Guan cites as an example a wig factory in Laguna as there is a high demand for the export of wigs and where the sub-contractuals are paid by piece. Women workers usually receive P1,200 ($24.63 at an exchange rate of $1=P48.71) for one wig but only after weeks of labor. In the garments industry, workers are paid mere centavos or up to P10 ($0.20) for a pair of pants. And this set-up is still being implemented in export processing zones and factories.

Issues

Grafil conducted a study last year on a group of sub-contractual workers in Taguig, Rizal who were home-based. They were engaged in the garment industry removing himulmol (extra fibers) from T-shirts for a known global brand and were paid by the piece at the rate of ten centavos ($0.002) per himulmol. Most of them were former factory workers who either lost their jobs when the factory closed or were over 35 years old which is considered the retirement age in the business. Some of the younger ones were just waiting for the approval of their applications to go abroad.

The most obvious problem beside the wage was health-related. Women workers do not wear masks while removing the himulmol, which irritates the eyes and triggers asthma attacks. The rooms where they were working had poor ventilation. Other factories give limited bathroom breaks to their workers, resulting in the prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTI).

CWR has followed up with one of the workers from the Taguig research, Madam Flor. The worker was able to borrow a small amount to purchase her own sewing machine and start her own contractual business of sewing brassieres and panties with materials coming from Triumph. She has also participated in small trade fairs. “Yun na ang pangarap nila, maging contractor,” (That’s their dream, to be a contractor) Grafil further explained. This shows how women workers are slowly putting more importance to individual undertakings.

This situation illustrates another difficulty that faces women contractual workers: they are hard to organize into unions. “Paano ka ba naman sasali after three months wala ka na? Dapat may makitang method para ma-organize yung mga contractuals, hindi dapat pareho sa mga regular,” (How can you join when after three months you’re removed? We should find a method to organize contractuals, it should not be the same as organizing regular workers) Guan said.

Prospects

Both Guan and Grafil agreed that creative methods should be used to organize contractual workers. “Kailangan ng mas creative and innovative measures paano mas mapamulat ang mga manggagawang kababaihan,” (We need more creative and innovative measures in order to empower our women workers) Grafil said. She added that this would lead to a more “comprehensive way of organizing.”

Certain measures have been introduced in the House of Representatives in order to lessen if not eradicate the negative impact of contractualization. One of this is the Contractualization Scheme with Gabriela Party-list Rep. Liza Maza as one of its authors. So far, however, there has been no progress with the bill, which did not surprise Guan.

“Parang pinapatay talagang pilit kasi karamihan sa mga kongresista mga kapitalista rin yan, mga negosyante kaya ayaw nila. Yun suporta lukewarm if not absent,” (It seems like they are really junking the bill because many of the congressmen are also capitalists, businessmen, and they do not want the bill. The support is lukewarm if not absent) she added.

However, not all is dim for the struggle of women contractual workers for a much better life. In the Southern Tagalog region, the Gabriela-Displaced Workers Center Inc. offers opportunities for workers who have reached their end of contract (endcon) by giving them livelihood projects. Although they may not be organized according to their job as a contractual worker, some have joined mass organizations like Gabriela in their communities. (Bulatlat.com)

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