The Manila Times

Workers call for reforms ahead of ILO review

LABOR groups will bring the country’s collective bargaining record under the international spotlight as the Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) of the 114th International Labor Conference examines the Philippines’ compliance with ILO Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining. Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President and Nagkaisa Chairman Sonny Matula on Sunday said the high-level review on June 8 in Geneva comes at a time when labor organizations’ collective bargaining coverage in the Philippines remains low despite the presence of thousands of registered unions nationwide. “For workers’ groups, the issue is no longer the absence of unions but the difficulty of converting union representation into actual collective bargaining agreements that protect workers’ rights and improve working conditions,” said Matula in a statement. Representing the Philippine workers’ group at the conference are Jerome Adonis of KMU, Arnold de Vera of Sentro-Nagkaisa, Gwyniver Ann Mathay of TUCP, and Matula. Labor leaders stressed that the international examination is not intended to condemn the Philippines, but to identify reforms that can strengthen freedom of association, expand collective bargaining coverage, and ensure the country fulfills its commitments under ILO Convention No. 98. The group described the process of securing recognition as a bargaining agent as a “long and winding road,” saying recent legal and procedural developments have made it increasingly difficult for unions to gain certification and negotiate collective agreements. Some unions, Matula noted, spend years navigating legal challenges before even reaching the bargaining table. In several cases, workers reportedly waited more than a decade to secure recognition and exercise their right to collective bargaining. One frequently cited case, he said, involved workers who waited 13 years before the Supreme Court affirmed their right to proceed with a certification election. Government data show that as of the first quarter of 2026, there were 20,843 registered labor unions in the country. Yet only 1,331 collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and collective negotiation agreements (CNAs) remain in force. Those agreements cover just 307,788 workers — equivalent to around 1.4 percent of wage and salary earners and less than 1 percent of the country’s workforce of more than 50 million people. Labor groups argue that the figures expose a serious gap between workers’ right to organize and their ability to secure meaningful collective bargaining protections. They also pointed to the continued rise of contractualization, labor-only contracting, fixed-term employment, platform-based work, and other precarious labor arrangements as major factors limiting union membership and bargaining coverage. Millions of workers remain outside formal bargaining units, while an estimated 920,000 Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (COS) workers in government are not covered by meaningful collective negotiations. PSLINK President Annie Geron criticized existing policies governing public-sector workers, saying the outright exclusion of JO and COS workers from union membership under Executive Order 180, as amended last year, is inconsistent with the provisions of ILO Convention No. 151 on labor relations in the public service. Ahead of the Geneva examination, labor groups are expected to push for a series of reforms, including the urgent passage of legislation implementing Convention No. 151, amendments to labor laws governing assumption of jurisdiction cases, and changes to provisions they believe discourage collective bargaining. They are likewise calling for stronger security of tenure protections, broader bargaining rights for contractual, platform, migrant, and informal economy workers, a review of policies affecting workers in the electric power sector, and the full implementation of recommendations issued by ILO supervisory bodies and the ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission.