DOLE Emphasizes the Value of Work Relationships to Sustain Industrial Climates
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III stressed the importance of a prosperous relationship between workers and employers as an essential factor to enable sustainable industrial climates. He mentioned that lasting industrial peace by advocating for worker and employer rights is an important factor in business growth.
“In the face of challenges, we must keep a balance. We must ensure full protection of the workers, as well as to give due consideration to the rights of enterprises to reasonable returns to expansion and growth,” Bello said at the 27th Metro Manila Business Conference last June 26, 2019.
The Secretary states that maintaining industrial peace is a shared responsibility both workers and employers must practice properly through compliance with the existing labor laws and proper practices that can improve productivity and expand various enterprises.
MSMEs Require Improvement of Competitiveness – Bello
He also specified the need for the enhancement of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises’ (MSMEs) competitiveness by providing training programs to entrepreneurs while supplying technical assistance in outlining incentive schemes based on productivity.
“We are of the view that the country’s economy largely depend on the sustainability of its macro, small, and medium enterprises. We must continue to work together in enhancing the competitiveness of our MSMEs and realize its maximum potential as key employment generators,” he added.
Sustenance of Industrial Peace
The labor agency previously reported that most companies and establishments observe the maintenance and enjoyment of a mutually beneficial atmosphere between workers and management. A report by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) states that 3,409 out of 3,506 or 97.2 percent of companies with Labor Management Cooperation (LMC) never came across strikes and lockouts for this year.
The LMC is a program created by the labor agency that allows labor and management to work together in achieving goals through mutually acceptable means of sharing information, discussing with one another, providing consultations, and negotiations.
“Workplace relations enhancement is among the effective strategy of the DOLE-NCMB in ensuring a harmonious and enduring climate of industrial relations between workers and employers, as well as to sustain a labor relations climate conducive to productivity improvement,” Bello said.
