Artists rock against child labour, mark Philippine Independence Day

The Philippines marks Independence Day and joins the rest of the world for the World Day Against Child Labour 2015 with the Batang Malaya: Freedom from child labour open concert.

MANILA (ILO News) – Artists and rock bands in the Philippines will stage a free concert against child labour to mark the 117^th Philippine Independence Day and the World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June.

The concert, featuring The Dawn, Noel Cabangon, Ebe Dancel, Dicta License, Brass Pas Pas Pas, Kain Honasan, Maya’s Anklet and Reklamo, will call for freedom from child labour.

“Child labour is wrong. It doesn't give children the opportunity to enjoy their childhood. It's also one of the reasons why they don't finish their education. It's really an alarming thing to just be complacent about,” said Francis de Veyra, musical director and bassist for Radioactive Sago Project, Brass Pas Pas Pas and Bignay Sound System.

In the Philippines, there are 2.1 million child labourers aged 5-17 years old, mostly in hazardous work (95 per cent) according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.  Children work on farms and plantations, in dangerous mines, in streets, in factories, and in private homes as child domestic workers. Agriculture remains to be the sector where most child labourers can be found at 58 per cent.

“Child labour is a complex issue rooted in poverty and the lack of access to decent work and social protection for adults. A few pesos these children may earn while putting their health at risk or their lives in danger cannot change their future the way access to education can change their lives.  Education opens doors to greater opportunities,” said Lawrence Jeff Johnson, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for the Philippines.

The ILO’s World Report on Child Labour: Paving the way to decent work for young people will also be launched in Geneva with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on 12 June. The report will present empirical evidence of how child labour combined with limited education can lead to increased youth vulnerability and greater difficulties in transitioning to good jobs.

This year’s World Day Against Child Labour calls for:

·         Free, compulsory, quality education for all children until at least the minimum age for admission to employment, and action to reach those presently in child labour.

·         New efforts to ensure that national policies on child labour and education are consistent and effective.

·         Policies that ensure access to quality education and investment in the teaching profession.

“Let’s guide the children and not let them suffer. Let’s take care of them and protect their rights to be children and to remain children.  Let us allow them to freely know themselves and their world.  They won’t be able to do if at a young age if they are given responsibilities they are not prepared for”, said Ebe Dancel, former vocalist of Sugarfree, who will perform and strike a chord in the Freedom from Child Labour Concert.

The Batang Malaya: Freedom from Child Labour Concert is free and open to the public. It will be held on 12 June 2015, 4:30 p.m. at the Rizal Park Open Auditorium in Manila. The concert is organized by the ILO and RockEd Philippines in partnership with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), which is chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment.

Partners in the fight against child labour, government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, non-government organizations, children previously engaged in child labour, along with ambassadors and heads of the United Nations in the Philippines are expected to join the concert and to support the call for freedom from child labour.

For more information please contact:

Giovanni Soledad

ILO International Programme
on the Elimination of Child Labour

Tel. No.:+63 2 580 9900 / 580 9402

soledad@ilo.org

Minette Rimando

Media and Public Information

ILO Country Office for the Philippines

Tel. No.:+63 2 580 9900 / 580 9905

Mobile No.: +63 917 535 3162

rimando@ilo.org

10 June 2015

Philippines stands to gain 3.1 million jobs as part of AEC common market

MANILA (ILO News) - Decisive policy action now is a must in order for the Philippines to benefit from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The Philippines could add another 3.1 million jobs to its labour market as a member of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), expected to come into force in 2015. However, a new report says the country needs to boost skills training and social protection now in order to make the most of the single common market -- or else risk worsening poverty.

The study, "ASEAN Community 2015: Managing integration for better jobs and shared prosperity" was prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and discussed at a high-level national policy dialogue in the Philippines on Wednesday, 8 October. 

By the end of 2015, the AEC, a single common market and production base, will take shape in 10 ASEAN member States, including the Philippines. Freer flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labour will impact the structure of the economy as well as jobs, skills, wages and labour mobility.

However, if the benefits of AEC are unevenly distributed and poorly managed, integration could add to existing challenges in the areas of poverty, inequality, vulnerability and poor job quality.

"If decisive policy action is taken, AEC has the potential to ensure sustained economic growth centred on decent and productive work -- thus, help the Philippines achieve its goal of inclusive growth that creates jobs and reduces poverty," said Lawrence Jeff Johnson, Director of the ILO Country Office for the Philippines.

Risk of vulnerable jobs

Deepened trade integration under the AEC could lead to both economic and employment growth in the Philippines that could contribute to 3.1 million more jobs. However, around 38 per cent of these could be in vulnerable employment, and women account for just 1.1 million of expected job gains.

