workers' health but also decrease the enterprise's productivity
and therefore income due to poor health and the inability to work
effectively. Awareness both of the adverse long-term effects of
poor and hazardous working conditions as well as of how to improve
workers' protection and business practices in order to increase
productivity is very low among the micro-entrepreneurs.
Subsectoral Concerns
In a focus group discussion conducted by Homenet Philippines among
its members July 10, based on their interactions with organized
groups of informal workers, the following subsectoral concerns emerged.
Vendors suffer from lack of toilets, unsanitary environment, and
heavy weights.
Non-corporate construction workers lack safety belts and other PPE
(personal protective equipment; tools and tasks are based on male
standards.
Drivers suffer from heat (leading to sterility), and pollution leading
to respiratory ailments.
Small banca operators lack life vests.
Waste recyclers are exposed to sharp objects, health hazards, hospital
and other harmful waste
Small-scale miners are vulnerable to to dust and harmful chemicals
as well as lack of oxygen. They also do not have PPEs.
Guest Relations Officers suffer from sexual harassment, exposure
to AIDS and other STDs, lack of reproductive health awareness and
facilities.
All this points to the need for a subsectoral, target-specific approach
to OSH and social protection.
Actions in the Field of Occupational Safety and Health
There have been significant support and well-meaning interventions
in the field of occupational safety and health meant to assist the
informal workers so that they can rise from their plight, enable
them to work together to improve their situation and empower themselves
at the same time. These interventions have, directly or indirectly,
facilitated the sector’s access to productive resources, introduced
the concept and importance of improving working conditions, attaining
healthy workplaces and extending social protection.
Notably, many of these were results of cooperative endeavor among
development agencies such as the ILO, government and public offices,
the academe, and long years of advocacy on the part of informal
workers’ groups, such as the PATAMABA (National Network of
Informal Workers in the Philippines), Homenet Philippines, a broad
coalition of 23 organizations comprised of homeworkers’ groups
and NGOs working with homeworkers and informal sector groups, and
Homenet Southeast Asia, a homeworkers’ network composed of
national organizations in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Lao
PDR. One significant development among informal workers n this country
is the realization of the need to get organized. Their continuing
growth and increase in membership is a manifestation of awareness
that indeed they need collective strength for better representation
and advocacy.
Very recently, through Homenet Southeast Asia, the need to link
OSH concerns with fair trade issues has been brought to fore, so
much so that the network’s 2007 subregional workshop which
will be held in Bangkok, Thailand this November will serve as venue
to address these two areas that significantly affect the lives of
homeworkers, their families and their communities. This year’s
theme revolves around strengthening membership-based organizing
among homebased workers, through a complementation of advocacies
towards fair trade and occupational safety and health. Of all the
national Homenets, Homenet Thailand has had the most success in
focusing on OSH issues through its OSH project for homebased and
other informal workers. Because OSH is easy to understand and directly
answers the needs of homebased workers in improving their working
conditions, it is now considered a highly effective entry point
for organizing. Inspired by the experience of Homenet Thailand,
the national Homenets also wish to explore how OSH awareness, advocacy,
and capability building can enhance membership-based organizing
among local homebased workers groups in their respective countries.
As Homenet Southeast Asia stands with the world’s majority
in seeking to correct imbalances and injustices in the global trading
system, the national Homenets have commited to continue building
alternatives to the conventional economic status quo.
In addition, Homenet Thailand as well as PATAMABA, through Homenet
Philippines, have stepped up the campaign for the ratification of
ILO Convention 177 on Home Work as Homenet Indonesia and Homenet
Laos are also commencing to do this. ILC 177 has very strong provisions
on the rights of homeworkers to self-organization and social protection,
particularly in the area of occupational safety and health.
In 1994 the ILO launched an Interdepartmental Project on the Informal
Sector in order to design a comprehensive approach towards the gradual
application of the protective measures provided for in national
legislation and international labor standards to the urban informal
sector, as well as to develop strategies in order to progressively
extend social protection and improve working conditions of informal
sector workers. As a first step to extend the ILO's knowledge, three
case studies on occupational safety and health and working conditions
in the informal sector of cities in developing countries, including
Manila, were carried out. The lessons learned were expected to provide
the basis for a strategy to extend social protection to the urban
informal sector through innovative approaches and to replicate them
in other countries.
Through the above project, four action programs aimed at improving
working conditions in the informal sector were carried out by NGOs
in collaboration with the ILO, namely: 1) The Philippine Enterprise
Development Foundation implemented a project aimed at enhancing
the competence of self-help groups and NGOs to manage micro enterprise
projects linking working conditions to productivity, credit and
other services and demonstrated the economic advantages of a preventive
approach through a simple cost-analysis of working conditions and
health; 2) A Save the Children's project aimed at enabling Community
Volunteers Health Care Workers to act as an effective front-line
in addressing occupational health problems in urban poor communities
providing advice and basic occupational health services; 3) The
Social Development Index studied and developed alternative forms
of child care arrangements for women in the informal sector by fostering
collective actions among local governmental units and community-based
organizations; and 4) Telefunken Semiconductors Inc.Trade Union's
project aimed at developing a model for trade union's assistance
to ex-fellow workers in the informal sector providing skills training
to displaced workers and community residents that included information
on occupational safety and health and the improvement of working
conditions.
