Labor conditions of platform workers in the country will be presented in the Fairwork Philippines Ratings 2022, a report that assesses nine of the country’s largest digital labor platforms. These include Angkas, Borzo (formerly Mr. Speedy), Foodpanda, GrabCar, GrabExpress, Joyride, Lalamove, TokTok, and Transportify. The platforms will be gauged against five principles of fairness such as fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation.
The report presents the first set of Fairwork ratings for the country and establishes a baseline for the platform economy that will be updated on a yearly basis.
The launch will be held on August 9, 4:00 pm, via zoom.
Prof. Cheryll Soriano, Principal Investigator of Fairwork Philippines and Professor at De La Salle University’s Department of Communication says: “The sustained impact of the COVID-19 pandemic presents additional challenges to the local platform economy. Most platform workers are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to the nature of their work, beyond the daily struggles of working on the road. Furthermore, the lack of sick pay for many workers means they face severe financial insecurity if they need to self-isolate, fall ill, or face accidents that prevent them from working for extended periods”.
Prof. Virgel Binghay, co-Investigator of Fairwork PH and Professor at the University of the Philippines’ School for Labor and Industrial Relations says: “Amid promises of opportunity and flexibility, the growth of the platform economy in the Philippines has also triggered debates around workers’ legal classification and their protection. The lack of guaranteed minimum wage and social security coverage for platform workers results in underpaid and unpaid labor. Falling outside the scope of collective sectoral agreements, platform work is also linked to lack of job protection and lack of collective voice”.
Other members of the research team are Dr. Pam Custodio (UPLB), Margreta Medina (DLSU), Chana Garcia (DLSU), and Dr. Funda Ustek- Spilda (Fairwork / Oxford Internet Institute).
At the launch, the project team will give a brief presentation of the key findings, to be followed by a discussion with guest panelists from key stakeholder groups: Don Pangan of Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong), Atty. Luke Espiritu (labor leader and organizer), Exec Director Ammah Charisma Satumba of the Department of Labor and Employment – Institute for Labor Studies (DOLE-ILS), and Dr Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. There will also be an Q&A session for attendees.
The Fairwork Pledge will be introduced in the closing session to engage all audiences and stakeholder groups in support for fair and decent standards of work in the gig economy.
