Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Philippines (Ratification: 1953)

With reference to its previous observations, the Committee takes note of the Government's statement in the Conference Committee in June 1991 that, with the assistance of the ILO, efforts were under way to bring the existing national laws into conformity with international labour standards and the discussion which took place thereafter, as well as of the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Cases Nos. 1570 and 1610 (approved by the Governing Body in May-June 1991 and May-June 1992, respectively).

For several years the Committee has been raising the following points:

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention

- The requirement that at least 20 per cent of the workers in a bargaining unit are members of a union for the union to be registered (s.234(c) of the Labor Code).

- The requirement of too high a number of unions (10) to establish a federation or a central organization (s.237(a)).

- The prohibition of aliens - other than those with valid permits if the same rights are guaranteed to Filipino workers in the country of origin of the alien workers - from engaging in any trade union activity (s.269) under penalty of deportation (s.272(b)).

Article 3

- Compulsory arbitration when, in the opinion of the Secretary of Labor and Employment, a planned or current strike affects an industry indispensable to the national interest, which results in restrictions on the right to strike in non-essential services (s.263(g) and (i)).

- Penalties for participation in illegal strikes: the dismissal of trade union officers (s.264(a); penal liability to a maximum prison sentence of three years (s.272(a)) or imprisonment for the organizers or leaders of strikes and participants in pickets deemed to be for propaganda purposes against the Government (s.146 of the revised Penal Code).

Noting that information was given to the Committee on Freedom of Association on the passage through Congress of a new Civil Service Code which would grant government workers the right to strike in certain circumstances, in accordance with the Filipino Constitution (article XIII(3) which grants all workers the right to strike), and the most recent information from the Government to the effect that the ILO's technical assistance is being sought for reform of the national labour laws, the Committee trusts that its comments on the above five points will be taken into account with a view to bringing them into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee asks the Government to inform it in its next report of developments in the reform of the labour legislation.