Based on the experience of the action programs on safety and health,
a Regional Programme with multi-bilateral funding was launched in
1996-97. The program was jointly backstopped by the Senior Adviser
on Working Conditions and the Senior Adviser on Enterprise Development
from the ILO's South East Asia Multidisciplinary Team, based in
Manila. The said program combines the approaches developed under
the ENTERPRISE Department methodology on Improve your Business (IYB)
and TRAVAIL's methodology on Working Improvements in Small-scale
Enterprises (WISE) for healthy enterprise development in the informal
sector. The countries involved were the Philippines, Nepal and Malaysia.
The three-year WISE project in the Philippines led to many thousands
of improvements being planned and implemented in small-scale enterprises.
When small-scale entrepreneurs understand the positive connection
between working conditions and productivity, and understand, moreover,
that action to improve conditions need not be out of their reach
either financially or technically, they are quick to respond. And
on the basis of some very successful pilot tests (including one
by the DOLE's Bureau of Rural Workers, which is continuing to apply
and develop the approach since the end of the ILO pilot program),
a new ILO program is being developed. A manual on Improve Your Work
Environment and Business (I-WEB) for micro-manufacturers is being
finalized.
Smaller-scale surveys have also provided useful information on the
hazards faced by different groups of informal sector workers. A
"snapshot study" of working conditions among informal
sector operators in construction, automotive/machinery repair and
metalwork noted prevalent problems of poor housekeeping, work postures
and unsafe use of equipment, as well as inadequate ventilation and
lighting. For example, ILO-sponsored research in the Philippines
entitled A National Survey of Working Children, conducted by the
National Statistical Office with assistance from the ILO's International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC),has helped in
defining hazardous work for children, taking into account both work
intensity and the level of safety of the tasks performed by children
(working environment, materials and tools and equipment). Another
Survey on Homeworkers in Metro Manila, also carried out by the National
Statistical Office, provided information on work-related injuries
and illnesses of that important group of informal sector workers.
Still another small study carried out for the ILO's Interdepartmental
project on the Urban Informal Sector, among retaso (garment factory
remnants) workers, found that heat was the most prevalent problem,
followed by poor lighting, chemical hazards, ergonomic problems,
and fatigue. The ILO supports a follow-up research to these surveys,
focusing on occupational safety and health and working conditions
in the informal sector.
Much was gained from the ILO small-scale action programs to improve
occupational safety and health and working conditions. The current
Executive Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Center
in Manila, Dr. Estrella-Gust, who is a leading international expert
on safety and health in the informal sector, was closely involved
in this initiative. The Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC)
was mandated to provide OSH services to all workers but its resources
originated almost entirely from compulsory contributions from the
formal sector which was, hence, also the primary beneficiary of
its services. Over the past years the OSHC had been active in awareness
raising for OSH in the informal sector through advocacy in radio
and TV programs, training and technical assistance. Inter-agency
consultations, research and piloting had broadened the understanding
of OSH needs in urban and rural settings and set the stage for wider
national application. OSHC was taking a lead role in the ASEAN OSHNet,
a network of national OSH institutions in South-East Asia.
OSH services for the informal economy figured in the National OSH
Profile and proposed national OSH plan 2007-1010, spearheaded by
Occupational Safety and Health Center in Manila. Subject to availability
of funding, OSHC stood ready to assist in progressively expanding
OSH services in cooperation with other stakeholders in the public
and private sectors. There was identifiable need and scope for tailor-made
packages including training, IEC campaigns, advocacy through the
media/LGUs, integration of OSH in the school curricula, creation
of OSH units in LGUs, and integration of OSH in primary health care.
For its part, the Philippine government through the National Anti-Poverty
Commission (NAPC), has issued a policy directive for the inclusion
of OSH Awareness in LGU Plans (2003). As reported by the DOLE-BRW
under the DOLE-ILO-UNDP Project on the promotion of the informal
sector, the LGUs have incorporated OSH activities in most their
plans.
Towards an Improved OSH Program for the Informal Sector
Recent developments in the Philippines show that workers in the
informal sector now have a greater chance of articulating their
issues, given the mandate to participate in decision making in national
and local bodies, specifically through the Workers in the Informal
Sector Council (WISC) of the NAPC, where PATAMABA and other affiliates
of Homenet Philippines sit. Be that as it may, they are still very
much in need of pivotal support, specially in the area where they
can be protected by responsive policies and laws that will make
their working environment facilitative and conducive to do good
business, that eventually, will contribute to an improved living
standard.
