Even business leaders see ‘endo’ as exploitative

CLOSE to one year since President Rodrigo Duterte promised to eradicate prohibited contractualization in the country, not just labor but local business leaders are still waiting for its fulfillment.

Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph, president of the Cebu Business Club (CBC), said he sees very little progress towards this goal and that he does not understand the delays in achieving this promise.

“I consider abusive ‘endo’ an exploitative practice. I see very little progress towards eradicating this and to be honest, I don’t see much progress on this. I don’t understand the delays in eradicating ‘endo,’” he said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.

Glenn Soco, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, however, says government is making good progress, although there isn’t much of a difference between recent and previous policies.

“It still boils down to implementation and regulation,” he said.

Soco added that at the end of the day, what matters most is the individual corporate relationship between management and labor to achieve industrial peace.

While the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) already issued Department Order 174, a measure aimed at providing better deals for labor, there has not been any major change in policy yet.

“The policy is still there, the framework of the previous (measure), although the new issuance strengthens the rights of labor to be securely protected,”

said Philip Tan, management sector representative of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas (RTWPB-7).

Tan said he personally does not believe in endo as it is anti-labor and anti-Filipino.

The business leader said there are already ongoing discussions between labor and management, and that all stakeholders can do is to wait for the outcome.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Melanie Ng, for her part, said the Cebu business community has been constantly engaged by the DOLE through the RTWPB-7 on this issue.

“We believe that the constant communication and monitoring by government of compliance thereto and repeated discussions will continue to ensure improved working arrangements that will contribute to our goals for economic development,” she said.

Last Monday, Labor Day, thousands of workers in Cebu City marched from one point to another to protest the continuing practice of contractualization, specifically the end-of-contract scheme or “endo.”

Labor unions and militant groups both reiterated the call to put an end to the abusive practices of endo, a practice wherein companies routinely end the contracts of employees after five months to avoid regularization of their employment status.