Demand for high-skilled employment such as managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals could increase by nearly 60 per cent. Medium-skilled employment could grow by around 25 per cent mainly clerks, craft and related trade workers, plant and machine operators and assemblers, and service and sales workers. Low-skilled work could rise significantly, by more than 60 per cent.

This highlights the need to improve the quality and relevance of education and technical and vocational education and training in the Philippines to provide a smoother transition from the classroom to the workplace for Filipino youth.

"At the heart of promoting decent work is the goal of ensuring that the outcome yields workers that are mobile, job-ready, skilled and competent, which in turn should help produce sustainable and competitive enterprises," said Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment.

With the Philippines' integration into AEC, it is also expected that labour migration will continue to climb. Labour migration, particularly for low and medium-skilled workers, requires collective regional action to safeguard the rights of migrant workers, extend the coverage and portability of social security, and expand mutual skills recognition.

"The prospect of large gains in such jobs calls for coordinated labour market policies to improve working conditions and reduce vulnerability," said Johnson.

Priority areas for action in the Philippines as identified by the joint ILO-ADB study include:

·         create better jobs, including through industrial policies that target agro-industry for high-value farming products and more investment in irrigation, infrastructure and transport in rural areas;

·         enhance social protection programmes, improve implementation of existing schemes and enforce better disaster preparedness and response measures;

·         upgrade skills to meet shifting demand including effective implementation of the K-12, increase enrolment, minimize dropout and expand schools in remote areas as well improve technical and vocational education and training and reform the curricula to be demand-driven;

·         improve protection for migrant workers to provide legal and social protection and social security coverage to Overseas Filipino Workers, while further enforcement is also needed to stop recruitment malpractice;

·         strengthen collective bargaining to improve the productivity-wage link since better mechanisms can help translate the benefits of closer economic integration into shared prosperity.

Download Philippine country brief:http://www.ilo.org/manila/whatwedo/eventsandmeetings/WCMS_311800/lang--en/index.htm

Download full report, presentation and related 

materials:http://www.ilo.org/manila/whatwedo/eventsandmeetings/WCMS_310457/lang--en/index.htm

For more information please contact:

Minette Rimando

Media and Public Information

ILO Country Office for the Philippines

Tel. No.:+63 2 580 9900 / 580 9905

Mobile No.: +63 917 535 3162

Fax No.: +63 2 856 7597

rimando@ilo.org

Philippine launch and high-level national policy dialogue ASEAN Community 2015: Managing integration for better jobs and shared prosperity

By 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), a single common market and production base will become a reality in 10 ASEAN member States, including the Philippines.

Freer flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labour will impact the structure of the economy, jobs, skills, wages and labour mobility in the Philippines. However, if the benefits of AEC are unevenly distributed and poorly managed, integration could add to existing challenges on poverty, inequality, vulnerability and poor job quality in the country.

The International Labour Organization and the Asian Development Bank, with support from the ASEAN Secretariat, have conducted a study on ASEAN Community 2015: Managing integration for better jobs and shared prosperity.

The report examines the impact of the AEC on labour markets and offers evidence-based policy recommendations for better jobs and equitable growth, including strengthening regional cooperation, facilitating structural change, improving job quality, enhancing skills, boosting productivity and wages, and managing labour migration. The report further presents possible job gains and losses as a result of the integration.

The report with the Philippine Country Brief will be launched in a high-level national policy dialogue on Wednesday, 8 October 2014, 8:30 am at the Marriott Hotel Ballroom. This will be followed by a Press Conference at the 2nd Floor, Meeting Rooms 1-2, Business Centre of the Marriott Hotel. (The Marriott Hotel is located at No. 10 Newport Boulevard, New Port City Complex, Pasay City across the Terminal 3 airport. See map and transportation http://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/travel/mnlap-manila-marriott-hotel/). 

Download the full report and related materials at http://www.ilo.org/manila/whatwedo/eventsandmeetings/WCMS_310457/lang--en/index.htm. 

The Philippine Country Brief and press release will be posted on the same site by Wednesday, 8 October. 

For details, call Minette Rimando, 0917 5353162

Domestic Work, Work Like Any Other

The Statement of Mr. Yoshiteru Uramoto

International Labour Organization - Regional Director for Asia and Pacific

on the occasion of the International Domestic Workers Day

16 June 2014

Two months ago, a 23-year old domestic worker from a little-known Indonesian city was named as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. Ms Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was recognized alongside presidents and popstars for what she didn't do - Erwiana didn't stay silent.

