Professorial chair lecture of Dr. Divina Edralin

1. PRECARIOUSWORK:
THE HOTEL INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
Prof. Divina Edralin, D.M.
27 February 2013
De La Salle University
Professorial Chair Lecture

2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

3. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Figure 1. National framework for equality and decent work
economic growth & social justice
GOVERNME
NT
=
safe, healthy
environment in
conditions of freedom,
equity, security and
human dignity for emplo
yment
women and men prom
=
otion
WORKERS EMPLOYER
employment security competitiveness, profit
S
equity
CIVIL (Gust, 2006)

4. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Concept of Precarious Work
forms of work characterized by:
 atypical employment contracts
 limited or no social benefits and statutory
entitlements
 high degrees of job insecurities
 low job tenure
 low wages
 high risks of occupational injury and
diseases
(Evans & Gibb,
2009)

5. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Concept of Precarious Work
is characterized by a combination
of factors such as:
 a limited duration or a high probability of the
worker’s losing the job
 little or no opportunity for workers to control
the working conditions
 absence of benefits or social security
provisions
 a low income in tandem with poverty
(ILO, 2007)

6. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Figure 3. Incidence of precarious employment advance economies,
2007 and 2010
Panel A. Involuntary part-time employment (percentage of part-time employment)
Source: International Institute for Labor Studies World of Work Report 2012, 2012

7. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Figure 3. Incidence of precarious employment advance
economies, 2007 and 2010
Panel B. Involuntary temporary employment (percentage of temporary employment)
Source: International Institute for Labor Studies World of Work Report 2012, 2012

8. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Figure 2. Employed persons in vulnerable employment by region and sex,
2004 - 2007
Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics LABSTAT Updates 16(31) 2012

9. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Selected Countries

10. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Selected Countries

11. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Selected Countries

12. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Global Companies

13. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Global Companies

14. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Global Companies

15. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Precarious Work Practices of
Global Companies

16. BRIEF ON PRECARIOUS WORK
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Figure 4. Employees in Precarious Work (% of total
employment)
Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics LABSTAT Updates 16(31) (2012).

17. BRIEF ON PRECARIOUS WORK
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Table 1. Non-regular employment in the Philippines as
percent of total employment
Contractu
Year Part-time Casual Totals
al
1989 1.3 4.1 8.3 13.7
1990 1.6 3.7 8.2 13.5
1991 1.5 4.1 7.0 12.6
1992 1.5 4.1 10.0 15.6
1993 1.8 3.4 9.8 15.0
1994 1.5 4.3 7.9 13.7
1995 1.8 4.4 11.8 18.0
1996 2.0 4.1 12.3 18.4
1997 2.2 4.7 14.0 20.9
Source: DOLE-BLES Yearbook of Labor Statistics, 2007

18. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Determine the employment
practices that are often
associated with precarious work
in the hotel industry.
Know the factors that drive the
hotels to resort to precarious work
practices.

19. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Describe the impact of precarious
work on the following:
 Women workers
 Workplace health and safety
 Union
 Sustainable development

20. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Identify strategies or courses of
action that can be taken by the
following stakeholders to combat
precarious work practices:
 Unions
 Employers
 Government
 International Labour Organization (ILO)

21. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Figure 6. Linkages between discrimination, equality &
decent work
(Gust, 2006)

22. OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK OF
PRECARIOUS WORK
GOVERNME
NT
=
• low wages,
• low job security
• limited control over
workplace conditions
• little protection from
health & safety risk
=
WORKERS EMPLOYER
ILO S

23. METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Descriptive
Research Approach
Survey of unionized hotels
Content analysis of government
publications

