By Ben Rosario
The House of Representatives has taken steps to further strengthen the right of workers to self-organization when it passed on second reading a bill that would make it easier and faster for labor unions and federations to register.
House of the Representatives (Manila Bulletin File Photo)
Sponsored on the floor by the House Committee on Labor, House Bill 8186 won unanimous approval in the chamber when presented for second reading early this month.
HB 8186 seeks to streamline the process of their registration and reduce the minimum membership requirement.
Cagayan Rep. Randolph Ting, labor panel chairman, said the bill aims to strengthen further the right of workers to self-organization by easing the restrictive Labor Code requirements for the organization of labor unions and federations.
The legislative proposal seeks to amend Presidential Decree No. 442 otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.
HB 8186 provides the lowering of the present minimum membership requirement for the registra1on of independent unions from 20 percent to 10 percent.
It bill seeks to amend Article 235 of the Labor Code by allowing the submission of applications to be done in person or online to the appropriate Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office or Field Office or the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) subject to verification by the appropriate office. The BLR shall prescribe such forms as maybe necessary for this purpose.
The BLR or the appropriate DOLE Regional or Field Office shall act on registration applications within three working days from their receipt.
At present, the Labor Code provides that the BLR shall act on the registration applications within 30 days from filing. It also mandates that all required application documents and papers shall be certified under oath by the secretary or treasurer of the organization, as the case may be, and attested to by its president.
Under the bill, in cases when filed application documents n are incomplete or do not contain the required certification and attestation, the DOLE Regional Office or the BLR shall, within three days from receipt of the application for registration, notify in writing the applicant or labor organization concerned of the necessary requirements and to complete the same within 30 days from receipt of notice.
The bill also proposes to amend Article 237 of the Labor Code by reducing the number of affiliated local chapters required for purposes of registration as a federation or national union from 10 to five.