Today is International Domestic Workers Day, and at the International Labour Organization we are reflecting on the contributions of women like Erwiana. Since she returned from Hong Kong to her home in Indonesia, Erwiana has been campaigning for the rights of domestic workers. During her eight months on the job in Hong Kong, Erwiana was violently abused by her employer, and when her injuries prevented her from continuing to work, she was sent home with just US$9 in her pocket. Erwiana began campaigning for domestic workers just like her, many of them migrant women, most of them still vulnerable in their workplaces across the globe.

There are over 20 million domestic workers in the Asia Pacific Region alone - that's the population of Sri Lanka - but because these workers are often hidden in private homes, in workplaces that remain unregulated, they are especially vulnerable to abuse. In many countries, domestic workers aren't protected by the general labour law, and are excluded from receiving the minimum wage. On average, domestic workers earn less than half of average wages; some earn less than a fifth.

Despite the risks, domestic work is a fast growing sector. There are 19 million more domestic workers today than there were in the mid-1990s - that's a thirty per cent increase in less than 20 years. Over eighty percent of these workers are women.

The Philippines is the first country to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention in the Asia Pacific region. In compliance with its obligations under C189, the Philippines introduced the Batas Kasambahay law in January 2013, bringing previously unprotected domestic workers into the formal sector. It is hoped that those protections be extended into agreements with countries that receive Filipina domestic workers.

Migrant domestic workers contribute significantly to their home communities and the larger society. They send remittances that are regularly spent on the education and health needs of the domestic worker's family, and increasing the GDP and development potential of their countries. Domestic workers enable members of the employer's household to go to work by reducing the time needed for cleaning, cooking, shopping and family tasks. 

We need to realize the benefits that domestic work, and migration into domestic work, can offer, and this can only be achieved if these women are in safe and profitable work. The International Labour Organization recently estimated that over US$8 billion dollars in profits are made each year from domestic workers in forced labour. These profits should rightfully go to the workers and their families, but instead line the pockets of fraudulent recruitment companies and exploitative employers.

This is in part because many people still see domestic work as a woman's unpaid familial duty, or a job for a lower class or caste of women, instead of as productive work for wages like any other. This misconception has slowed the process of recognizing domestic workers rights, in international law and in our own homes. On 16 June 2011, the first convention recognizing the rights of domestic workers was adopted.  Today, we commemorate that moment where the international community finally and positively stated that 'domestic work is work.'

So far, 14 countries have agreed to enshrine basic rights for domestic workers by ratifying ILO Convention No. 189. On the anniversary of its adoption, I call on all governments to consider ratification of the Convention and the inclusion of domestic workers in the general protections provided by the labour law.

But you don't need to wait for your government to act to improve the lives of domestic workers. If you employ a domestic worker, have a conversation with her about ways to implement the Convention in your own home. Recognize her right to a full day of rest each week, reasonable working hours, and fair wages in line with the minimum wage. Refuse to employ children under the minimum age for work and allow young workers to combine work and school. Encourage your domestic worker to join a network or association of domestic workers. Provide holiday and sick pay, freedom of movement, and payment in cash. Respect your domestic worker's right to privacy, and make sure she has a lockable bedroom if she lives in your home.

I admire Erwiana's courage. She stood up and fought for her rights and dignity as a human being, and for the rights of other domestic workers like her. Erwiana shouldn't stand alone. Stand with her by protecting the rights of domestic workers in your home and your community. Call on your government to ratify the Convention and ensure that women have safe and profitable access to these much-needed jobs. If we don't acknowledge domestic workers as the valuable members of society that they are and protect them fully under the law, how many more cases like Erwiana's will there be?

 Reference:

MINETTE RIMANDO, ILO-Manila

rimando@ilo.org / + 63 (2) 5809900 or 5809905 / +63 (917) 5353162

World Day Against Child Labour 2014

Thousands of children and their families affected by Haiyan (Yolanda) along with government agencies, non-government organizations, international and humanitarian partners will march against child labour in Tacloban on 12 June (3-6pm) at the Balyuan Center near the DILG Office, Tacloban. (DETAILED ROUTE: From Balyuan Center to -> Real St.-> Avenida Veteranos -> Rizal Avenue ->Justice Romualdez St.-and culminate at the City Engineer’s Covered Court for the Programme)

The joint assessment of the Child Protection and Education Cluster (March-April 2014) in affected municipalities of Region VI and VII after Haiyan (Yolanda) revealed that 54 per cent of barangays reported that children are involved in child labour or in harsh and dangerous labour and 75 per cent of barangays reported that children who are working are not able to go to school. The joint assessment took place in 112 barangays and 125 schools and key informants included community leaders and head teachers.

