Compensation & globalization..aki

Effects of Globalization to Productivity-based Compensation

Arrangement & Decent Work

Prof. Jorge V. Sibal

Oct. 12, 2006

Compensation & Decent Work

Compensation and decent work usually go hand-in-hand. Higher wage means more decent work.

But today, this may not be true anymore. A worker may not receive any wage (only non-wage rewards) but may be able achieve decent work. Or vice versa, a worker may receive high wages but not decent work.

What is compensation (Milkovich and Newman 2002)

Compensation- all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits employees receive as part of an employment relations.

used interchangeably as pay applies to all types of workers, whether

employed or self employed, and those in the formal and informal sector

unpaid family workers and own account workers in the informal sector are compensated in terms of tangible services and benefits in doing work

Components of Compensation

1. Monetary rewards (or pay)

2. Non-monetary rewards (or employee ‘fringe’ benefits)

3. Psychological rewards


1. Monetary rewards (or pay)

- base pay, supplemental pay like overtime premium and night shift differential, cost of living allowances, seniority pay, merit pay, incentives pay and knowledge or skill-based pay.


2. Non-monetary rewards (or employee ‘fringe’ benefits)

- leaves (vacation or service incentives, holiday, sick, maternity/paternity, solo parents and other leaves); insurances (life, health, hospitalization unemployment and disability); retirement and savings/pension plans; legally required benefits like social security, medical care, disability, unemployment insurance, etc.; & performance-based benefits like bonuses, profit sharing and other forms of gain-sharing rewards.


3. Psychological rewards

- recognition, status, employment security, work challenge and learning opportunities.

Rationale for Variable Compensation System

Globalization broke the assembly line production system into decentralized offshore operations as a result of electronic based machines and internet communications technologies and wide wage differentials between the developed and less developed economies.

There has now been a rapid shift to variable compensation system and outsourcing as the key to survival and growth.

Productivity-based compensation arrangements (variable pay)

Compensation other than base wages or salaries that fluctuate in accordance with the employees’ attainment of some standard work output.

These outputs are measured in terms of a pre-established formula, individual or group goals, contract or company earnings.

3 Forms of productivity-based compensation arrangements

1. Time rate compensation system that incorporate merit-based incentives or benefits adjustments, overtime pay, commissions, night shift differentials, tips and other service charges, and payment in kinds.

3 Forms of productivity-based compensation arrangements

2. Payment-by-result like piece rate work, productivity bonuses, stock-option benefits, work-improvement incentives, etc. Payment-by-result is either individualized or group-based.

3. Franchising and joint venture arrangements for self-employed and own-account workers.

Wage Determination

determined by the supply and demand, as well as the quality of labor

if the determination of wages is left alone solely to employers and workers, the result would tilt more in favor of the employers and the workers and their movement will likely be radicalized.

Government Intervention in Wage Determination

minimum wage fixingcollective negotiations with unionssafety nets and consumer subsidiesthird party arbitrationRegulation of both internal and external

labor mobility

Result of government intervention in wage determination

more equitable income distribution in the more developed countries

Intensified wage inequities among the developed and less developed nations

4 Objectives of compensation administration (Srivas de Silva of the ILO)

1. Equity- to narrow income inequity by protecting the purchasing power and real wages of the workers.

2. Efficiency- to link cost and reward of labor to productivity to allow employers reasonable profits for growth and expansion.

4 Objectives of compensation administration (Srivas de Silva of the ILO)

3. Macro-economic stability- to attain a balanced and sustainable economic development through high employment and low inflation.

4. Proper allocation of labor in the labor market- to administer internal and external labor migration.

Objectives of the Study

Identify and explain: the productivity-based compensation

arrangements that have evolved in the Philippines as globalization intensified; and

the extent of government regulations on these new mechanisms and how these mechanisms have contributed to equity, efficiency, macro-economic stability and proper allocation of labor in the labor market.

Implications to the Philippines

During the 1950s when Japan was replicating American and western technologies via “reverse engineering”, the Philippines adopted the ISI strategies and was second to Japan in industrialization and economic growth.

After 50 years however, “we are not only lagging behind, we are almost dead last in the [ASEAN] region” (Lucio Tan 2006)


The Philippines did not fail miserably considering that it has grown moderately within the world’s fastest growing region.

Despite its educated and creative people and natural resource endowment, the country continues its hit-and-miss methods in the formulating and implementing the EOI strategies.