A safe and healthy working environment must be of foremost concern,
among the informal workers in general, and the women homeworkers
in particular. As their adaptive ways will enable them as producers/workers
to take part in a trading partnership, the complementation of occupational
safety and health with fair trade standards, will work to their
advantage. Testimonials have pointed out that strict adherence to
fair trade standards, specially the improvement of living and working
conditions, led to greater economic stability among workers and
their families. Fair trade advocacy in tandem with OSH concerns,
can create a model that will strengthen communities, and empower
the people to take care of themselves and their work.
In pursuance of the above concern, Homenet Southeast Asia, also
intends to pursue participatory action research in all four member
countries focusing on occupational safety and health, which was
found to be a big gap in the knowledge base on social protection
thus far. The subregional workshop in November this year, will serve
as a venue to cull research implications and have a firmer basis
to plan and implement this collaborative research project, in which
Homenet South Asia may also be involved as a sister network. The
said project takes off from the recently completed research study
on social protection for homebased workers in Thailand and the Philippines
under the auspices of the Ford Foundation, coming out with a 320-page
book containing the research results. This project was conceived
and implemented in collaboration with Homenet South Asia, which
did a five-country research on the same subject.
The informal sector has evidently been in dire need of effective
safety and health measures intended to protect them as workers.
Limited or lack of necessary attention to the situation has been
aggravated by the informal workers’ lack of awareness, technical
means and resources to implement health and safety measures for
themselves. To date, poor working environment, unsatisfactory welfare
facilities, as well as practically non-existent occupational health
services are causing human and material losses. Already, this situation
is a great burden on the productivity of national economies, impairs
health and general well-being as well as the quality of life of
informal workers and their families. The protection of the health
and welfare of informal sector workers is a recurrent challenge,
that equally calls for an integrated approach towards health promotion,
social protection and creation of quality employment. All of these
must therefore factored in, if the idea is to come up with a strategy
to advance the working conditions, and siubsequently, the living
environment of the poor.
With appropriate support, informal sector workers can move from
a situation of mere survival to a stronger economic position, thus,
enhancing their contribution to economic growth and social integration,
as well as their participation in the improvement of their own working
and living conditions. In order to raise the productivity of informal
sector workers it is necessary to develop measures which effectively
combine services to enable them to increase their income, and services
to assist them in protecting their health and improving their working
conditions.
Protective approaches, as the ILO believes, can dramatically reduce
the pernicious effects of work related hazards on informal sector
workers because they perform safer tasks under healthy and protected
conditions. Alongside is the necessity of introducing innovative
means to prevent occupational accidents and diseases and environmental
hazards through cost-effective and sustainable measures at the worksite
level.
With the above concept in mind, ILO adopted the long-term strategy
approach aimed at increasing the formal sector jobs and strengthening
the conditions and principles which regulate labor relations, working
conditions and employment opportunities in order to allow economic
integration, social cohesion and democracy. This approach acknowledges
the organizational efforts of the informal sector since it adheres
to the principle that the workers themselves are the means that
will bring about changes in their working and living conditions.
Advancing occupational safety and health concerns in the informal
sector therefore calls for a multi-pronged action, where, first,
the needs of particular groups of workers, in view of the size and
scope of the informal sector and the very wide range of occupational
safety and health problems confronting workers in different activities,
must be well targeted. Simple, action-oriented programs that focus
on the priorities of informal sector workers are the key. Secondly,
particular attention must be paid to awareness-raising to fuel heightened
interest by informal sector workers themselves, by governmental
and non-governmental organizations in the occupational safety and
health problems confronting informal sector workers. This must be
complemented by tailor-made packages including training, IEC campaigns,
advocacy through the media/LGUs, integration of OSH in the school
curricula, creation of OSH units in LGUs and integration of OSH
in primary health care. Thirdly, technical guidance that is adapted
to the situation, problems and needs of informal sector workers
or of particular groups of informal sector workers must be developed.
This will in turn promote the effective use of action-oriented programs,
which the informal sector operators and workers themselves must
form or conceptualize. This is the reason for developing their confidence
so that they will feel fully equipped to tackle their own problems.
Finally, legislation and enforcement relating to occupational safety
and health and working conditions need to be implemented and applied
in accordance with the protective measures specified in international
labor standards and national laws and regulations.
ADVOCACY AGENDA
At this juncture, it may be useful to refer to specific provisions
of the Homenet Philippines advocacy agenda recently prepared for
the May 2007 elections but whose significance extends to the post-election
period:
? Greater protection in the workplace through promotion of occupational
safety and health, reproductive health and rights, prevention and
punishment of sexual harassment and other forms of violence against
women and children
The mandate of the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC)
, Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC), Employees Compensation Commission
(ECC) and similar bodies should cover both formal and informal workers;
resources should be made available for them to develop their programs
and services for the informal sector. Such programs and services
should also be institutionalized in the local government through
budgetary allocations in their local health development plans. These
should include the training of trainors among homeworkers and other
informal workers as well as continuous awareness raising to prevent
and minimize work related and accidents. Since the concerns of women
in the informal sector also include prevention of sexual harassment,
family violence, and unwanted pregnancy, awareness raising campaigns
should also be conducted among informal workers about RA 9262 or
Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2003, the Anti-Sexual
Harassment Act, and other relevant laws and public policies. Also
important in addressing illness and maternity is greater coverage
of the informal sector by SSS and PhilHealth, and support for indigenous
social protection schemes initiated by informal workers’ groups
in their communities.
• Ratification of the ILO Convention 177 on Home Work
ILC 177 on Home Work seeks to uplift the conditions of homeworkers
so that they can experience the same treatment, exercise the same
rights based at the very least on the core labor standards of decent
work, and receive the same entitlements workers in the formal and
other sectors are legally enabled to enjoy. Among these are the
following:
1) the right to establish or join organizations of their own choosing
and to participate in the activities of such organizations;
2) protection against discrimination in employment and occupation;
3) protection in the field of occupational safety and health;
4) remuneration;
5) statutory social security protection;
6) access to training;
7) minimum age for admission to employment or work; and
8) maternity protection.
The campaign for ratification in the Philippines started as early
as 1996. It is now finally bearing fruit with the commitment of
trade unions, employers, and government bodies, principally the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Office of the
President to pursue the ratification process. The campaign needs
to be pursued to its logical end – concurrence by the Senate
through the Senate President.
• More social protection for informal workers through greater
, if not universal coverage by the Social Security System (SSS)
and Phil Health, and support for indigenous social protection schemes
initiated by informal workers’ groups in their communities
When informal workers and their family members fall ill and need
to be hospitalized, they need health insurance to cover their needs;
otherwise, they either fall into debt or are unable to seek necessary
medical attention. Thus, they should eventually be covered by Phil
Health through universal, state-subsidized schemes such as the highly
successful one in Thailand. In the meanwhile, the KASAPI and other
Phil Health programs for indigents and the working poor should be
expanded and improved in order to develop effective partnerships
with organized groups and to better serve their target populations.
Community-based health insurance and indigenous schemes such as
the damayan should also be supported through technical assistance,
subsidies, and other means by national and local bodies so that
they can be of better service to their membership who cannot access
or who need to supplement benefits provided by formal social protection
mechanisms such as Phil Health.
Social security should be provided to all workers in case of death,
illness, disability, maternity, and old age. Most informal workers,
however, do not enjoy such social security, perhaps because they
have no clear participation in both policy-making and implementation
on this issue. The SSS Law should be amended to allow for informal
sector representation in the SSS Commission, accreditation of informal
workers’ organizations as collecting agents, improvement of
benefit package and easier contribution terms for low-income earners.
In order to facilitate informal worker membership, cooperatives
and people’s organizations should be accredited as collecting
agents of premiums; other collection mechanisms (through cellphones,
couriers, etc.) should also be developed. Efficiency, transparency
and effectiveness in service delivery need to be ensured.
References:
Alli, Benjamin O. Fundamental Principles of Occupational Health
and Safety. ILO Geneva.
Doane, Donna L, Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo, Benja Jirapatpimol and
the Research Teams of PATAMABA and Homenet Thailand. Social Protection
for Homebased Workers in Thailand and the Philippines. Quezon City,
Ford Foundation, 2006.
Forastieri, Valentina. Improvement of Working Conditions and Environment
in the Informal Sector through Safety and Health Measures. International
Labour Office, Geneva, July 1999.
Empowering Filipino Women in the Informal Economy through Persistent
Policy Advocacy. Homenet Southeast Asia News Magazine. Vol 1, No
2 (June 2004).
Homenet Philippines Advocacy Agenda prepared for the May 2007 elections.
Homenet Southeast Asia News Magazine. Vol 4, No 1 (August 2006).
Homenet Southeast Asia website at www.homenetseasia.org
ILO World Labour Report 2000.
PATAMABA website at www.homenetseasia.org
Phil-OSH (No.1, series of 2003) at www.oshc.dole.gov.ph
Proceedings of the ILAPI Colloquium on Workers’ Protection
in the Informal Economy Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), July
3, 2006
Salter, William D. (Senior Specialist on Conditions of Work) International
OSH Programme on the Informal Sector, ILO South-East Asia and the
Pacific Multidisciplinary Advisory Team, Quezon City, Philippines,
(12 November 1998).
Updates on the NAPC at www.NAPC.gov.ph
|
