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THE
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has
expressed fear that the soaring prices of crude in the
world market would prompt employers to lay off their
workers.
“Based
from our experience, instances like this result in
massive displacement of workers because employers
usually resort to retrenchment to cope with high cost of
production,” TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar said.
He said
that most of those who ended losing their jobs in the
past are workers employed by small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) and those companies without trade
unions.
With
this, he urged the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) to closely monitor the situation and immediately
take steps to assist distressed establishments and
vulnerable workers.
“Steps
should be taken by the government to cushion the impact
of this unprecedented increase in prices of oil so as to
prevent massive displacement of workers,” he pointed
out.
He also
advised employers to consider other cost-cutting
measures and not to immediately retrench workers.
“Although the increase in oil prices is unprecedented,
we feel that this problem is just temporary and should
not warrant retrenchment,” he added.
Prices
of crude oil in the world market have neared the $100-
per-barrel level, although prices settled at $97 per
barrel on Thursday. Stronger fuel demand comes during
winter season, which is seen as another factor that
would hike fuel prices soon. |
