05/06/2026
ITUC REPORT CONFIRMS WHAT FILIPINO WORKERS ALREADY KNOW: THE PHILIPPINES REMAINS ONE OF THE WORST PLACES FOR WORKERS
The BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) expresses grave concern over the latest findings of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which once again places the Philippines among the most restrictive countries in the world for workers.
While the Philippines has been removed from the ITUC's list of the 10 Worst Countries for Workers in 2026, this should not be mistaken for progress. The country continues to receive the ITUC's highest rating of 5, signifying the absence of guaranteed rights due to systematic violations of workers' freedoms. Filipino workers did not become freer to organize, bargain collectively, or strike. Conditions in other countries simply deteriorated further.
The reality on the ground remains unchanged. Workers continue to face union busting, retaliation against organizing efforts, precarious employment, contractualization schemes, unsafe working conditions, and arbitrary terminations. In the BPO industry, workers regularly confront impossible productivity demands, surveillance, forced overtime, and mass layoffs carried out in the name of business restructuring and profitability.
The ITUC findings are further reinforced by the Philippines' inclusion in the International Labour Organization's Committee on the Application of Standards shortlist for violations of Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining. This international scrutiny reflects the continuing failure of the Philippine government and employers to respect workers' fundamental rights.
The contradiction between the government's aggressive promotion of the Philippines as an investment destination and its poor labor rights record has become increasingly clear. For decades, labor flexibility, low wages, weak labor law enforcement, and restrictions on worker organizing have been presented as competitive advantages. The result is an economic model that attracts investment by keeping workers vulnerable and disposable.
This is especially evident in the BPO industry. While multinational corporations and outsourcing firms continue to generate enormous revenues from Filipino labor, workers remain exposed to sudden account closures, offshoring decisions, client withdrawals, and mass retrenchments with little protection. The recent wave of job cuts affecting workers serving multinational telecommunications and technology clients demonstrates how quickly workers can be sacrificed in the pursuit of profit.
These developments come amid worsening global economic uncertainty. As conflicts, trade disruptions, and rising prices place additional burdens on working people, employers and governments continue to respond by demanding greater sacrifices from workers while restricting their ability to organize and collectively defend their interests.
One of the clearest examples of this restriction is the continued use of Assumption of Jurisdiction orders. These orders prohibit strikes and lockouts, compel workers to return to work, and authorize the dismantling of picket lines. In practice, they deprive workers of one of the most important tools available to defend their wages, benefits, and working conditions.
The erosion of workers' rights extends beyond restrictions on strikes. The continued expansion of precarious work, outsourcing arrangements, labor-only contracting schemes, and the rapid growth of platform and gig work have left millions of workers without security of tenure, adequate social protection, or meaningful collective representation. Many workers remain excluded from bargaining units and denied opportunities to participate in unions despite performing essential work.
Workers also continue to face harassment, intimidation, red-tagging, and retaliation for exercising their rights. These attacks create a climate of fear that discourages organizing and weakens collective action in workplaces across the country.
A country cannot claim to respect democracy while denying workers the freedom to organize. Genuine development cannot be measured solely through investment pledges, economic growth figures, or corporate profits. Progress must be measured by whether workers can freely form unions, bargain collectively, enjoy secure employment, and participate in decisions that affect their livelihoods.
BIEN calls on the Department of Labor and Employment, Congress, and the Marcos administration to take concrete steps to uphold freedom of association, protect collective bargaining rights, end anti-union discrimination, and ensure accountability for labor rights violations. We likewise support calls from labor organizations to review and repeal laws and policies that unduly restrict workers' right to organize and strike.
We stand in solidarity with workers and unions across all sectors who continue to defend their rights under increasingly difficult conditions. The findings of the ITUC and the ILO are not merely international assessments. They are reflections of the daily realities experienced by millions of Filipino workers.
The answer to worsening labor conditions is not silence, fear, or submission. It is stronger worker organization, deeper solidarity, and collective action. The struggle for living wages, genuine job security, safe workplaces, and full respect for labor and human rights continues.
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