Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not reply to the following matters raised in its previous direct request.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. 1. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that managerial employees, prison staff and firefighters have the right to organize and to keep it informed of developments in this regard, in particular within the context of the current elaboration of the new Labor Code. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, the measures taken to ensure that all workers in the Philippines, including managerial employees, prison staff and firefighters, enjoy the right to organize guaranteed under the Convention.

2. The Committee had further invited the Government to take the necessary measures to remedy the inconsistency between the provisions of the Convention and the "sample contract for various skills" posted on the web site of the Department of Labor and Employment with respect to the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration, which provided that an employer may terminate the contract of a worker engaging in trade union activities. The Committee once again requests the Government to clarify the current status of this sample contract, as well as any measures taken or envisaged to delete trade union activities from the list of grounds for termination. It further requests the Government to indicate the concrete circumstances under which this sample contract is used and provide an estimate of the numbers of workers governed by it.