20240401_182237(1).jpg House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

House Deputy Minority Leader AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Lex Anthony Cris Colada is calling for an inquiry in aid of legislation on the alleged labor malpractice of the Philippine operations of popular online shipping platform Shopee.

Colada, in a statement Friday, April 26, urged his congressman-colleagues to look into the alleged labor issues concerning Shopee, particularly on preventing local truck drivers from organizing themselves into a union these past two years.

The ranking solon also wants Jan Frederic Chiong, Shopee Philippines' chairman who also holds a 60 percent stake in the logistics affiliate SPX Express Philippines--more popularly known as Shopee Express--to attend the inquiry.

The two firms are subsidiaries of Shopee's parent-firm, the Sea Group of Singapore.

"Shopee has managed to skirt the labor issue by citing the non-existence of a direct employer-employee relationship with its pool of truck drivers. But this is unfair to the hundreds of drivers who bear the heat of the sun to transport the bulk of goods purchased on the Shopee platform," Colada said.

Earlier, a total of 257 drivers based in Shopee's Parañaque City hub filed a petition for direct certification election, for purposes of collective bargaining. The drivers wanted to form a union in order to protect their labor rights, specifically to ensure proper wages as well as work hours.

These truck drivers regularly transport products for SPX Philippines, but have yet to enjoy regularization.

Shopee's management had prevented the formation of a union among these drivers over claims that they were not direct employees. Shopee has likewise claimed that SPX truck drivers were supposedly employed by its 22 contractors and sub-contractors nationwide.

However, the drivers pointed out that SPX actually employs them, as the trucks they drive belonged to Shopee itself, based on official documents and records. These trucks were also being deployed and dispatched under SPX's dispatching authority, hence solely controlled, mobilized and supervised by SPX.

For Colada, these are enough reasons for Shopee and SPX to take care of the petitioner-truck drivers, and allow them to unionize.

Unfortunately, mediator-arbiter lawyer John Malinao, who originally granted the petition in favor of the drivers, reversed the earlier order allowing the establishment of a union after Shopee's management filed a motion for reconsideration.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) had also affirmed the decision of the mediator-arbiter, such that the truck drivers elevated their petition to the Court of Appeals (CA). The CA is currently reviewing the case.

"It should be Shopee that must be up to the task of promoting the truck workers' welfare and respecting their right to form a union, under our country's labor laws. Not even a foreign firm can evade this responsibility," Colada said.

According to digital commerce agency TMO Group, the Philippines is the third-biggest e-commerce market in Asia, with an estimated $22.9 billion in revenues. It is enjoying 28-percent year-on-year sales growth, greatly benefitting Shopee and other online marketplaces in the country.

Shopee, in particular, is the No. 1 e-commerce platform here in the country, with around 53.9 million monthly visits and three million app downloads per month on Android devices alone.

"As the top online marketplace here, it is also high time for Shopee to lead the way in upholding labor rights. Its Filipino workforce deserves fair treatment and compensation," Colada said.

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