By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
LABOR analysts said extreme weather events are a threat to safety and warned employers not to pressure staff to show up during episodes of flooding.
“The recent floods are more than a weather crisis — they are a workers’ crisis. Flooding disrupts livelihoods, threatens physical safety, and exacerbates health risks. Government workers and private employees alike should not be coerced into unsafe work conditions,” Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa Secretary-General Josua T. Mata said via Viber.
Mr. Mata proposed that the government adopt a protocol that designates certain events as hazardous, setting in motion a process that authorizes paid leave or remote work.
“Workers must not be forced to risk their lives getting to work. Having the capacity to issue timely warnings would need the government resuming full support for systems like Project NOAH’s hazard mapping,” he said.
He cited the need for hazard pay to be expanded and institutionalized.
“The government response for workers should not be about emergency relief alone — but about building systems that prioritize worker safety, decent work conditions, and climate-resilient communities,” Mr. Mata said.
The southwest monsoon, in conjunction with storms entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility brought heavy rains that flooded large portions of the Philippines this week, including the capital region.
Maria Ella Calaor-Oplas, an economics professor specializing in human capital development research at De La Salle University, said via Messenger chat that the government must enhance the system of worker protections during weather disturbances.
She added that industries must resort to work from home arrangements during extreme weather disturbances.
“In order for online or WFH set up to be effective, government should heavily invest in infrastructure… ensuring that everyone is reached with quality internet,” Ms. Oplas said.
Benjamin Velasco, assistant professor at the UP Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations called on Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to enforce Republic Act 11058 or the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Law, which grants workers the right to reject unsafe work conditions.
DoLE’s Labor Advisory No. 17 of 2022 allows employers and business establishments to keep workers home “not only due to imminent danger in the workplace, but also during weather disturbances.”
“It seems not to apply to hazardous journeys to work. Since the government gives private sector employers the right to suspend work, the government must encourage them to be liberal and allow workers not to report for work if the latter deem it unsafe,” Mr. Velasco said via Messenger chat.
“Otherwise, employers can provide accommodations like shuttles or places to stay and/or sleep in the workplace,” he added.