By Rodel E. Leocario, Young Unionist from Philippines

It’s hard to imagine that some three years ago, I was cruising through my career as a employee of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), impatiently waiting for that one big promotion to make all the difference.  During this long wait did I accumulate all the many things I could scream about the labor situation in the Philippines - grim and deteriorating.  Consider these signs of an impending Philippine labor apocalypse: the perennial low wages, insurances in social security, health and housing incompletely paid by companies, non-compliance of labor laws and practices or lack thereof, skyrocketing unemployment rate and the list goes on.  Now, it doesn’t matter to me even if I didn’t become that corporate big shot I wanted to be in the first place.  I realized by then that I have another void to fill, and that came in the form of  labor rights activism.

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The Workshop on Leadership and Capacity Building for the Youth and LGBT Trade Unionists was held by Public Services International Trade Union Right Network (PSI TURN) Project and it’s affiliated in Philippines. The workshop held on August 12, 2009 at Fersal Place Hotel, Quezon City, Philippines. The aims of the workshop were to increasing share of voice on the important issues concerning decent work and rights at work for LGBT workers.
The participants shared common concerns and workforce issues: discrimination, homophobia, denied their basic rights and benefits, unemployment and underemployment, unorganized/absence of LGBT workers in the union movement.

The participants concluded the workshop and given input that the unions should strive to achieve equality and equal rights for all. The participants also suggested possible recommendations:

• to create PSI Philippines LGBT Network
• to make proposal to develop a program for the Youth and LGBT under the Discrimination Convention of the ILO

For more information, please contact: Mr. Norman Grecia, National Project Coordinator of TURP in the Philippines and Mr. Eross Ocampo, PSI APYN Coordinator for Southeast Asia

The celebration of this year’s International Youth Day, the Philippines Government Employees’ Association (PGEA) together with its Youth Council (PYC) conducted a forum on “issues and concerns of young public sector workers”. The forum was held at Bayview Park Hotel, Manila, Philippines on August 13, 2009.

This forum was to raise and promote awareness young people for their active participation in the unions/association. The forum allowed them to use their voice to share and discuss major issues/concerns facing young workers in the public sector.

Number distinguished resource persons was invited to provide an overview of said issues and concerns: Hon. Mary Ann Fernandez (Commissioner, Civil Service Commission), Hon. Teresa Soriano (Assistant Secretary, Dept. of Labor and Employment, Hon. Priscilla Marie Abante (Commissioner, National Youth Commission) and Prof. Serafin Arviola, Jr. (Director for Youth Affairs, United Nations’ Association of the Philippines).

For more information, please contact Mr. Eross Ocampo (National Youth Coordinator/Adviser): eross_pgea@yahoo.com

An excellent radio presentation from CBC Canada, featuring the case of the drain of health workers from the Philippines to Canada and how it impacts on the health care system of the Philippines. The story brings a human dimension to the work PSI is doing on migration. Click here

By Pebbles B. Sanchez, Youth Committee of the Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU)

Growing in a family of public servants, I had the privilege to witness various undertakings of and within the government whenever I went to visit the offices of my parents. Through years and years of observing a typical day of a bureaucrat and having indulged myself in the study of public administration, I have concluded that working in and for the Philippine government is not as simple as it appears to be.

Distrust has clouded the image of a bureaucrat. The culture of red tape and inefficiency has been attached not only with the systems followed by the government but also with the work force that runs its engine. People have come to think that government employees lack the enthusiasm to serve and the competence to deliver outputs. However, there is something more to this picture. There are several reasons why government employees appear to be laidback and tend to be lenient. 

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