One possible roadblock toward industrialization is its policy on compensation.

With an institutionalized labor and social standards in place that are equal or better than other Asian countries, it offers better protection for decent work at least for workers in the formal sector that is comparable with the more advanced tiger economies.

This may attract investments for high technology production and services operations but not on the low end.


The country is indeed placed in a tight squeeze since it is also competing for the low end manufacturing and services businesses due to its high unemployment and underemployment as a result of the ‘jobless growth’ phenomenon and high population growth rate.

Positive effects of globalization to Asia

1. New jobs for wage workers especially in the export processing zones (EPZs), in addition to new technologies transferred and adapted.

2. Provided better alternatives to local workers especially the women workers who were offered alternatives for urban informal employment or agricultural employment.

3. The informal sector indirectly benefited from the increased incomes of formal sector workers.

Negative effects of globalization to Asia

1. Industries shifted to greater capital intensity resulting to ‘jobless growth’ both in agriculture and manufacturing

2. Over-all unemployment rate increased & labor market conditions probably deteriorated for unskilled workers

3. Increased inequality between urban & rural income, and skilled & unskilled workers

4. Increased flexibilization and informalization of production and employment relationship. (UNDP Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2006 on “Trade and Human

Development, The Asia-Pacific Experience” & ILO 2002)

Philippine Experience in Globalization and Industrial Development

Compared to the Asian tiger economies, the Philippine industrial sector has not performed well in the last three decades even after it has joined WTO in the last 10 years.

Faced with lower tariffs on imported goods, domestic producers are handicapped with high power cost, inadequate infrastructure, government red tapes and corruption, and shaky peace and order situation.

Philippine Experience in Globalization and Industrial Development

Many manufacturing and agricultural enterprises closed down due to lack of preparations, safety nets and unfair playing field where smuggled goods abound in the market.

Share of Manufacturing to Total Output (1980-2004) Select Asian Economies

Source: ADB Key Indicators 2001, 2003, 2005. Note: for China manufacturing also includes mining, electricity, gas and water

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Pe

rce

nt

sh

are

1980 15.2 19.6 27.6 23.1 19.2 44.2

1990 20.7 23.8 24.8 27.2 12.3 37

2000 27.7 31.1 22.2 33.6 18.6 43.6

2004 28.3 30.8 23 35.2 20.3 46

Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam China

Philippine Experience in Globalization

The Philippine growth pattern was characterized by the increase in services with agricultural and industrial sectors declining.

As of 2000, more than half of the country’s employed labor force which used to be in agriculture was absorbed by the service sector.


The Philippine growth rate was driven by domestic demand and consumer spending unlike the Asian tiger economies where exports led the economic growth.

The economy failed to grow fast enough to provide jobs for the labor force.


Despite the weakening industry and agriculture sectors, the economy grew by 6% in 2004.

The World Bank (2005) described this as the fastest in 16 years.

Factors that contributed to Philippine growth

1) the electronics industry and offshore business process services estimated at $3.8 Billion in 2006;

2) inflow of earnings of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amounting to $11.6 Billion in 2005; and

3) gross international reserves of $20.58 Billion in 2006

Effects of Globalization on Employment and the Labor Market

Many enterprises adopted lean and mean structures- managed by a small group of professionals and technical staff with multi-skilled workers operating the core businesses activities and a large group of contractual or outsourced workers.

Effects of Globalization on Employment and the Labor Market

The core of professionals, technicians and operators are adequately trained and compensated. The peripheral workers on the other hand barely received minimum wages and benefits mandated by the Labor Code and other social legislations.

Effects of Globalization on Productivity

The country’s productivity increased only at 1% per year on the average in contrast with 4.4% average of neighboring countries (China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand) or 1.4% for all developing countries.

Reasons for Low Productivity

High costs of doing business. The Philippines has the highest power rates in East Asia. Electricity is as high as 41% of operating cost compared to only 10% in Malaysia.

High underemployment in agriculture and services industries in the informal sector.

High Productivity in Manufacturing

Despite high power costs, labor productivity in manufacturing industries was high.

Labor productivity in manufacturing from 1980 – 1991 grew at an average of 8.9% while the nominal wage of workers grew only at 6.1% average.

Effects on Wages and Cost of Labor

Real and Nominal Daily Wages in the Philippines, 1991-2003

0

50

100

150

200

250

300 Nominal daily wage- agri.

Nominal daily wage- non-agri.

Real daily wage- agri.

Real daily wage- non-agri.

