Labor experts warned worker rights could emerge as one of the key issues to be brought up by the United States in the decade-long $100-billion Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) initiative.
According to Andre Garcia, Solidarity Center-Philippines senior program officer, Philippine labor and US government officials have in past meetings tackled persistent worker rights issues in the country.
These include contractualization or the so-called end of contract practice especially in the economic zones, freedom of association and collective bargaining in the ecozones.
“The US administration pinpointed freedom of association and collective bargaining as integral to its relations with the Philippines in terms of trade and security,” Garcia said at the first roundtable on the Philippine labor movement and US-Philippine labor relations held in Quezon City on July 16.
Garcia said with the Global Labor Strategy of the Biden-Harris administration introduced in November last year, US officials visiting the Philippines would make it a point to meet local labor leaders and bring these issues into the discussions.
This year alone, the Philippines has received Kelly Fay Rodríguez, special representative for Inter national Labor Affairs; US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Labor Working Group Representatives (US Department of Labor and US Trade Representatives); and Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce, for labor dialogues.
Garcia said the US is ready to invest in infrastructure and strategic industries, such as semiconductors and business process outsourcing in ecozones under the Luzon Economic Corridor.
Pursued under the trilateral partnership of the US, Japan and the Philippines, the Luzon Economic Corridor is the first Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment PGI economic corridor in the Indo-Pacific region. The Corridor will support connectivity among Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas as well as facilitate strategic, anchor investments within each hub in high-impact infrastructure projects, including rail, port modernization, agribusiness, and clean energy and semiconductor supply chains and deployments.
“But what we might not know is behind the scenes, (the US is) also trying to strengthen labor rights provisions in these trade agreements,” Garcia said.
Luis Corral, vice president for National and International Affairs of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said the big picture is that free trade investments are now premised on labor rights and human rights.
“If foreign investors are entering the Philippines, it cannot be built on violation of labor rights,” Corral said.
“Good labor rights is good business and being able to access international markets for exports. Hundreds and thousands of jobs can be potentially placed here. The US has given us a second hard look, and they need to see actual reform with sustainable business profits, but not at the cost of human rights,” he added.
Citing statistics, the Solidarity Center said the Philippines is ranked as one of the 10 worst countries for working people.