In the Philippines, the 2011 Survey on Children by the National Statistics Office, conducted with the support of the International Labour Organization, revealed that there were 3 million child labourers (5-17 years old).

This year’s World Day against Child Labour (12 June) will focus on the global theme: “Extend social protection: combat child labour!” Poverty and shocks play a key role in driving children to work. Poor households are more likely to have to resort to child labour to meet basic needs and deal with uncertainty. Exposure to shocks, resulting in loss of family income, can have a similar effect on household decisions. For example, economic shocks, such an adult member of the family losing his/her job, health-related shocks like a serious illness or an employment injury, and agriculture-related shocks, such as drought, flood and crop failure, can dramatically reduce household incomes and cause children to drop out of school and go to work to contribute to the family income.

Social protection aims at providing support to poor families, and assistance to help them to weather various shocks. Social protection instruments which are most helpful in combatting child labour include:

Cash and in-kind transfer programmes that enhance income security for families and facilitate access to education and health care, conditional or not, help prevent child labour, and promote enrolling children into schools, taking children for health check-ups.

Public employment programmes, which provide jobs for adults to build and improve roads, schools, health centres and the like, helping to ensure that it is adults who are at work and not children.

Social health protection, which ensures access to health care and financial protection in case of sickness, and can stop households sending children to work when a member of the household falls ill.

Maternity benefits, that protect pregnant women and recent mothers and allow caring for new-born children, have a key impact on improving the health of mothers and children and avoid that older children have to work to replace the mothers’ lost income.

Social protection for people with disabilities and those who suffer from employment-related injuries or diseases, prevent households from resorting to child labour.

Income security in old age, providing pensions to older people helps protect younger generations by contributing to the economic security of the household as a whole.

Unemployment protection, which provides adults with at least partial income replacement, reduces the need to rely on the income of working children when facing job loss.

World Day against Child Labour (12 June) promotes awareness and action to tackle child labour globally. Support for the World Day grows every year. Join us and add your voice to the worldwide movement against child labour.

You can also add your voice against child labour by donating a Tweet, Facebook or Tumblr post for free at https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/11571-red-card-to-child-labour (Choose: Support with – Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr). At the global level, the International Labour Organization – the United Nations specialized agency for the world of work, will launch the 2014 edition of its Red Card to Child Labour Campaign as billions of people prepare for the opening of the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup in Brazil.

A new song, written by Grammy-nominated musician Mike Einziger and internationally acclaimed violinist, Ann Marie Simpson, will be released. It features several award-wining artists committed to the cause including Travis Barker, drummer from Blink-182; Minh Dang, activist and survivor of human trafficking; Dominic Lewis, composer; LIZ, R&B pop-artist; Pharrell Williams, Grammy award-winning singer/producer; and Hans Zimmer, Oscar award-winning film composer. Everyone who joins the Thunderclap Red Card to Child Labour campaign will be able to download the song.

The campaign’s launch will also feature an aerial art event in Rio de Janeiro with over 1,000 people coming together to form a giant human pinwheel (the symbol of the fight to end child labour), against the backdrop of the Sugar Loaf mountain. And in New York, the giant screens on Times Square will display the campaign’s messages throughout the day, inviting passers-by to join the fight against child labour.

For more information about the campaign: http://www.ilo.org/redcard.

ILO: Countries investing in high quality jobs can make economic leaps

The ILO's flagship report on the world of work shows, for the first time, that quality jobs can drive sustained growth in emerging and developing countries.

Countries that invested the most in quality jobs from the early 2000s grew nearly one percentage point faster every year since 2007 than other developing and emerging economies, says a new ILO report. This helped cushion the impact of the global crisis which erupted in 2008.

The World of Work 2014: Developing with Jobs report, which provides an in-depth analysis for 140 developing and emerging nations, shows for the first time that investing in quality jobs, reducing vulnerable employment and tackling working poverty leads to higher economic growth.

It also finds investment in high quality jobs tends be associated with lower income inequalities.

"Development doesn't happen through such things as exports, open trade and foreign direct investment on their own," said Guy Ryder, Director-General of the ILO. "Social protection, respect for core labour standards and policies that promote formal employment are also crucial for creating quality jobs that raise living standards, increase domestic consumption and drive overall growth. Decent work opportunities for women and men help trigger development and reduce poverty."

Below is the press release on this matter... 

The ILO’s flagship report on the world of work shows, for the first time, that quality jobs can drive sustained growth in emerging and developing countries.