Line 5

Source of Basic Data: Bureau of Agricultural Statistics and BLES, real wages based on 1995 prices)

Labor cost in the Philippines

The Philippine manufacturing labor cost per year of $2,450 was more expensive than China ($729) and Vietnam ($711) but cheaper than Singapore ($21,317), Thailand ($3,868), Malaysia ($3,429) and Indonesia ($3,054).

What is important for business is not the cost but the skills of labor. Training costs accounted for a mere 0.76% of the total labor cost in non-agricultural firms. Manufacturing firms spent much less at 0.57% on the average.

Companies can easily cope up with globalization with a highly skilled workforce

Labor Flexibility Evident

Flexibility in labor cost in the formal and informal sectors of the economy is evident in the country.

The big firms (200 or more workers) have higher labor costs at 23.5% since they required more skilled workers.

Labor costs of firms with 20-99 workers is only 19%, lower than the average labor cost in non-agricultural firms at 21%. Manufacturing, which has high productivity, has a low labor cost at 20%. This may be explained by the employment of contingent workers.

Average wages received are higher than minimum wages

Unskilled workers were paid higher than the minimum wage rates.

As of the first quarter of 2006, the establishments inspected which violated minimum wage standards was down to 15% from the previous year of 22% (DOLE BWC 2006)

Wages in the Formal Sector

Monthly wages are highest at the financial intermediation industry at P14,857 ($288).

This was followed by electricity, gas and water (P13,612 or $264), private educational services (P12,043 or $234), and transport, storage and communication (P10,303 or $200).

Wages in the Formal Sector

The lowest wages were in real estate, renting and business activities (P6,687 or $130); construction (P6,798 or $132); hotels and restaurants (P6,903 or $134); manufacturing (P6,934 or 135); and wholesale and retail trade (P7,031 or $136).

These 5 sub-sectors have the highest levels of non-regular/contractual and agency-hired workers.

Compensation in the Informal Sector

The informal sector employed 20 million workers or 65 percent of the employed labor force in 2003. These workers do not enjoy safety nets.

Cost of labor in the informal sector can not be accurately recorded since most of the workers are unpaid family workers, domestic helpers and own-account workers.

Compensation in the Informal Sector

In a 2002 survey of contractual workers in Metro Manila, the Laride reported that 2/3rds of their respondents earned between P100 ($1.94) to P250 ($4.85) per day.

Majority were not covered by the SSS. Half of them lived in one-room house with a bathroom annexed. 45% had no separate bedroom; 72% did not have a dining area; and 50% did not have running water.

Importance of the informal sector

In 2003, micro-enterprises (1-9 workers) and small enterprises (10-99 workers) accounted for 99.3 percent of all establishments in the country.

Employment generation is therefore very dependent on the viability and growth of these enterprises.

Effects on balancing work and family life & flexible work arrangements

Foreign-owned companies, companies with foreign equities and those with unions provided more decent work. Foreign-owned companies or those with foreign equity are usually tied up with the global chain of production and marketing. They are normally subjected to compliance standards. Unionized firms also have more decent workplace because of the high awareness and vigilance of trade unions in the local and international labor standards.

Effects on balancing work and family life

More than 60% of establishments implemented balanced work and family life programs in 2003. The percentages were higher in foreign-owned companies (79%), companies with foreign equities (68.9%) and in unionized companies (65.4%).

More than 50% allowed extended maternity and paternity leaves without pay. The practice of flexible work arrangement ranged from 31% (for unionized) to 42%. Facilities for employees with children were minimal in most establishments at a range of 3.5% to 6.5%

Effects on flexible work arrangements Half of the firms practiced sliding flexible works

arrangements, higher in foreign firms, local firms with foreign equity and in non-unionized companies.

Compressed workweek ranged from 30% to 39%, or higher in foreign companies and in unionized firms.

On-call arrangement was lower at a range of 16% to 31%, or lower in foreign companies and in unionized firms. Teleworking arrangement was very minimal at 4% or less.

Effects on Hiring of Regular and Contingent Employees

During the last 2 decades of deepening globalization, new forms of hiring patterns emerged in addition to the traditional model of “full-time protected regular wage employment”.

