The intoxication of labor juxtaposing the workers’ right to form and join unions vis a vis the contractualization policy on labor.

Abstract

Through the years, the intensifying practice of contracting and subcontracting has been observed along with the decreasing trend in labor unionizing. As several studies and practical experiences in the past have shown the importance of labor unions in protecting and advancing the welfare of the workers, this decreasing trend in labor unionizing along with the changing conditions brought by the contractualization policy on labor is in need of great research attention. In this light, this research presented and analyzed how the contractualization policy on labor affects the workers‟ right to form and join unions. It seeks to establish the importance of the workers‟ legal and political consciousness in the exercise of their rights as workers, especially the right to form and join unions. It used both quantitative and qualitative research strategies for triangulation of results. For the quantitative part, a survey of assembly-line workers (n=64) was conducted with three companies namely: Tanduay Distillers Inc., Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., and Gardenia Bakeries Philippines, Inc. Moreover, the issue of the contractual workers of one company, Tanduay Distillers Inc. in Cabuyao, Laguna was utilized as a case study. The statistical analysis showed a strong association between the operationalized variables of contractualization policy, unionization, legal education, legal consciousness, and political consciousness. Through the use of this specific set of subjects, the complexity of the issue on the right to form and join unions vis a vis the contractualization policy on labor was narrowed down and presented into a more detailed and contextual analysis of conditions and relationships. At the end of the study, it was proven that the contractualization policy on labor affects the workers‟ right to form and join unions. This finding was further proven by the Chi Square analysis which shows a very strong association between contractualization and lack of unionization, χ2 (1) = 64.000, p = .001.