Reform the entire labor dispute settlement system! Abolish the NLRC!

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) today joins SULONG or the Solidarity of Unions and Labor Organizations for a New Government in protesting against the continuing inefficiency, anti-union bias and the perceived corruption in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).

"The NLRC is notorious for taking a long time to resolve labor cases filed before it, and reports suggest that decisions are, in a considerable number of instances, up for sale," Edwin Bustillos, APL Deputy Secretary General, said.

The APL reiterated its call for the abolition of the NLRC and the holistic and comprehensive reform of the industrial and labor dispute resolution system.

Citing a 2005 study done by the Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN), Bustillos explained that in general, disputes are seldom resolved within the period prescribed by the rules. While the rules provide that cases going through a formal trial should last no longer than 6 months, in practice, only 10% of certified cases were disposed of within the prescribed period. In fact 81% of certified cases lasted more than year. Because of this, simple labor cases may take five to seven years to go through the present system from the plant level to the Supreme Court and to execution.

He said that there is also evidence that cases involving multiple complainants, including unions and large groups of workers, are likely to elicit an adverse ruling from arbiters. This is evident in the pattern of decisions with respect to ordinary arbitration cases involving 5 or more workers as well as certified and injunction cases involving labor unions.

He also said that in the NLRC, self-represented worker is more likely to lose a case than one who appears with a lawyer or paralegal.

"We want a single entry point for all labor cases instead of the current practice where workers can sometimes lose cases because of 'forum shopping.' We want our labor dispute settlement system to have mediation as the backbone, to employ professional and highly-trained and competent arbiters and to eliminate expensive layers of appeals and provide a direct recourse to the Supreme Court instead," Bustillos enumerated.

"These features are actually contained in House Bill 3970 which is being pushed in the House of Representatives by the APL together with Akbayan and Rep. Del De Guzman," Bustillos explained.