Composition of Employment, Non-Agricultural Establishments with 20 or More Workers, 2004

(All Industry Groups)

Total Employment= 2.413 M

Owners/Unpaid Workers(20,600)

Managers/Executives (316,000)

Rank and File Workers (2.077 Million)

Non-Regular (628,500 or 26%)

Regular (1.4 M or 60%)

86.0%

13.1%

1.1%

Source: 2003/2004 BLES Integrated Survey

Almost 70% were regular or permanent employees. They usually enjoyed job security, salary adjustments and promotions. The rest were non-regular (or contingent) workers comprising less than 1/3 (or 628,495) of rank and file workers.

Extent of Non-regular (Contingent) Employment

In a survey of establishments employing 10 or more workers from 1991-1997, non-regular workers have increased from 20.5% in 1991 to 28% in 1997.

1997 was the start of the Asian financial crisis.

Non-regular workers were highest in the construction industry at 65% or 47,985 out of 84,794 workers in 2004.

Non Regular Workers in Establishments

Employing 10 or more Workers, 1991-1997 (in thousands)

% of Non-Regular Workers to Total Employment

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

1991

1993

1995

1997 Others- Casuals, part-time,pakyao

Commission-Paid

Contractuals

Non-regulars

Source: BLES, Survey of Specific Groups of Workers (SSGW), various years. Excludes agriculture, fishery and forestry.

Category of Non-Regular Workers in Non-Agricultural Establishments with 20 or More Workers, 2004


Total Non-Regular Workers= 628,500

Contractuals/ProjectBased (47.4%)

Casuals (22.5%)

Probationary (19.5%)

Seasonal (5.5%)

Apprentices/Learners(5.2%)

Contractual/Project-Based Employment in Non-Agricultural Industries with 20 or More Workers, 2004


Contractual/Project-Based Workers (Percent Distribution)

Manufacturing (28.3%)

R. Estate, Renting & Bus.Activities (24.1%)

Construction (13.4%)

Wholesale & Retail(12.3%)

Hotels & Restaurants(10.3%)

Other Industries (11.4%)

Slice 7

Employment Patterns in the Manufacturing Sector

There were 894,932 workers in the manufacturing industry in 2004 representing 37% of the 2.4 million workers in non-agricultural establishments with 20 or more workers.

Their products ranged from food, apparel, steel, cement, machineries and equipment, chemical products, wood and furniture products, etc.


88.7% were rank-and-file workers. The rest were managers/executives (3.6%), supervisors/foremen (7.1%) and owners and unpaid workers (0.6%).

64% were regular & 25% non-regular. non-regular workers were composed of

contractual/project-based workers (9.4%), casual (6.7%), probationary (4.1%), apprentices/learners (3.1%) and seasonal (1.8%).


Manufacturing also employed the most number of output-rate workers- the piece-rate workers, the pakyao/takay workers, and the quota workers.

There were very few hourly paid workers (2.2%), part-time workers (0.4%), task workers (0.1%) and commission workers (0.1%) in manufacturing

Employment Patterns in the Retail and Wholesale Trade Sector

The retail and wholesale trade was the 2nd biggest employer among non-agricultural industries.

It employed 367,703 in 2004 or 15% of the 2.4 million workers covered by the survey.

Almost 59% of the rank and file workers were regulars while 25% were non-regulars, the same percentage as in manufacturing.

Non-regular employment among the rank and file was higher in the retail industry at 31.4%.

Employment Patterns in the Retail and Wholesale Trade Sector

Among the 94,155 non-regular employees, 36,724 were contractual or project based, 29,813 were casuals, 18,299 were on probation, and 8,200 were seasonal workers.

Output workers were very minimal in numbers at 8,714 or 2.4 or non-regular workers. More than one half (6,346) were piece-rate workers and the rest were paid by commissions (1,181) and pakyao/takay (1,058).

Employment Patterns in the Transport, Storage & Communications Sector

There was a high number of commission paid workers in the transport, storage and communications industry at 25,177 workers or 13% of the total output rate workers.

Hiring Through Labor Contractors and Agencies

30% of large sized enterprises (with 200 or more workers) contracted out more jobs compared to medium-sized (100-199 workers) companies at 25.8% and small-sized (20-99 workers) companies at 15.2%.

More foreign owned companies (45%) and companies with foreign capital (36.6%) relied more on subcontractors than locally-owned firms (14%).

Hiring Through Labor Contractors and Agencies

Those serving the local markets only have the lowest subcontracting activities at 15% compared to those serving both local and export markets at 32.6%.

Those serving the export market only have lower subcontracting activities at 26.3%.

Nature of outsourced jobs

The most common jobs/services contracted out were general administrative services (41%), production processes/assembly activities (26.3%) and transport services (20.9%).

