Workers in Rizal, all from the Rizal Provincial and Cainta Municipal Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils, attended the two-day Workers Organization and Development Program (WODP) learning session of Department of Labor and Employment-Rizal Provincial Office (DOLE-RPO), recently.
In this activity, DOLE-RPO discussed topics that were highly requested by labor organizations across the province. During the first day of the learning session, DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) Focal Person Janine A. Rivera tackled concepts related to Financial Management, Accounting and Bookkeeping, and Creating Financial Statements. Labor organizations deemed it necessary for them to fully understand these concepts so that they could properly account and monitor the expenditures of their union.
Meanwhile, DOLE-RPO Labor Inspector Erwin Rommel C. De Jesus introduced the idea of Mental Health to the participants. He carefully explained the topic to the attendees, especially the aspect of mental health in the workplace.
De Jesus opted to share real-life examples that were based on his experiences. This is to ensure that all of them could relate and fully grasp the essence of the topic. Requests on the discussion of Mental Health exponentially increased this year as workers’ mental wellbeing were affected by the two-year global pandemic. In these years, companies were forced to shutdown their operations as quarantine restrictions were imposed, leaving workers in unstable situation.
Move to Maintain the Industrial Peace
DOLE-RPO Provincial Director Marivic B. Martinez spoke with the labor organizations to be the partner of the office in maintaining industrial peace in the province. So, should there be labor-related cases, issues, and disputes, she wanted it to be properly resolved within the provincial office’s level. This is to prevent issues from escalating to NLRC or NCMB which entail both time and other resources of both parties.
“If ever you have cases, some issues, some disputes, ‘wag na nating dalhin sa Calamba o sa Regional Office. Dito na lang, pag-usapan natin dito sa Rizal Provincial Office not the mention cases that would end up in NLRC or NCMB,” Dir. Martinez exclaimed.
Dir. Martinez expound the discussion of the topics on labor relations including union rights, grievance procedure, and collective bargaining agreement negotiation.
Supporting DOLE’s CLPEP
On the second day, Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP) Focal Person Charmaine D. Baisa discussed the provisions of RA 9231 also known as the Anti-Child Labor Law to the participants. The Department believes that it is a highly relevant topic to discuss in this sector. The workers also adopted a resolution to show their support and commitment to the efforts of the Department in child labor prevention and elimination.
In this resolution, the participants pledged to give an all-out support to CLPEP and will not tolerate the engagement of children in labor in their respective establishments.
by:
FLINT OSRIC T. GOROSPE
Community Facilitator
CHARMAINE D. BAISA
LEO III
