The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) met with leaders of different labor groups and employers’ representatives during a forum discussing policies, practices and issues on multi-employer bargaining held on 11 May 2018 at the Ramada Hotel in Binondo, Manila.

The forum looked into the applicability of multi-employer bargaining with industries, type of workers and bargaining units within the context of emerging forms of work arrangements.

The forum is also aimed at informing the joint research project of the ILS and the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) titled, “Strengthening Multi-Employer Bargaining: Policies and Practices,” proposed by Ms. Joyce S. Lumactud.

“This forum highlights the importance of organizing. This serves as an instrument of protecting workers welfare aligned with the slogan of DOLE: ‘more than jobs, but decent jobs.’ Therefore, let us not be concerned  only with our own objectives but with the welfare of the entire workforce,”   said DOLE Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod, said in his keynote message.

In his presentation of multi-employer bargaining policies, BLR Director and Acting Assistant Secretary Benjo M. Benavidez, noted that the Philippines has a policy on multi-employer bargaining but does not have a registered Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) using multi-employer bargaining.

The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) is the policy research and advocacy arm of the Department of Labor and Employment. For more information about ILS products and services, please visit: http://ils.dole.gov.ph or call Advocacy and Publications Division at tel.no. 527-3590