Manufacturing firms were the highest users of subcontracted production and assembly activities.

Service firms subcontracted mostly administrative and transport services.

Hiring through agencies

Agency-hired workers were not considered part of the workforce of the business establishment.

They were usually given employment contracts of limited duration (usually less than 6 months) and were not entitled to benefits given to regular employees.


As 2003, agency-hired workers comprised 10.8% (316,000 workers) of the total number of persons engaged in non-agricultural establishments with 20 or more workers.

The average number of agency-hired worker was 21 per establishment. Security services comprised the biggest bulk at 37%, followed by production/assembly (23%), janitorial (15%), marketing/sales (10.6%), general administrative (3.3%), transport service (3%), and others (7.5%).


The bigger sized enterprises hired more agency workers than the smaller firms. Companies with foreign capital, catering to the export-oriented, or unionized hired more agency workers than firms that were Filipino-owned, catering to the local market or non-unionized (Labstat 2005).

Conclusions and Recommendations

Productivity-based compensation arrangements intensified with globalization. The leading industries in the country like electronics, garments, business process outsourcing, call centers and other service establishments have extensively used overtime pay, night-shift differential and other premium pay, commissions, tips and service fees and payments-by-result.

Conclusions

Several industries have increased their hiring of contingent workers whose compensation payments are productivity-based. In manufacturing, workers are paid on piece-rates. In the transportation industry, workers are paid on commission and in hotel, restaurant and education services, many workers are hired on part-time basis.

Conclusions

Big firms, especially foreign owned and those with foreign equity and are linked with the international value chain hired more contingent workers compared to smaller firms and those that cater to the domestic market. Studies showed that these firms have high levels of compliance to labor standards and therefore offer more decent work. One factor that contributes to high compliance to labor standards in big firms is the presence of trade unions.

Conclusions

It is disturbing to note that trade union membership is on a rapid decline as globalization deepens. This may be due to the trade unions themselves as they have been too traditional in their dealings with employers, or that the employers are becoming proactive themselves and have openly been competing with unions in empowering their workforce unilaterally.

Conclusions

In the voluntary self-assessment of big companies in compliance to labor standards, non-unions like labor-management committees, health and safety committees and similar employee groups are substituted for employee representation.

Conclusions

As was posited in this paper, variable compensation contributes to the competitiveness of enterprises operating in the Philippines. High skilled and productive workers as core regular employees are retained by employers for high productivity operations while the hiring of contingent workers for services and peripheral work helps them compete with low wages in nearby countries.

Conclusions

The main pitfall of productivity-based compensation arrangement is that it may lead to overwork that may result to health hazards, higher risks of accidents and unbalanced family and work life on the part of the workers. This is especially true for women workers as experienced in the electronics, garments and call center industries.

Conclusions

In the hiring of contingent workers using variable payment, there are many documented incidents of compensation that are below labor and human standards and therefore not leading to decent work especially among the informal sector workers. This is true in some manpower cooperatives whose members are categorized as self-employed or individual contractors. They have used this as an excuse for exemption from coverage of social security and other labor standards.

Conclusions

Productivity-based compensation arrangements are also intensified in the informal sector workplaces because the micro and small service and agricultural enterprises are exposed to stiff competition from imports as a result of low tariffs and smuggling. Most of the workers here are unpaid family workers, own-account workers and domestic helpers. If the agricultural family enterprises lose out to imported vegetables from China for example, their meager earnings will be further depleted and this will push them deeper into poverty and undernourishment.

Conclusions

The extent of government intervention in compensation administration through the minimum wage fixing, labor standards policy formulation and enforcement, and provisions of safety nets and subsidies to workers is weak to moderate. Some employers and neo-liberals have been advocating less, if not very minimal state intervention. The left-leaning pressure groups, on the other hand, are batting for more government interventions in favor of the workers.

Conclusions

Considering the desires of the extremist groups, the status quo is still tolerable at present. More government interventions should be done in close partnership and cooperation with the social actors that should include not only the employers and the trade union organizations but also other actors like the NGOs, informal sector organizations, church, academe, etc. Changes in the status quo should be formulated and implemented on case-to-case basis- per legislation, industry, region, locality or firm.

Conclusions

Using the objectives of compensation administration (by Srivas de Silva) as standards (equity, efficiency, macro-economic policy and proper allocation of labor in the labor market), the government and the major social actors have achieved some positive and negative results.

