Philippines in Top 10 worst countries for workers anew — ITUC report

For the eighth straight year, the Philippines has landed in the Top 10 list of worst countries for workers by the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which cited red-tagging and murders of Filipino labor unionists.

In its 2024 Global Rights Index, the ITUC gave the Philippines a score 5, which means "No Guarantee of Rights."

The ITUC rates countries with scores of 1 (Sporadic Violations of Rights) to 5+ (No Guarantee of Rights Due to the Breakdown of the Rule of Law).

Countries with the score of 5, such as the Philippines, "are the worst countries in the world to work in."

For these countries, the ITUC said, "While the legislation may spell out certain rights, workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices."

Joining the Philippines in the Top 10 worst countries for workers in 2024 are Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Guatemala, Myanmar, Tunisia, and Turkiye.

The country has been in the ITUC's 10 worst countries for workers list since 2017.

"Workers and unions in the Philippines remained at the mercy of red tagging (being blacklisted by the government as a communist subversive and branded an extremist), violence, abductions, and arbitrary arrests," the ITUC said.

"In 2023, two prominent trade unionists were murdered. The government fostered a climate of fear and persecution, silencing the collective voice of workers. Workers across many sectors still faced significant obstacles when attempting to form trade unions," it said, citing the murders of Alex Dolorosa, an organizer with BPO Industry Employee Network, and Jude Thaddeus Fernandez, an organizer from the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

In a statement, Philippine affiliates of the ITUC—namely the Federation of Free Workers, KMU, SENTRO, and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)—called on the Philippine government, particularly the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to "heed the continuing outcry against unfair and oppressive labor relations and conditions of work that have made the Philippines among the 10 worst countries for workers in the annual survey of the ITUC."

"Without improvements in unionization rate and collective bargaining coverage that continue to drop like a rock due to rampant corporate and state impunity against workers, the Philippines will continue to be one of the worst countries for workers—instead of being a priority investment destination that respects human and labor rights and rules-based international order—unless and until we finally have a Labor Department that is truly for labor which will facilitate a roadmap that is truly tripartite to uphold freedom of association," the ITUC affiliates said.

GMA News Online reached out to Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma for comment, but has yet to provide a response as of posting time.

Now in its 11th year, the ITUC's Global Rights Index provides a status report on the "worldwide struggle" to defend and exercise core pillars of democracy: the fundamental rights and freedoms of working people and trade unions. — VDV, GMA Integrated News