A lawmaker is pushing for the establishment of a city workers protection and development desk.
Councilor Pamela Librado-Morata, who chairs the committee on labor and employment opportunities, mentioned the initiative during her privilege speech on Tuesday’s regular session.
The councilor said there needs a “comprehensive program of the city government that will aim to protect our workers and anchor future interventions on their legitimate demands and material reality.”
The city workers protection and development desk will stand as a mechanism to resolve workers’ issues starting at the barangay level.
“Upon approval of this ordinance, we can also assure the rights of workers to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work,” Librado-Morata said.
“Thus, this ordinance furthers the actualization of workers’ rights and supports their collective action for respective demands,” she added.
According to the councilor, they will convene labor leaders, barangay officials, and concerned agencies like the Department of Labor and Employment during the committee hearing next week to tackle the proposal.
The desk is eyed to develop and maintain up-to-date quantitative and qualitative barangay-level inventory and registry of the labor resource. It will also conduct research on enforcement of labor standards as defined by existing and relevant laws and statutes on labor and employment.
Moreover, it can also initiate independent barangay-level workers’ organizations and the organizing of Davao City Workers Council composed of barangay-level and enterprise- based workers organizations and associations, and organize activities related to the promotion of the rights and welfare of women workers.
It shall also coordinate efforts with existing local government offices already engaged in gender development and advocacy.
It also aims to coordinate and work with various labor and employment agencies of government, as well as local and international non-government organizations and institutions advocating for the protection and promotion of labor rights.