1. Equity

Positive Results Increased earnings of

formal sector employers and workers in electronics, garments, BPOs, services and overseas employment

high level of compliance with labor standards in the formal sector

Negative Results High unemployment and

underemployment resulting to high levels of poverty and undernourishment, and income inequity among classes and regions

- low levels of decent work in the informal sector and in small and micro-enterprises

2. Efficiency

Positive Results increased productivity

in the bigger enterprises in the formal sector but jobless growth

flexible compensation schemes contributed to competitiveness and higher incomes of local firms

Negative Results low productivity and lack

of safety nets in the informal sector and in small and micro enterprises

some flexible work arrangements and subcontracting lead to very low compensation and less decent working environment

3. Macro-economic stability

Positive Results moderate growth

performance but laid back in industrialization compared to the South East Asian standards

strategies are short to medium term only

Negative Results consumption-led

growth, not investment-led

wanting in long-term strategies

4. Proper allocation of labor in the labor market

Positive Results advances in the

administration of overseas employment

moderate accomplishments in education and skills training

Negative Results no long-term

interventions in transforming OFW earnings to investment-led development strategies

weakening investments in national HRD compared with other South East Asian countries

Recommendations

1. Trade unions, NGOs, organizations of consumers, farmers and other small producers in partnership with the academe should set up a professional Social Compliance Academy to train and accredit certified assessors for social and labor standards compliance, and to give compliance awards to establishments and organizations. The Academy should also develop and maintain professional teams of inspectors, trainers and remediation consultants to assist workers and employers in labor standards assessment and remediation.

Recommendations

The immediate target for capability building are trade union members, labor-management cooperation practitioners, occupational health and safety inspectors, environmental inspectors and assessors, and other labor standards inspectors to be accredited from among the employers, trade unions, local government units, NGOs, consumerists, small producers, etc.

Recommendations

2. Expand tripartite mechanisms and social accords at the level of local government units (provinces, cities and barangays) preferably through LGU ordinances / legislations. Involve other social partners (NGOs, organizations among informal sector workers, academe, church, civic organizations, etc.) in the tripartite bodies aside from government, employers and trade unions. Conduct more researches and documentation of successful tripartite practices in LGUs like Marikina City, Naga City, etc. and promote these good practices to others LGUs for replication.

Recommendations

3. Strengthen the advocacy campaign for good practices of labor and social standards in the informal sector small and micro-enterprises with focus on good organizational safety, cleanliness and health practices by cooperative efforts of government, NGOs, trade unions, cooperatives, associations of small producers and service providers, etc. Target specifically labor-only contractors and other service providers including those that are not complying with present labor laws and standards.

Recommendations

4. Actively support the various programs of employers for good practices of CSR especially those that directly uplift the poor segments of workers and their communities. Specific projects that need active support are the “big-brother, small brother” technology transfer and business linkaging, education and skills upgrading program in partnership with the government and private educational and training institutions, patronize and improve the quality of local products campaign (“tangkilikan”), anti-smuggling and anti-dumping campaign, etc.

Recommendations

5. Pressure government to minimize direct deductions from workers salaries and wages in form of taxes and other mandatory deductions/contributions. Support government programs that uplift the workers’ living standards like price monitoring of basic goods and services like transportation, rent, basic food items, education, skills training, health, etc. These measures will help increase incomes of the poor workers and reduce poverty and undernourishment in the country.

Recommendations

6. Support the campaigns of multi-sectoral organizations like the Fair Trade Alliance for the calibration of the country’s tariff rates based on specific industry’s level of preparedness and competitiveness. Government negotiators should actively consult and involve industry players in their negotiations on multi-lateral and bilateral trade agreements.

Recommendations

7. Uphold the rights of trade union to organize workers and bargain collectively. Trade unions should adjust their programs and activities towards social movement unionism and international cooperation among trade unions and other civil society organizations. Support new legislative actions that will uplift the plight of informal sector workers like the domestic helpers, market and sidewalk vendors, public utility drivers including tricycle drivers and operators, women workers, farmers and agricultural workers, cooperatives, etc.

Recommendations

8. Actively support the campaign of all social partners- government, employers, workers, etc. to preserve and expand jobs in the country through various programs and interventions like entrepreneurship development, government pump-priming infrastructure projects through labor intensive construction methods, maximum usage of indigenous materials, and others that have already been mentioned.

Thank You.

Business

Compensation & globalization..aki