24. METHODOLOGY
Table 2. Respondents’ profile
Unionized NUWHRAIN Positions in Type of Work
Affiliate Hotels the Union in the Hotel
Manila Peninsula Hotel • President • Cook
Mandarin Oriental Manila • Board of • Bartender
Sofitel Philippine Plaza Directors • Lifeguard
Century Park Hotel • Vice President • Electrician
Hotel Intercontinental Manila • Treasurer • Room Attendant
Holiday Inn • Councilor • Outlet Cashier
Manila Pavilion Hotel • Union Member • Chef
Cebu Midtown Hotel • Bellman
• Waiter
Bohol Beach Club
No. of • Supervisor
Montebello Villa Hotel
• Telephone Operator
Hyatt Regency Manila/MIDAS Respondents
• Kitchen Artist
Hotel n = 84
• Food Attendant
• Steward

25. FINDINGS
Brief on the Hotel Industry

26. FINDINGS
Table 3. Total employment and number of non-regular workers in hotels and
restaurants with 20 or more workers by category, Philippines: June 2010
Non-Regular Workers
Contractua Apprenti
Probationa Seasonal
Total Casual l /Project- ces
Total ry Workers
Employment Workers based /Learner
Workers
Workers s
Hotels 196,075 70,077 14,032 13,424 38,338 1,534 2,749
and
Restauran
ts
Note: Details may not add up to totals due to rounding of figures.
All Source: Bureau of Labor850,085 179,384 170,817 445,020 28,815 26,049
3,042,750 and Employment Statistics, 2009/2010 BLES Integrated Survey
Industries
(BITS).

27. FINDINGS
Table 4. Number of hotels and restaurants with agency hired workers with 20 or
more workers by category, Philippines: June 2010
Agency-Hired Workers
Total
Percent to Percent
Establishm Total
Total Share
ents
Hotels and 3,166 1,529 48.3 13.4
Restaurant
s Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, 2009/2010 BLES Integrated Survey
All (BITS). 23,723 11,388 48.0 100.0
industries

28. FINDINGS
Table 5. Number of agency-hired Workers in hotels and restaurants with 20 or more
workers by type of jobs/services contracted out, Philippines: June 2010
Hotel and Percentag All
Agency-Hired Workers
Restaurants e Industries
Total Number of
19,691 341,703
Agency-Hired Workers
Security Services 7,478 38.0% 98,790
Food Service/Catering 6,041 30.7% 7,410
Janitorial 3,301 16.8% 50,588
General Administrative 1,307 6.6% 14,406
Logistics/Transport 1,237 6.3% 6,630
Marketing/Sales 163 0.8% 20,285
Repair/Maintenance/Constr
108 0.5% 8,890
uction
IT Services 56 0.3% 3,384
Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, 2009/2010 BLES Integrated Survey
(BITS).

29. FINDINGS
Table 5. Number of agency-hired Workers in hotels and restaurants with 20 or more
workers by type of jobs/services contracted out, Philippines: June 2010
Agency-Hired Workers Hotel and All
Restaurants Industries
Packaging - 18,397
Production/Assembly - 103,192
Research and
- 1,692
Development
Cashier - 477
Human Resource - 20
Messengerial - 453
Billing/Payment - 194
Data
- 165
Processing/Encoding
- 2,156
Warehousing Labor and Employment Statistics, 2009/2010 BLES Integrated Survey
Source: Bureau of
Medical/Health Services
(BITS). - 138
Others - 4,436

30. FINDINGS
Table 6. Number of hotels and restaurants engaged in subcontracting with 20 or
more workers, Philippines: June 2010
Establishment Total
Percent Percent
s Resorting to Establishme
to Total Share
Subcontracting nts
Hotels and 235 7.4 9.5 3,166
Restaurants
All industries 2,471 10.4 100.0 23,723
Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, 2009/2010 BLES Integrated Survey
(BITS).