GENEVA (ILO News) – Countries that invested the most in quality jobs from the early 2000s grew nearly one percentage point faster every year since 2007 than other developing and emerging economies, says a new ILO report. This helped cushion the impact of the global crisis which erupted in 2008.

The World of Work 2014: Developing with Jobs report, which provides an in-depth analysis for 140 developing and emerging nations, shows for the first time that investing in quality jobs, reducing vulnerable employment and tackling working poverty leads to higher economic growth.

It also finds investment in high quality jobs tends be associated with lower income inequalities. 

“Development doesn’t happen through such things as exports, open trade and foreign direct investment on their own,” said Guy Ryder, Director-General of the ILO. “Social protection, respect for core labour standards and policies that promote formal employment are also crucial for creating quality jobs that raise living standards, increase domestic consumption and drive overall growth. Decent work opportunities for women and men help trigger development and reduce poverty.” 

Countries as cases in point

The report cites Senegal as one country where growth increased as a result of focusing on quality jobs. The country increased its share of wage and salaried workers from around 12 per cent in 1991 to 26 per cent in 2013. The share of the working poor decreased by 34 percentage points over the same period, while productivity increased by an average of 0.5 per cent per year.

Peru is another country where the share of wage and salaried workers increased by an estimated 15 percentage points, from 34 per cent in 1991 to 49 per cent in 2013. In the same period, productivity grew by an average of 1.8 per cent per year, and the share of working poor decreased by 23 percentage points.

In Vietnam, the share of wage and salaried workers rose 22 percentage points, accompanied by a dramatic decrease in the working poor to one-third of the 1991 level by 2013, and productivity grew rapidly. 

“Improving the quality of jobs is also essential to tackle underemployment of both youth and adults, which is a major economic problem in many emerging economies and developing countries,” said Raymond Torres, Director of the ILO Research Department. “In view of the evidence, it is essential to make decent work a central goal in the post-2015 development agenda. Over the next decade, developing countries will need to create around 40 million new jobs every year in order to keep up with the growing working age population.” 

Key role for social protection

The report stresses the importance of combining well designed social protection with a strategy to increase the productivity of agriculture and invest income from oil and other natural resources into the rest of the economy. It means governance measures to provide an enabling environment that can facilitate the creation and expansion of businesses. This includes simplifying administrative procedures, as Uruguay has done with a “single tax” social protection scheme for the self-employed, leading the way to formal entrepreneurship.

“We noted that there are two very different phenomena going on at the same time,” said Moazam Mahmood, Deputy Director of ILO’s Research Department and lead author of the report. “Many developing countries, notably in Latin America and Asia, are making efforts to tackle inequalities and improve job quality as well as social protection. By contrast, a number of advanced economies, notably in Europe, seem to be going in the opposite direction.”

Global employment trends update

The 2014 edition of the World of Work discusses the importance of job quality amid somewhat positive global employment developments. Reflecting a smaller increase than previous projections, global unemployment stood at just under 200 million in 2013 and is expected to rise by 3.2 million in 2014. By 2019, given current trends and policies, unemployment will reach 213 million. Global joblessness is projected to remain broadly at the current level of 6 per cent until 2017.

The highest unemployment rates, in North Africa and the Middle East, are expected to remain at 12.3 and 11.1 per cent in 2014. The largest increase in 2014 is estimated for Central and South-Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries, where unemployment will reach 8.3 per cent in 2014.

Over the next five years, 90 per cent of jobs will be created in emerging and developing countries. This is expected to have a significant impact on migration flows (See box below).

“Migration patterns look set to change as emerging and developing countries make further progress in improving the quality of jobs,“ said Mahmood. “Already, South-South migration is on the rise while workers are also leaving advanced economies, particularly some hard-hit European countries, for work opportunities in developing countries.”

The ILO Director-General will present his report on migration to the International Labour Conference, which starts on 28 May in Geneva. The ILO is currently chair of the Global Migration Group.

Migration matters

The report finds that, in 2013, 231.5 million people were living in a country other than the one in which they were born. The total number of migrants has risen by 57 million since 2000. Nineteen per cent of this increase occurred within the past three years. Developed economies and the European Union (EU) continued to be the main destinations, with 51 per cent of all migrants living in this region. However, since the start of the global financial crisis, there is growing South-South migration. There is also extensive reporting of educated youth from crisis-hit developed countries who emigrated to emerging economies in recent years. In order to maximize the development impact of migration the report recommends these broad policy measures: promote economic integration of migrants to allow for increased legal migration, implement initiatives to combat xenophobia, discrimination and abuse, introduce measures to improve pre-departure information for migrants, and improve job quality in all countries, so as to ensure more orderly migration flows.