31. FINDINGS
Table 7. Number of hotel and restaurants engaged in subcontracting in with 20 or
more workers by type of jobs/services contracted out, Philippines: June 2010
Hotel and All Industries
Restaurants
Production/Assembly - 193
Finance/Accounting 134 1,091
Data 24 141
Processing/Encoding
Human Resource 42 420
Learning/Training 24 299
Billing and Payment 54 271
Transport Services 59 462
Courier Services 54 602
Packaging/ Crating - 108
Research and 12 129
Development
Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, 2009/2010 BLES Integrated Survey
Others
(BITS). 1 257

32. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 8. Employment practice often associated with precarious work in the hotels
Average
Department
Practices Percentag
most affected
e (n=84)
Hiring of labor via employment agencies or labor brokers 35.9 Housekeeping
On call/daily/per function hiring 29.1 Food & Beverage
Contracting out functions/tasks to other companies 25.9 Engineering
Direct hire on temporary labor contracts 23.4 Food & Beverage
Disguised employment training contracts (as trainees) 22.3 Housekeeping
Limited employment to less than six (6) months 21.8 Food & Beverage
Fixed term contracts 14.0 Engineering
Abusive probationary periods 12.1 Food & Beverage
Illegal or involuntary part-time work 7.1 F&B, steward
Individual labor contracts as bogus “self-employed” workers 6.5 Engineering
F&B, seamstress,
Home working 3.0
laundry, accounting

33. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 9. Factors/reasons why hotel resort to precarious work practices

34. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 10. Effects of precarious work on the union

35. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 11. Effects of precarious work on women

36. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 12. Effects of precarious work on workplace health and safety

37. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 13. Effects of precarious work on sustainable development

38. SNIPPET OF PRECARIOUS WORK
EXPERIENCE IN THE HOTEL
50 years old Land based
crew for 3
Married years in Saudi
to a CPA
HRD Policy:
only one of
Banquet the couple
captain can
be regular
ized
Casual
employee at Did not meet
Sofitel PANDOY the cut off
since 1980 during the final
interview

39. SNIPPET OF PRECARIOUS WORK IN
EXPERIENCE IN THE HOTEL
In the
Casual housekeeping
employee for section, males
5 years are preferred
Management
Room prefers HRM
attendant graduates
at Sofitel
Asked to do
MARIA
most of the
Single
work and OT
parent with
during peak
a child
months

40. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 14. Roles/action that can be taken by unions to address/combat
precarious work

41. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 15. Roles/action that can be taken by employers to address/combat
precarious work

42. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 16. Roles/action that can be taken by the following groups to
address/combat precarious work

43. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 17. Roles/action that can be taken by the ILO to address/combat
precarious work

44. CONCLUSION
Precarious employment is
undermining worker rights,
the scope and coverage of collective
bargaining,
as well as wages and working
conditions in the hotel industry.

45. CONCLUSION
Precarious work is caused by factors
such globalization, increasing intensified
competition, government regulations, and
corporate restructuring, in order to obtain
greater efficiency, maximize employer
profits and flexibility,
and to shift risks onto workers.

46. CONCLUSION
Precarious work is the enemy
of decent work. It should not
become the dominant feature of
the working relationship between
workers and employers.

47. RECOMMENDATION
Trade Union Action
educate their membership on the
importance of combating precarious
work
use collective bargaining to stop or
prevent the spread of precarious work

48. RECOMMENDATION
Government Action
develop long-term goal that integrates
decent work into our country’s growth
path
adopt policies such as temporary
employment guarantee schemes and
access to health care

49. RECOMMENDATION
Employer Action
adopt the philosophy that
“the business must not be single-mindedly
focused on its own profits, but must have a
bigger purpose that includes taking on some
of the problems of the wider society for the
common good
stop the use of precarious work to cut cost
and pressure the government to legislate laws
that are anti-labor

50. RECOMMENDATION
ILO Action
organize a comprehensive
Law and Practice Report
convene an ILO expert meeting on
obstacles to organizing and bargaining for
precarious workers
examine the development of suitable
instruments to limit, restrict and reduce
the resort to precarious forms of
employment

51. “ Work is a good
belonging to all people
and must be made
available to all who are
capable of engaging in
it.”
(PCJP, 2004)

52. THANK YOU!